| Volume 2, Issue 1 | April 21, 2010 |
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Communicating well with public officials - critical to success!
 Want to sell to government? Want to position specific solutions in the short amount of time you'll be granted when you get in front of a decision-maker? If so, choose your words carefully.
So what? This question should be carefully considered by individuals making statements to public officials. What did your statement communicate? What makes it important to the listener?
Not to confuse, here's a trick that works 100 percent of the time...if it's executed correctly.
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| Strategic Partnerships, Inc. provides opportunity identification for all 50 states. Click here for more information. | |
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| Rural communities plan millions in local projects |
$193 million in funds will benefit fire stations, libraries, hospitals, road work
Building and upgrading essential infrastructure in rural communities in 32 states will be paid for in part by Recovery Act funds. In addition to infrastructure repair, the funds - in the form of both grants and loans - also will finance community centers, public safety buildings and health care facilities. The $193 million in funding is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Community Facilities Program and will be matched by $68.5 million from other sources.
In California, the Morro Bay Fire Department will receive a $1.5 million loan. The funding will be used to purchase equipment and construct living quarters, a conference/training room and supply storage. Connecticut's Generations Family Health Center, Inc., will benefit from a $7 million loan to construct a health care facility and the Bayfield Early Education Programs, Inc. in Colorado will use a $500,000 loan and a $200,000 grant to purchase land and build a new learning center facility.
Other projects include a $34,500 grant to the Eldorado, Illinois, Public Library District to renovate the public library, renovations to the Belmond Medical Center in Iowa through a $21.6 million loan, construction of a 15,000-square-foot addition for the Whitesburg ARH Hospital of the Appalachian Regional Health Care, Inc. in Kentucky from a $13.932 million loan.
Other projects across the country include construction of new fire stations, purchase of new hospital equipment, renovations to libraries, road safety improvements, construction of community centers, health centers, courthouse repairs, purchase of technology for community-use facilities, construction of school facilities and more. To view a complete list of loans and grants and information about each project, click here and look under "Recent Reports."
For information about these and other funding opportunities,
contact Reagan Weil or Richard Hartmann at 512-531-3900.
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| Upcoming education opportunities | Purdue grant will allow for expansion of center
 The Bindley Bioscience Center at Purdue University's Discovery Park has received funding that will allow the center to expand not only its physical facilities, but also its researcher numbers. The $14.9 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health will provide for a 29,000-square-foot expansion to establish the Multidisciplinary Cancer Research Facility at the university and will 30-40 new jobs to direct and carry out research and the center. The current center is approximately 50,000 square feet.
The expansion "addresses a critical need for disease researchers from across multiple disciplines at Purdue," said Richard Kuhn (pictured), director of the Bindley Bioscience Center and head of the Department of Biological Sciences. "This also builds on the university's strengths in cancer research, drug discovery and development, engineering, chemistry and instrumentation, and veterinary medicine with a disease research-focused, multidisciplinary facility for biomedical research."
City College of San Francisco has $400,000 lighting project
City College of San Francisco, part of the California Community Colleges System, has a $400,000 project planned for which it is seeking vendors. The project includes installation of site lighting at the New West Campus Reservoir. The project includes installation of completed site lighting throughout the area, including Parking Lot Q, the inclines between lower reservoir and upper reservoir, sidewalk on the east side of the inclines and surrounding of Joint Use Facility, but not limited to low reservoir. The project also includes excavating, trenching, installation of light pole bases and control panel. Backfill and patching all existing landscape and appurtenances around
the work is also included.
Charter school planning new $25 million middle, high school
The KIPP Academy charter school in Lynn, Massachusetts, will break ground this fall on a $25 million middle and high school building. The construction follows the purchase by the school of a 5.5-acre site for $1.35 million. The building on the site will be demolished and a 68,000-square-foot middle and high school building will be constructed there. The building will be financed through a federal tax credit program awarded by the state, bank loans and a private fund drive. Some state funding awarded to the school that can be used for facility costs will also help pay for the building. The new facility will nearly double the size of the current building.
California's Watsonville Community School will build new facility
 The Watsonville (California) Community School, which served at-risk middle and high school students in leased facilities, will soon get a new home. The Santa Cruz County Office of Education has authorized building of a new 25,000-square-foot, two-story building to house up to 120 students and 23 teachers.
The current leased buildings are old and expensive to keep up, according to County Superintendent Michael Watkins (pictured). "The bottom line is we want to have contemporary and adequate facilities for all students," he said. The county education office was awarded a $1 million state grant to purchase the 1.5-acre property for the school and building design. Another grant application is being process to pay for construction.
Dunkerton voters approve $2 million bond election
Voters in Dunkerton, Iowa, recently approved a $2 million bond election that will allow construction of a new two-story brick learning center. The funds will replace the existing school, which was built in 1921. A $4 million bond issue failed last August.
Los Angeles Community College District in midst of major construction program
The Los Angeles Community College District is in the middle of a $5.7 billion construction programs that may be one of the largest college public works projects in the country. Successful bond issues are allowing for replacing aging classrooms, labs and infrastructure and the nine campuses in the district.
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$2.3 BILLION in new funding for Texas projects!!!!
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| Water, wastewater improvements on tap in 12 states | $48.6 million in Recovery Act funds headed to 18 projects nationwide
Water and wastewater system improvements are on tap for 18 projects in 12 states, after $48.6 million in Recovery Act funding was recently announced through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development's Water and Environmental Program. The program provides both loans and grants to ensure water and wastewater infrastructure is sufficient in rural areas to deliver safe drinking water and to protect the environment.
Two of the largest investments were a $5 million loan and $3.738 million grant to the City of Ferndale, California, and a $5.582 million loan and $2.999 million grant to the Sussex County, Delaware, Council to provide wastewater system improvements in both entities.
In Connecticut, the Town of Woodstock was allocated a $786,000 loan and a $614,000 grant to provide wastewater system improvements for the Woodstock Academy. The Academy is the public high school for residents of six neighboring towns and other communities in the area also enroll their students there. The current wastewater system becomes more taxed as the student population increases and the current maximum flow has almost been reached. The funding will allow the Academy wastewater system to connect to the Town of Woodstock system, allowing for growth. To view a complete listing by state of the grant and loan recipients and what the funds will be used for, click here and look under "Recent Reports."
For information about these and other funding opportunities,
contact Reagan Weil or Richard Hartmann at 512-531-3900.
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Where are they now?
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Are you a government official who has moved into a new position or to a new agency? Did you recently retire? Were you recently named to an executive-level position at a state-supported college, university or community college? Have you secured a new job as superintendent of a public school? If so, we'd like to hear from you - and so would your friends and colleagues - for our "Where Are They Now" column. Just drop us a line at editor@spartnerships.com and let us know about your previous job and where you are now. This week we feature Terri Takai.
 Terri Takai, California State Chief Information Officer, has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as CIO of the Defense Department and Assistant Secretary of Defense (Network and Information Integration). Her appointment must be confirmed by the Senate. Before becoming California's CIO, Takai was director of the IT department and CIO of the State of Michigan. She also previously held a top IT management position with a major automaker firm. |
Stimulus news briefs
| Funds will pay for hazardous tree removal as part of safety plan
Federal stimulus funds administered by the South Carolina Forestry Commission will be used for hazardous tree removal and canopy restoration through a competitive grant process. Orangeburg has received $13,000 and Holly Hill was awarded $18,250 in grant funding. So far, $845,000 has been distributed to 46 local governments in South Carolina, including two counties and 44 municipalities. The goal of the program is to help government entities improve public safety by removing trees that are not structurally sound while at the same time replacing each tree downed with a new tree. The grant funds will be used for hazard tree assessments, hazard tree removals, hazard pruning and tree-replacement plantings. The activities are only on public rights-of-way and in public parks.
Millions in funds going to enhance airport safety equipment
 Airports across the country will soon be safer with the addition of 1,200 explosives trace detection units and increased inline baggage screening systems. Recovery Act funds totaling $35.5 million were announced recently by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (pictured) to purchase the detection units that will improve explosives detection capabilities at a number of airports nationwide. Napolitano called the systems "state-of-the-art technologies" that will "strengthen security and streamline screening operations while making air travel more convenient for passengers." The explosives trace detection systems will screen checked and carry-on baggage for explosives residue. More than 7,000 of these units are already in use at America airports. Additionally, $30.4 million in funds will be provided to expand the online baggage screening system at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport. They are designed to check baggage quickly for explosives while streamlining the ticketing and boarding processes. Another $6.1 million in Recovery Act funds will be used to purchase 135 chemical analysis devices to identify potential explosives in medically necessary liquids brought through airport security checkpoints. More than $90 million allocated for displaced worker training
States that work with their local workforce investment boards, community-based organizations and employers to help unemployed workers can qualify for part of up to $90 million in Recovery Act funding. The U.S. Department of Labor has announced the funding that will be used to create on-the-job training experiences and help workers acquire job skills and experiences that will help them toward finding jobs. The money is from the National Emergency Grant funds and states will apply for funding allocations. Those receiving funds will work with selected partners to create on-the-job training opportunities in the private and private nonprofit sectors. For more information, click here and read Training and Employment Notice No. 38-09.
Central Ohio Health Information Exchange gets $6 million for health IT
The Central Ohio Health Information Exchange will receive $6 million in federal funds to assist more than 1,300 Columbus-area primary-care physicians make the transition from paper to electronic health records. A total of seven groups across the state will receive money to help 6,000 physicians make the switch, which is expected to make health care more efficient and less prone to errors.
The organization will target doctors in practices of 10 physicians or fewer to educate them about health IT and the systems on the market, provide them with technical support and ensure that vendors fulfill their obligations. Counties form coalition to seek $27 million in broadband funds
 Four New Jersey counties realize that four heads are better than one...or four counties. Atlantic, Cumberland, Salem and Gloucester counties have formed a coalition seeking $27 million in stimulus funds to create a regional broadband network. Their shared services agreement would allow them to improve wireless phone and Internet networks if they receive funding from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"Not only will it help us to enhance, expand and reinforce our emergency response services, but it will allow data sharing among the four counties, vastly improving our ability to maintain government operations during a disaster recovery situation," said Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson (pictured). The goal would be to provide access to agencies in the four counties and eventually to private residences. Some areas in the four counties do not have cell phone reception or slow Internet connections. Salem County is serving as the lead agency in the endeavor.
For information about these and other funding opportunities,
contact Reagan Weil or Richard Hartmann at 512-531-3900. |
What the states are doing with stimulus funds
| Fort McPherson National Cemetery in Maxwell, Nebraska, will use $777,000 in stimulus funds for a major renovation that includes raising, cleaning and realigning 7,400 headstones in 19 burial sections and replacing the turf in a dozen of the cemetery's burial sections. More than 400,000 square feet of turf will be replaced.
Four South Dakota entities will share $7.7 million in stimulus funds for a variety of projects. The county courthouse in Custer will get $5.7 million for an expansion project and another $1.1 million will be used for an expansion of the Faulkton Area Medical Center. A new municipal building will be built in Sturgis with an $811,000 loan while the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Airport Association will improve a hangar with a $15,000 grant.
The Navajo Nation has been awarded $32.2 million in Recovery Act broadband funds for projects covering 27,000 square miles in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. The Navajo Nation will match the grant with $13.8 million of its own funds. Those funds will increase high-speed, affordable broadband over 550 miles of new aerial fiber optic cable and 59 microwave towers. The grant funds will connect 59 community centers and provide last-mile service.
North Jersey has been awarded $2.5 million in stimulus funds to make homes there more energy efficient. The Bergen County Community Action Partnership will weatherize 650 low-income residences. The projects are resulting in contracting opportunities for local businesses. The state of New Jersey got a total of $119 million to upgrade more than 13,000 homes.
Colorado residents are taking advantage of $18 million in rebates for purchase of energy-efficient appliances and home energy upgrades. The rebates range from $50 to $400 on qualifying clothes washers, dishwashers, refrigerators, furnaces, hot water heaters and boilers. Larger rebates are offered for home insulation or installation of residential or commercial solar and wind energy systems.
Recovery Act funds will pay for 100 percent of the costs of a street reconstruction project in Woodridge, Illinois. The $489,000 road project on Janes Avenue covers about a mile and will include patching of pavement, removing and replacing the street surface and replacing curbs and gutters. The Recovery Act will also pay approximately $189,000 for storm sewer upgrades in the city.
The last of economic stimulus bonding for McHenry County, Illinois, is likely to be allocated to two sports ventures. The Finance and Audit Committee recently recommended giving the proposed Lakewood Sportsplex $18 million of its bonding authority, with the remaining $3.57 million going to the proposed McHenry County K-Nines baseball stadium in Woodstock. Plans for the $40 million Lakewood sportsplex call for a 200-acre complex anchored by a 125,000-square-foot main building. The K-Nines stadium will be about 37,000 square feet. |
| Other national contracting opportunities | |
Project will test effectiveness of solar panels on bridge
Officials in Toledo, Ohio, will be a test case for equipping a bridge with solar panels to see if the technology can produce energy savings. The Veterans' Glass City Skyway, which carries Interstate 280 over the Maumee River, will get a $1.5 million boost through a federal grant to install solar panels on the bridge. The panels are expected to help power the bridge's pylon lights and part of its road lights.
The testing is hoped to show that the panels can produce enough energy to power the lights for years to come. The project also allows for the testing of the panels to see how they react to weather, dirt, vibration and any anticipated vandalism. The research part of the project - $580,000 - will be funded by the University of Toledo and the Ohio Department of Transportation.
California county seeking inmate telephone service
Santa Barbara County, California, is seeking an inmate telephone service for the County Sheriff's Department.
Fort Lee 1,000-room hotel facility gets Senate subcommittee approval
A long-awaited, 1,000-room hotel at Fort Lee in New Jersey is soon to become a reality, after the Senate Armed Services Committee Personnel Subcommittee gave approval for the facility to be housed on the base. The next step in the process is getting Fort Lee's garrison commander to sign off on the project. The Army has the funding to complete the design of the project, which is a non-appropriated fund request. If there is no problem with the environmental-impact statement, construction could then begin.
An updated construction budget that includes $3.7 billion for capital spending has been approved by the Washington Legislature. The budget adds $452 million for building projects across the state, including $122 million for environmental programs. It also earmarks $100 million for a plan for a statewide program of energy-efficiency school makeovers and $30 million for affordable housing projects.
Illinois planning $5 billion in road, highway spending
 Billions of dollars worth of road work will get under way soon in Illinois, thanks to borrowed funds from recently approved state public works programs. The state says $5 billion worth of work on more than 4,700 miles of highways and on more than 760 bridges will begin this spring. The amount is close to $2 billion more than in recent years. Projects will widen and resurface roads, rehabilitate bridges, add new lanes and build interchanges. The funding will come from $142 million in bonds from the state's Jump Start small capital plan and $2.49 billion from the Illinois Jobs Now bond program, both approved by the legislature last year. Contracts will be awarded for many of the projects starting this month. "We are very excited about what the next few years will bring to Illinois," said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig (pictured). "We are working diligently to get many of these projects started to support economic development and improve our state's infrastructure in communities statewide."
Sacramento seeks vendors specializing in Internet connectivity
Vendors who specialize in Internet service connectivity are being sought for a project for the City of Sacramento, California's Information Technology Department.
Mississippi OKs bonds for transportation projects
A bill has been signed in Mississippi that will allow for the authorization of more than $300 million in bonds to finance transportation projects, highways and bridges. The bill includes $90 million for highway improvements to an auto manufacturing plant being built near Blue Springs. It also includes $100 million for repair or replacement of state highway bridges, $20 million for local bridges and $20 million for country roads.
Two New Mexico fire departments awarded DHS grant funding
Two fire departments in New Mexico have been approved for a total of more than $125,000 in grant funds from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Santa Fe Fire Department will receive $92,260 from DHS' Assistance to Firefighters Grant program and the Laguna's Highland Meadows Volunteer Fire Department received $35,720. The money can be used for operations and safety programs, including training, equipment, fitness and health and safety modifications to stations and other facilities.
Landfill solar photovoltaic farm sought in California
The City of Sacramento, California, is seeking a vendor to develop and operate a solar photovoltaic farm at the city's 28th Street landfill.
For information about these and other funding opportunities,
contact Reagan Weil or Richard Hartmann at 512-531-3900. |
| People |
 Lane Rawlins (pictured), who served as president of Washington State University from 2000 to 2007, has been named interim president of the University of North Texas in Denton. In addition to having served Washington State, Rawlins is also a former president of the University of Memphis and was vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Alabama System. Four persons are finalists for the position of provost at the University of Central Florida: Tony Waldrop, vice chancellor for research and economic development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Raymond Alden, executive vice president and sitting provost at Northern Illinois University; Richard DeMillo, professor of computing and management at Georgia Tech; and James Coleman, vice provost of research at fellow Conference USA school Rice University. Philip Bender, superintendent of the New Prairie United School Corp. in New Castle, Indiana, has been hired as superintendent of the Park Ridge-Niles (Illinois) school district. Stephen Guthrie, assistant superintendent of administration at the Carroll County (Maryland) Public Schools, has been promoted to superintendent, replacing Charles Ecker, who will retire this summer. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has appointed First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner as interim head of the Department of Water and Power, replacing S. David Freeman, who recently stepped down from the position. New Mexico Spaceport Authority director Steve Landeene recently announced his resignation after serving in that capacity since December 2007. Charles "Chuck" McClelland, a 32-year veteran law enforcement officer, has been confirmed by the Houston City Council as the city's new police chief, following his appointment by new Mayor Annise Parker. Four persons have been named finalists for the Las Cruces, New Mexico, city manager spot: George Gretsas, city manager of Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Todd Hileman, village manager of Glenview, Illinois; Chris Hillman, city manager of Clearfield City, Utah; and David Richert, Scottsdale, Arizona, acting city manager. |
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| Calendar of events |
Government Health IT Conference planned in June
The 2010 Government Health IT (GHIT) Conference and Exhibition, sponsored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), is slated for June 15-16 at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. Featured educational tracks include: Blueprints for Nationwide Health Information Exchange and Connecting the Health Community. For more information, click here.
Small business briefing conference slated in Texas The last session of the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) Business Outreach and Program (BOP) Services Small Business Briefing conferences has been announced for June 15 in Texarkana. The conference goal is to provide small and minority-owned business communities an opportunity to learn more about contracting opportunities with TxDOT. Information will be available to help them do business with the agency and the State of Texas. The sessions not only allow small businesses to be introduced to TxDOT and other state agencies, but also allows them to learn more about the economic development opportunities in their regions. It also allows the agencies to show the myriad of opportunities available for small and minority businesses in the state. For more information, click here or call 1.866.480.2518, Option 2.
Norfolk Housing Authority hosts training for maintenance personnel
The Norfolk (Virginia) Redevelopment and Housing Authority (NRHA) will hold training for its maintenance personnel to install the SafeTelement cooking system on 363 existing ranges. The cooking system will provide an upgrade for electric coiled stovetops and help prevent cooking fires while using less electricity. The training will begin today, Wednesday, and run through Friday (April 21-23) and will be conducted by the local cooking system dealer and personnel who are certified on all aspects of the system. For more information, contact Dale Hunter at 757-477-5449.
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