Online Exclusive: Bonner Addresses Stimulus Funds at Alliance Summit

Secretary of the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency Dale Bonner will be among the speakers at the Valley Economic Alliance economic summit on May 6. The summit’s theme is how businesses can seize opportunities during the recession. CSUN Economic Research Director Bill Roberts will give an economic and market outlook with a real estate outlook from Robert Kleinhenz, Deputy Chief Economist, California Association of REALTORS. Earvin “Magic” Johnson gives the keynote address. Bonner has been business, transportation and housing agency director since 2007. The agency regulates a broad cross-section of business segments, including banks and credit unions, HMOs, real estate and mortgage lending; oversees CalTrans, the Department of Motor Vehicles and the highway patrol; and housing and housing finance programs. The agency’s main effort is to be supportive of the business community by coordinating its investment in transportation, housing and other kinds of infrastructure, Bonner said. Bonner’s talk at the summit will be on the federal stimulus money in Southern California. “It is another opportunity for me to emphasize the importance of regional decision makers coming together and making decisions about the best way to maximize the impact of this one-time opportunity that’s come to us through the stimulus bill,” Bonner said. Question: What will you be speaking about at the Alliance summit? Answer: The event is a forum to talk about the federal stimulus bill and how it may be impacting this region, particularly the Valley. I am going to be talking with them about the efforts we have underway statewide to better understand how local and regional agencies are investing the dollars they receive directly from the federal government and how we can compare notes to identify opportunities to work together to bring more of those dollars to California but also to find ways to leverage them with any dollars coming from the state so we don’t miss any opportunities to maximize the amount of dollars we & #65533;re getting out here but more importantly the impact we can get out of those dollars. Q: Do you know how much money the state will receive? A: It’s hard to pin down. Some of the dollars are flowing to any number of government agencies, some school districts, some cities directly, some community college districts. Some of the money is coming directly by virtue of formulas, which in some cases are population based; sometimes it & #65533;s a function of the economy and the area. There are other dollars that have yet to be dispersed that will be made available on a competitive grant basis. In the latter case many of those guidelines that speak to how those programs work have yet to be developed by the federal government. So when you add that all up it & #65533;s kind of difficult to pinpoint or estimate how much money is coming to this area. Q: How can businesses get some of the stimulus money? A: That is one of the key issues I am focused on right now. In a very few instances there are some programs that allow private businesses to apply to the government for a grant of some kind. But in most cases that is a research grant or a loan guarantee that funds a specific kind of research or development effort. The majority of cases are going to be situations where companies are going to be a beneficiary of some kind of enhanced level of government spending or are partnering with another business that intends to be a recipient of a government contract or an order placed by a government agency. Part of the effort I described earlier trying to understand what dollars are flowing here locally and how they are being invested is designed to help us all develop good information about where the enhanced spending is going to be. Small businesses and others can make judgments about how to develop strategic alliances or adjust their business strategy to enhance their ability to receive some of the stimulus as well.