Federal contracts build stimulus effect in Oregon
By TIM FOUGHT
Associated Press
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 10:34 AM PDT
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| U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (left), speaks at the unveiling of an American-made prototype streetcar in Portland, in this July 1, photo. LaHood, an active announcer for such enterprises as the Portland region’s mass transit system, said recently that the Klamath Falls Airport in southern Oregon would get about $667,000 to rehabilitate a taxiway, which will result in contract awards. Standing in the background, from (left to right), are Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and Congressman Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. |
PORTLAND — Companies dealing in matters as small as a photon and as large as a harbor dredging vessel are winning contracts that could eventually define how large a jolt Oregon gets from the federal stimulus package.
Contracts awarded by federal agencies have attracted less attention than other parts of the recovery package — tax cuts and aid to the state government to maintain schools, human services, unemployment benefits and roads.
Spending on the part of federal agencies is still taking shape, but the contracts are a significant part of the stimulus program, whose variety is remarkable to some who have gotten more familiar with it as they bid for contracts.
‘’There’s money coming out all over the place,’’ said Margaret Brooks, executive vice president of a Portland temp agency, which was awarded a small contract worth up to $62,000.
She said the company would pay engineers working on the reconstruction of the Steens Mountain loop road in southeast Oregon.
She said the money would put four people to work, some part time and probably none for long.
That project is among 56 planned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Oregon, most resulting in contracts, worth $32 million.
Many federal agencies have projects in the works: $3.4 million in stimulus money for dredging at five river mouths along the Oregon Coast, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project, or several smaller forest thinning operations. The announcements trickle out week by week.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, an active announcer for such enterprises as the Portland region’s mass transit system, said late last week, for example, that the Klamath Falls Airport in Southern Oregon would get about $667,000 to rehabilitate a taxiway, which soon should result in contracts and jobs.
The first test of that estimate will come in October as Brooks and others handling stimulus money, including the state government, make initial reports on how many people have been put to work.
