Contractors cash in as funds trickle down - Business First of Columbus:

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million have been awarded to as the company workws to overcome a sharp decline in privately fundedecommercial work. The Brunswick bridg e and highway contractor began work in the past two weekws ona $14 million pavinh project on Interstate 88 near Binghamton, and on a $2.5 milliob culvert repair job in northerhn New York. “The stimulus is keepingb the workforce going,” said George president of the Rensselaer County-based constructiob company.
“We are hoping the money is going to starr trickling down a little faster Butsome contractors, attorneyss and industry players are questioning the speed at whicy stimulus money has become and they doubt it will get better anytimer soon. “Here we are five months into it and the statde hasspent $340 million,” said Todd Howe, president of LLC, a D.C., subsidiary of LLP. Still, New York led all statesa in spending stimulus funds through the endof May, Howe citing a recent report by the Federal Procurement Data System. Californiqa was a distant secondat $151 million.
“Thd thinking in Washington is that the mone yreally isn’t going to staryt coming in until 2010-2011,” Howe said. The federakl stimulus was signed into lawon Feb. 17. Since that a total of $25 millioj has been awarded to local companieseor out-of-town contractors for stimulus work in the Captiall Region, according to state Department of Transportation records. Rifenburg’s $14 millio n Interstate 88 corridor project was not included inthe state’sx list of awarded contracts. In all, 217 transportatio n projects totaling $617.8 million have been approved, Gov. David Paterson said last week. Contracts have been signeed for $103 million of that work as ofJune 16.
“Projectx are in the pipeline,” said Stanley Gee, actinyg commissioner of the state Departmentof Transportation. It takess approximately 60 days from the time the governor approvezs projects until a contract is signed and workcan begin, he Rifenburg is one of six Capital Region companies that have won a contract for a transportation-related project. Another contract went to D.A. Co. Inc. whichu will begin work Mondayg ona $1.13 million bridge concrete repai project in Herkimer County. Even so, said Robert Manz, president of the Mechanicvilleconstructiob company, “We just aren’y seeing a lot of mone in this area.
” Projectg manager Dave Santos said the bridg e project will take 10 to 15 employees betweenm three and four months to “It’s pretty low tech,” he said. What concerns him is that many of the stimulus projectsare cosmetic. Santos questions whether the federal monegy will have much ofa long-term impac on improving the state’s highway and bridge system. “Ws don’t want to sound like a bunch of Santos said.