User Actions

• Email this Page

Please create an account or sign in to save pages to your bookmarks.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 - Federal Stimulus Funds

Tapping into Stimulus Funds 

A FAQ sheet on How Pennsylvania Businesses can be Part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

Many businesses have been asking the same question, How Can I Get Stimulus Money?  And the answers have not been easy for them.  There are over 100 streams of Stimulus funding spanning federal government, state government, and local government.  This page is focused on the business aspect of the Recovery Act and will help put some of the pieces of the Stimulus puzzle together so Pennsylvania business can be part of the road to Recovery.  

The bottom line -- how can your business tap into Stimulus funding?

1. By doing business with the federal or state government (more below)
2. By being a supplier of a product or service to a sub-contractor of a government contractor (more below) 
3. By receiving Recovery funding to get through the rough times (read more)

A big opportunity for small business:  

o      Business can tap into stimulus funding by DOING BUSINESS WITH STATE AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.  50 percent of Stimulus funding is government procurement and 23 percent of the funding is mandated to go to small business. Government – particularly the federal government – buys everything. More than likely you sell a product or service that government can use; possibly not directly to government, but maybe to a subcontractor or supplier to a government contractor.

How do I know if my business or service is something government can use?

o      Check this website which lists all stimulus projects broken down by state, county and city. All projects are included from announcement to completion. Everything from installing solar panels on federal buildings to installing new kitchen cabinets in a PA Housing Authority office is included.  Pennsylvania also has a website of stimulus projects where you can click on your county to see the projects underway.

How does a business do business with government?

1.     If you are new to the government procurement process, contact a Small Business Development Center near you to get an overview.  The SBDCs provide free consultation on government contracting.  Click here to find the nearest SBDC to you.   And this link provides information on how the SBDCs can help with government contracting:

2.     The SBDCs will suggest you get on the government contracting list. Information on the list can be found here.  

I’m really not interested in government contract.    I just want stimulus funding to help me get through this recovery process.

·       The federal Small Business Administration is one of those 100 funding streams mentioned above, receiving $730 million to help small business. They provide a number of funding options to small business.   Click here to find information on SBA recovery funding.

But there must be opportunities for me.   Is there anything else? 

·       Yes!  It may not be in the form of stimulus funding directly to you, but in the form of tax credits or your company’s increased sales by providing your product or service to suppliers and recipients of stimulus funding. Make sure your accountant is apprised of all stimulus tax credits available to businesses. View a list of credits at this link.  Watch your local newspaper for “requests for bids” from entities (i.e., local Housing Authorities, government offices) that may have received stimulus funding.  Be creative; think about how your business or service can fit in. Are there stimulus construction projects going on near you and you have a catering service?   Maybe you can take your business to the site and provide lunch to workers.  You can also get on a Recovery Project notification list to look at projects. Click here for information.   You will need a Dun and Bradstreet DUNS number of your business which can be obtained for free on this website.

What about the Weatherization funding --- I install energy-efficient furnaces and think I could provide a service to homes using this funding?

·       Be proactive. Contact the Weatherization Sub grantee Agency in your county to find out about becoming certified to provide weatherization of homes. There’s an application that needs to be completed in order to do installations/renovations for this program.   The County agencies can be found at this link.