Press Release - Announces Recovery Act Job & Spending Data
OFFICE OF GOV. BILL RITTER, JR.
WWW.COLORADO.GOV/GOVERNOR
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, OCT. 27, 2009
CONTACT
Myung Oak Kim, 303.947.5708, Myung.kim@state.co.us
GOV. RITTER ANNOUNCES RECOVERY ACT JOB & SPENDING DATA
Gov. Bill Ritter today released new reports showing widespread benefits to Colorado communities from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The reports show that millions of people have directly benefited from Recovery Act funds. They also indicate strong job creation and retention in construction, business contracts and teaching. The reports are based on information submitted to the federal government earlier this month to comply with Section 1512 of the Recovery Act and data from state agencies.
"The Recovery Act has thrown a lifeline to Colorado when we most needed it, helping to keep thousands of teachers in the classroom at our public colleges and universities and preserving critical public safety services," Gov. Ritter said. "Millions of Coloradans are benefiting from tax cuts and enhanced safety net services. And scores of businesses have won contracts that allow them to stay afloat and hire new employees.
"This is just the beginning," Gov. Ritter added. "Most of the billions of dollars in Recovery Act funds expected to flow into Colorado have yet to be spent, so job creation and benefits to communities and working families will continue to grow in coming months."
The new reports, compiled by the Governor's Economic Recovery Team, show that:
- $1.2 billion has been spent so far across Colorado.
- More than 10,000 jobs have been created or retained so far in a portion of the programs.
- Public institutions of higher education retained more than 2,600 full-time equivalent positions.
- More than 400 jobs have been retained or created through weatherization programs and 516 homes have received energy efficiency improvements.
- More than 100 Colorado businesses have been awarded contracts and have been paid more than $48 million so far.
- Over 3 million individuals and families have benefited from tax cuts, extra unemployment benefits and food stamps and weatherization work.
- 6,200 households have taken advantage of the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit.
The new reports are available on the state website and include:
- A new statewide report, called "The Colorado Story" that provides updated information on most Recovery Act dollars coming to Colorado.
- A spreadsheet with more than 1,000 rows of data that shows spending and job data for grants that went to state agencies. This allows people to see, for the first time, the transfer of funds from prime recipient to vendors and sub-recipients.
- A spreadsheet of federal contracts awarded to businesses and local agencies. More than 100 companies and local agencies have been awarded $523 million in contracts and received $43 million so far. Job retention and creation exceeds 800 full-time equivalent positions (FTE).
- A new bar chart that reflects an updated estimate of all funds coming to Colorado. The chart shows that tax cuts and tax credits to individuals represent the most amount of money being spent, followed by healthcare and unemployment benefits and job training. We expect more than $5.7 billion not including competitive grants that have yet to be awarded.
- More than 20 individual stories with photos and videos of people and businesses that benefited from ARRA. They include features about Standard Renewable Energy, a Boulder company that is more than doubling in size -- and is hiring now -- because of Recovery Act projects and an Aurora brewery that expanded with help from the Recovery Act. Other people explain how they've benefited from new jobs, emergency food and extra food stamp benefits.
Two weeks ago, the Governor's Economic Recovery Team released reports on Recovery Act spending for every county. Those will continue to be updated. More information, including new data on grants and loans, is scheduled to be posted Oct. 30 at www.recovery.gov the official national Recovery Act website.
The Recovery Act required recipients to submit a certain type of job calculation for grants, loans and contracts. Colorado utilized a centralized approach to send information to federal agencies earlier this month about state grants. Colorado officials used a conservative interpretation of the federal guidelines in calculating full-time equivalent jobs created or retained by Recovery Act funds.
It is also important to note that the full-time equivalent data provides a snapshot of job impact for roughly a third of all Recovery Act funds coming to Colorado. The 10,000-plus headcount figure also under-represents job impact because it applies to a small portion of the funds. The bottom line is that the actual job creation and retention in Colorado is higher than either number. The state cannot track jobs comprehensively, but will continue to collect and release data in coming months.