Expert Insights

Just months ago, the U.S. Senate authorized the largest five-year research and development budget in U.S. history. The $250 billion investment marks a monumental increase in federal support for projects that deploy smart city technology. To no surprise, state and...

Bike trails and greenway projects no longer represent inconsequential amounts of funding. In fact, these types of projects now represent a spending impact that exceeds $10.6 billion annually. Data indicates trail development projects that encourage hiking, biking, and...

As construction, engineering, and development firms consider the impact of inflation and the increasing cost of capital, some are beginning to embrace projects designed to provide tax incentives. These types of projects fall into the category of ‘adaptive reuse’ and a...

We are living in historic times, and we are fortunate to be able to participate in the rebuilding of America’s infrastructure. The funding that has been made available and the projects that are being launched will be written about and studied for decades to come. All...

Libraries are critical public assets for communities and a recent study confirmed that most are funded locally. Currently there are hundreds of modernization, expansion, and technology upgrade projects occurring in libraries throughout the country. This is a very...

American ports are currently receiving massive amounts of funding from the federal government for much-needed and long-overdue upgrades. The country’s port infrastructure is a critical component of America’s global competitiveness, and the funding will target critical...

The two largest international sporting events, The World Cup and Olympic Games, will be hosted in a few U.S. cities in 2026 and 2028. Both events require massive work by host cities, and new development projects will be large and expensive. This effort is already...

Electric vehicles (EV) should never again be considered ‘futuristic.’ They are the ‘here and now’ and investment funding for electric vehicles is now flowing abundantly from both public and private sector coffers. Billions of dollars are available for electrification...

Changes are occurring rapidly at the local levels of government and the changes will likely be noticed first by citizens and businesses because of fee increases. Citizen services are critical components of local government and while public officials work diligently to...

As America fights to preserve its economic leadership globally, universities are critical partners. A skilled and trained workforce is the required component of economic stability and because of that prosperity cannot be preserved without a strong education...

In spite of all the new federal funding and dozens of new grant programs, city and county officials are still scrambling to launch projects designed to generate revenue. There are many reasons for this. The primary reason is that the new federal funding has a short...

Hundreds of cities with minor league baseball teams already have launched stadium construction projects or have plans to launch them soon. This phenomenon is not happening because a hundred cities decided all at once to upgrade stadiums where minor league baseball...

There are multiple topics of high concern for Americans today but one that is receiving less media attention is related to the country’s water resources. Regions of high growth are vying for the same diminishing water supplies, and, at the same time, the country’s...

Microgrids are designed to harness renewable energy and make it available for all kinds of reasons. Often microgrids are used when disasters cause larger utility grids to falter or shut down completely. They also are used as backup power for hospital systems, school...

Throughout the country, health-care facilities are receiving an abundance of attention, and large construction, renovation, and expansion projects are being announced weekly. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission is partnering with The University of Texas...

Public officials in Austin hope that the ongoing multi-billion-dollar transit authority project there will reduce automobile traffic by 50 percent when completed. Whether that goal is reachable or not is undetermined, but the project is indicative of a shift in public...

Cameras, video monitoring systems, and interoperability platforms are receiving more attention than ever because of public safety concerns. The immediate scramble to install more cameras and enhance video surveillance systems has never been greater. Billions will be...

America’s airports are some of the country’s most powerful economic engines. They contribute more than $14 trillion in economic activity annually and support approximately 11.5 million jobs. Congress, after years of underfunding airport infrastructure projects,...

Sustainability has become an extremely hot topic because of the billions of dollars in federal funding available for projects that will protect and extend America’s infrastructure. Congress and government leaders at every jurisdictional level of government realize...

Rail projects are being launched in states throughout the country. Much of the funding requires a focus on projects that improve safety while also enhancing and/or upgrading rail infrastructure so the projects reflect that mandate. The much-needed rail project funding...

Billions of dollars in public funding and tax enrichments are currently available to support the construction of affordable housing throughout the U.S. The impetus behind these incentives is the country’s affordable housing shortage which has reached near-crisis...

Thousands of communities throughout the country owe their origins to a nearby waterway. The value of regional water resources has never been in dispute, and the coveted assets have never been underestimated. Now, there is a noticeable growing trend for community...

Millions of motorists cross bridges daily, and every driver assumes that these bridges are safe. That safety, however, comes at an extremely high price – high enough to have prohibited hundreds of bridge maintenance projects over the past decade. With new funding,...

New federal infrastructure funding is beginning to reach local officials, and while the revenue will be spent in many ways, some commonalities are obvious. Many public officials will allocate the funding to refurbish roads or upgrade water systems. Others will use it...

America’s shifting social, political, economic, and environmental conditions have created rapid change. Leaders in industry and government are scrambling to respond. Their immediate focus appears to be on worker shortages, increasing costs, supply chain disruptions,...

For entirely too many years, millions of U.S. citizens have struggled with little, if any, access to broadband. However, plans are evolving quickly now to resolve that problem. Congress has approved dozens of funding programs that allocate billions for broadband....

Someone asked me recently if public-private partnerships (P3s) are just a fad or a delivery method that will ultimately be the country’s future. There’s no doubt about the answer. Public-private partnerships are here to stay. The federal government, realizing that...

Technology has altered the way individuals participate in work, travel, entertainment, and health care. It also has changed the way government provides services. Technology purchases of upgrades and enhancements are required, and that will not change. The value of the...

In past years, economic development initiatives often required funding that governmental entities were not able to provide. Now, however, many projects to stimulate the economy are delivered through public-private partnerships (P3s) taking advantage of funding and tax...

For generations of Americans, the interstate system has been an icon representing infrastructural achievement. However, over the decades, the network of roadways has faced continuous use and declining upkeep and maintenance. After decades, the skeletal fiber of...

Public officials in government are asking difficult questions about how to deliver critical infrastructure projects. Their concern is real, and their questions are valid because the trend of delivering large projects through public-private partnerships (P3s) is...

Climate change has been the cause of immeasurable damage over the last few decades, and there is no end in sight. In addition to the tragic loss of lives, natural disasters have impacted at least some part of the infrastructure in every region of the country. To halt...

As students file out of classrooms for summer break, school campuses will become the epicenter for an abundance of seasonal construction projects. This summer the projects are likely to be large. School officials were recently notified that the federal government has...

Public safety is an extremely high priority for government officials, and a renewed focus on improving it has resulted in large funding allocations. Public safety assets throughout the country are outdated and long overdue for modernization. With funding now...

The government marketplace is huge – so large, in fact, that it is almost impossible to identify any one product or service that is not purchased by public entities. Unlike the commercial sector, the government marketplace is transparent, and upcoming opportunities of...

What an interesting moment of time Americans are experiencing today in the government marketplace. The abundance of available funding is so new, some public officials are hesitant to spend it. But, in other jurisdictions, innovation is rampant and visionary leaders...

America faces a new chapter in border security as federal mandates and border restrictions are lifted that have been in place since the outbreak of COVID. If the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is correct, daily border crossings will soon surge by thousands. To...

Railways — once the backbone of timely freight shipping — are now strained by bottlenecks, congestion, labor shortages, supply disruptions, and what some classify as exorbitant costs. However, there is change in the wind. When freight shipping is stalled, it results...

After more than a decade, Congress is again allowing federal earmarks, and when the recent omnibus appropriations bill was passed, billions became available for new, upcoming projects. While highly populated areas of the U.S. received large funding allocations, rural...

Here is something no one expected! Public officials throughout the country are struggling with the task of managing large amounts of federal funding currently flowing to them. The revenue is conditioned on rules, compliance, and often a requirement to submit an...