Finding Opportunities in the Stimulus

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 – a.k.a. the stimulus bill – is not as bad as you think.

Seriously.

In preparation for my March 26 webcast The Economic Stimulus Package: Impacts & Opportunities for Distributors, I have been going over the 407 page bill, section by section. I have identified and classified 279 unique spending or tax items.

Yes, there is way too much money being spent on non-stimulative social programs. Nevertheless, I estimate that about $200 billion in direct and indirect spending – about one-quarter of the $787 billion total spend from 2009 to 2019 – will impact wholesale distribution companies. Almost three-quarters of this money will be spent by the end of 2011.

For example, $48.1 billion will be transferred to state and local governments for highway construction and transportation infrastructure, spread out by year as follows:

These highway funds are being distributed by formula to states and then sub-allocated within each state:

• 67% available for use in any area
• 30% sub-allocated by areas based on population size
• 3% for “mandatory transportation enhancements”

You can view the spending breakdown for yourself at the Federal Highway Administration’s website.

Your priority should be to align your business with the buyers and customer that will benefit from this demand creation.

On my March 26 webcast, I’ll share tactics that I’ve heard from wholesale distribution executives who are working on stimulus-related sales plans. I’ll also share more examples and details to help you (a) understand what’s actually in the bill, (b) anticipate the likely economic impact on wholesaler-distributors, and (b) pinpoint your sales and marketing opportunities.

In the meantime, spend some time on Recovery.gov, the government’s official site. It’s pretty light on content now, but will supposedly contain more detail over time.