The economic upheaval caused by COVID-19 has put intense pressure on municipalities, public utilities, and other public agencies. There isn’t a community in America that hasn’t seen a drop in revenue, while the services they provide remain as essential as ever. The first rounds of federal stimulus have focused on individuals or small businesses, but soon the negotiations will turn to stimulating the recovery.
We recently held a webinar on exactly this topic. We looked at the proposed infrastructure stimulus bills, reflected on our experience with the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act in 2008 and 2009, and laid out what we think communities need to be doing now to position their projects to win funding.
While much is still to be decided, there are things that we know communities, utilities, and public agencies can and should be doing right now. This means working with key stakeholders, local leaders, and significant employers in town to build support for projects. It means identifying where local matching funds will come from. It means making sure that permitting and environmental hurdles are cleared. And it means pushing to get projects truly “shovel-ready” so that construction can begin within the tight timeframe any stimulus will likely require.
If you attended the session, thank you! If you weren’t able to join us, you can watch a recording of the webinar or download our presentation. Our entire Strategic Funding Team is working to make sure that our clients are ready to take advantage of emerging opportunities to advance projects, bring in funding, and get their communities back on track for growth.
