Friday, February 20, 2009

What constitutes "shovel ready"?

With so much talk lately about "shovel ready" projects and how they will benefit from the economic stimulus bill signed into law earlier this week by President Obama, this is an interesting article about what in Terre Haute, Indiana, counts as a "shovel-ready" project.

While lots of projects seem shovel ready, in fact, only two projects in the city of Terre Haute are shovel ready. As the city's mayor, Duke Bennett, says in the article, there are many restrictions in the stimulus bill, which keeps many projects from qualifying as shovel ready.

"To be truly shovel ready, you have to have engineering drawings, you basically have to have the thing totally designed," Bennett says in the article. "Then you have to have your environmental work done and you have to have all your property acquisition done."

If a project receives any federal funding, it is not eligible for stimulus money, according to the article.

For an analysis of how the stimulus bill will impact the AEC industry, check out The Obama Infrastructure Plan: A Supplement to PSMJ's 2009 AEC Firm U.S. Market Sector Forecast. Free with your order, you'll also receive PSMJ's Analysis of Economic Indicators for Markets Served by A/E Firms: 1st Quarter 2009. This report provides quantitative data on major market sectors AND the submarkets and regions that the North American A/E industry serves.

Ed

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