What should general contractors expect from Hurricane Sandy economic stimuli?

Where is the recovery and reinvestment support from the private sector? The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Pub.L. 111–5) and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, was an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.

To respond to the late-2000s recession, the primary objective for ARRA was to save and create jobs almost immediately. Secondary objectives were to provide temporary relief programs for those most impacted by the recession and invest in infrastructure, education, health, and 'green' energy. The approximate cost of the economic stimulus package was estimated to be $787 billion at the time of passage, later revised to $831 billion between 2009 and 2019. The Act included direct spending in infrastructure, education, health, and energy, federal tax incentives, and expansion of unemployment benefits and other social welfare provisions. The Act also included many items not directly related to immediate economic recovery such as long-term spending projects (e.g., a study of the effectiveness of medical treatments) and other items specifically included by Congress (e.g., a limitation on executive compensation in federally aided banks added by Senator Dodd and Rep. Frank).

The rationale for ARRA was from Keynesian macroeconomic theory, which argues that, during recessions, the government should offset the decrease in private spending with an increase in public spending in order to save jobs and stop further economic deterioration. Shortly after the law was passed, however, Keynesian economist and Nobel laureate Paul Krugman while supportive of the law, criticized the law for being too weak because it did not "even cover one third of the (spending) gap".


Construction can play a major role in the economic recovery. Home construction is starting to rebound six years after the mortgage bubble collapse. Women and minority general contractors should rise with the tide. The federal government provides incentives supporting women and minority owned business through federally funded projects. The rest of the economic recovery relies on the private sector to continue the support for women and minority general contractors. Hurricane Sandy created a demand for new construction. It also exposed dysfunction in local and regional authorities responsible for planning and management. The federal government has poured $50 billion into Hurricane Sandy relief. Where is the support from the private sector?




TD Bank, N.A., is a national banking institution in the United States (chartered and supervised by the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) which offers banking, insurance, brokerage, and investment banking services in Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The bank is a successor to the Portland Savings Bank, which started in Portland, Maine, in 1852, and later became Banknorth. The bank took its current name—TD Bank, N.A.—in 2008, through the acquisition and renaming of Commerce Bank and its subsequent merger with TD Banknorth, resulting in co-headquarters in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and Portland, Maine. The company is a part of The Toronto-Dominion Bank, which operates as TD Bank Group (TDBG) and is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The bank's "TD" initials, first popularized in Canada, are used officially for all American operations. The bank embraces a retail approach to banking; its branches are called "stores" and have extended operation hours.