Federal dollars making a difference to local businesses, programs

Where's all that federal stimulus money going? A minute slice of it has made its way to a quiet street corner in Cedar Rapids' New Bohemia.

“It definitely helped me,” said Tom Slaughter, “but I didn't know it had those federal dollars.”

When Slaughter took out a loan to help rebuild Tornado's Grub and Pub, 1400 Third St. SE, after the 2008 flood, it was guaranteed by a Small Business Administration program funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the $787 billion federal infusion usually referred to as “the stimulus.”

“I still had to come up with a big percentage down, but it helped me tremendously because I own the building now,” said Slaughter, 44, who was buying the building on contract before the flood hit. Without the SBA guarantee, “I probably would've been here, (but) I don't know that I would've owned the property.”

Tornado's is one of dozens of Linn County businesses receiving SBA loan guarantees, according to a database compiled by the non-profit journalism consortium ProPublica. The database, which breaks down stimulus recipients by county and recipient, is posted at ProPublica's Website, www.propublica.org

Through April 1, Iowa has received $3,358,228,755 in stimulus spending, according to ProPublica. That's $1,118 per Iowan, a bit above the national rate of $1,029, despite the state's lower unemployment rate.

Linn County received $486 per resident, for a total of $101,329,477. Johnson County's $78,099,477 amounts to $610 per resident.

The per-capita numbers can be skewed by the presence of government agencies through which stimulus dollars are allocated. Polk County received $2,528 per person, and Story County, home to Iowa State University, $4,924 per person.

Ed Pound, communications director for the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, better known as Recovery.gov, calls ProPublica's database a solid resource. Those who compiled the information and work to keep it current, though, acknowledge the difficulty of tracking spending through dozens of agencies.

“We've learned that getting an exact answer on this stuff is nearly impossible,” Jennifer LaFleur, ProPublica's director of computer-assisted reporting, said by e-mail. “Your state usually is the best source for the latest spending information.”

ProPublica's accounting of stimulus spending at the state and local level trails actual expenditures by a few months. The more local the entry, the more likely it's a complete accounting - like the $1.75 million SBA loan guarantee to Midamar, the Cedar Rapids export-import trading company employing about 35 people.

The loan covers the day-to-day operating costs involved in shipping goods between countries, including customs fees. Bill Aossey, Midamar's founder and president, said his company never needed such a contingency fund until credit dried up in the financial crisis that hit in late 2008.

“We've never been required to have this bank and financial credit guarantees until the banking crisis,” he said. “Basically, the banking industry stopped giving credit.”

SBA spokesman Joe Folsom said stimulus funding allowed the agency to waive fees it usually charges borrowers and lenders, freeing more money for loans and guarantees. The stimulus appropriation has run out, though.

“I'll let you surmise what will happen” to the level of SBA activity, Folsom said.

Stimulus spending flows through existing government programs and agencies like the SBA and the Pell Grant student-aid program.

At Kirkwood Community College, for example, Pell grants jumped from $13.3 million to 4,924 students in the 2008-'09 school year to $23.3 million to 7,182 students in the most recent term, said Steve Ovel, the school's director of government relations.