Who has stimulus money?

More than $787 billion in spending and tax cuts was allocated under this year’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for rebuilding infrastructure, investing in energy efficiency and creating green jobs. So how can you use the Recovery Act to help your business?

Find money from the U.S. Department of Energy. The U.S. DOE allocated energy-efficiency stimulus dollars to state and local governments, based on formulas taking into account local population and other factors. Each regional government decided how to spend its portion of the funds, such as constructing high-performance buildings that use energy-efficient equipment.

You can find how and where each state is using Recovery Act dollars online at www.doe.gov/recovery.

Investigate state sites. Each state in the U.S – as well as the American territories – has a website that provides detailed information on its recovery spending. You'll find a link to all state sites at www.recovery.gov. Recovery.gov also provides links to Recovery Act–related jobs, grants and government loans. (Search under the “Opportunities” tab on the website.)

Search federal government projects online. Opportunities for doing business with the federal government are listed on multiple websites. All federal government contracting opportunities in excess of $25,000 – such as major solicitations, contract awards and subcontracting opportunities – can be found at FedBizOpps.gov, which includes several training videos that explain how to use the site.

You can also sign up with FedConnect at www.fedconnect.net to search opportunities and submit electronic responses for any of the projects listed.

More information about green building design, including meeting LEED requirements, is available online at www.lennoxcommercial.com.