Recovery News

Friday, October 22, 2010

Feds fund Conn. solar power projects
The Connecticut Clean Energy Fund said it will provide $3 million of stimulus funding for solar power projects at commercial, industrial and institutional buildings in the state.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mass. energy upgrades mark national step forward
Three major efficiency retrofit projects are under way in Boston through Mayor Thomas Menino's "Renew Boston" program and made possible by stimulus funding and utility incentives. According to project proponents, these energy efficiency upgrades could break new ground nationally.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Policy Tracker: Entrepreneurial activity drops; Feds provide $482.4M for broadband
Two new studies have shown a drop in both the number of Americans involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity last year and U.S. entrepreneurship ranking in the world; The U.S. has also issued $482.4 million in stimulus grants to fund projects designed to bring enhanced high-speed Internet access to millions of households, businesses and public institutions.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

U.S. 'important' stimulus projects include New England links
Nine projects with New England ties were named in a White House report – "100 Recovery Act Projects that are Changing America" – on the nation's most important stimulus-funded projects. The nine projects comprise $463.8 million in stimulus funding.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Mass. takes in $3.6M stimulus funds for e-health records
Massachusetts' implementation of electronic health records got a $3.6 million injection of federal funding on Tuesday.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Policy Tracker: Shaheen, Kamen back STEM grants; USDA uses stimulus to fund broadband projects
Policy Tracker News: U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and inventor Dean Kamen have proposed legislation to create a competitive grant program for what they are calling non-traditional STEM educational programs; The USDA awarded $1.2 billion in economic stimulus funds to 126 broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas around the country.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Vermont telco wins $81M grant for rural broadband
Vermont Telephone Co. won a broadband stimulus grant Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture worth more than $81 million, along with a $35 million government-backed loan to bring high-speed Internet access to the Green Mountain State’s underserved rural communities.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Feds put $4M into Mass. solar projects
Forty-six solar power projects around Massachusetts will get funding help from $4 million in federal stimulus grants, under the second round of Commonwealth Solar Stimulus program awards.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Policy Tracker: Oil spill alters climate change bill; Vt., Conn. get energy funds
Policy Tracker News: The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has given new momentum to climate change legislation, but capping carbon emissions still faces challenges in the Senate; and in other news, the U.S. Department of Energy recently selected two New England communities for more than $60 million in funding to implement local energy efficiency and renewable energy programs.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Mass. biotechs, hospitals boosted by health stimulus funds
When Ron Rieder heard this week that his five-person biotech company would get just under $2 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, he was elated and relieved.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Short-term thinking vs. the long view
At what point do you take the long view? When do you build on a belief that a new idea will lead to growth? Businesses and development agencies are digging out from the recession now, and the past two years haven’t exactly been prime time for long-term planning.
Mass. excels in landing stimulus funds for tech; More grants available
In Massachusetts, where businesses and government agencies are already adept at applying for federal money, the land rush for stimulus funds is over. Now some businesses say the competition for research grants has gotten stiffer.
Clean energy companies bank on state aid for growth
Massachusetts can’t compete with some states when it comes to providing government-backed financial help to cleantech companies. But the talent pool coming out of local universities, the region’s innovation culture and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center’s other services may make up for that.

Friday, June 4, 2010

New England nets weatherization training grants
Four New England organizations will receive a total of nearly $3 million to provide job training to local workers in energy efficiency retrofitting and weatherization services.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

How I See It: Senate must help clean energy sector continue to lead
Americans are awaiting a plan that will truly stimulate a job-creating recovery. Clean energy businesses in Massachusetts have a message you don’t hear too often these days. We’re hiring.
Policy Tracker: Maine enacts energy bills; NIH awards $1B to research labs; TSA deploys imaging units
Policy Tracker News: Maine Gov. John E. Baldacci recently signed five bills designed to help the state produce clean energy and manage energy; NIH awarded $1 billion in grants to build and renovate scientific laboratories across the country; TSA will use economic stimulus funds to deploy advanced imaging technology units at 28 additional airports this summer.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Cambridge NanoTech protests stimulus funds going to Finland
When Jill Becker received a notice last month that the company she founded, Cambridge NanoTech Inc., had not been awarded a government contract that was backed by stimulus funds, she was disappointed. When she saw that Sandia National Laboratories had awarded the contract to a company that is headquartered in Finland, she was stunned.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Policy Tracker: SBIR program extension; Health IT program funding; ARRA job gains
Policy Tracker News: The Small Business Innovation Research program has received another short-term extension; The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded $220 million to health information technology pilot programs; Massachusetts agency awards from ARRA have funded 6,400 full-time equivalent positions, an increase of more than 30 percent over last quarter.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Two N.E. health-care IT firms land stimulus funding
Health-care information technology efforts have won a $220 million shot in the arm from the Department of Health and Human Services, and a pair of New England companies – Rhode Island Quality Institute and Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems – have carved out a combined $28.7 million of that stimulus money.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Maine snags $30M stimulus grant for energy retrofits
The state of Maine has won a $30 million federal grant, under U.S. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, to apply to energy efficiency upgrades in the state.