The nation was in trouble in 2009. Amid a wounded economy and rising unemployment, President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in an effort to jumpstart the ailing economy.
Fast-forward to 2013, and many of these subsidized projects — such as the 8.5-mile, $200 million Nelsonville Bypass — are finished.
Funding for the GoBus, energy-efficiency modifications to Athens’ water treatment plant and other infrastructure improvements are the product of this act, Athens Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
“I think all in all, (the stimulus) was good,” Wiehl said. “What I’m hearing in many cases is we should have spent more on (the stimulus).”
Wiehl added he believes the act did indeed stimulate the economy.
In the second quarter of 2013, Athens County had about 69 jobs funded by the act, and the city had about 16 jobs in the same time frame, according to data from the Recovery Accountability & Transparency Board.
David Rose, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Transportation, said that from March 2010 to July 2013, more than $14 million of the $292.4 million that went to Athens County was paid out to contractors, construction workers and other employees working on the Nelsonville Bypass.
Since funding has tapered off, not every worker that is employed due to the act remains employed today.
“We trained and added about 400 people to the work force to get things done,” said Ron Rees, executive director of the non-profit Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development, which received the second-largest grant in the county.
“Not all are still working since funding has subsided. Some were able to find other work because of the training they received.”
The corporation received the $60.3 million in grant money to help its 17 agencies weatherize low-income homes throughout the agencies’ 33 county-large area. The most local of these agencies is Hocking Athens Perry Community Action.
The corporation is also headquartered on Pinchot Lane in Athens and has a variety of jobs. Though it does not do the actual weatherization — it leaves that job to HAPCAP and its similar agencies — it trains workers on weatherizing homes and helps agencies by pooling resources and buying supplies in bulk.
Some of the corporation’s funding will often come from American Electric Power, Columbia Gas or other, smaller utilities. And since the Recovery Act money has dried up, the corporation has been relying on those companies more and more often, Rees said.
Overall, Athens County made out pretty well with stimulus money; it has about half a percent of Ohio’s population, yet it received more than 3 percent of the money allocated to the state, according to census figures and recovery.gov data.
Part of that was fueled by the construction of the Nelsonville Bypass, which Rose said was the biggest Ohio project resulting from the Recovery Act.
Beside the bypass, Athens County and Ohio University both made out better than similar college towns throughout the state.
Not including the bypass money, Athens County received around $92 million.
Portage County, where Kent State University is located; Butler County, which houses Miami University; and Wood County, where Bowling Green State University can be found, all received less funding than Athens County. The best-funded of these three counties received only 46 percent as much funding as Athens, with the main difference coming from funding to the Nelsonville Bypass
Ohio University also received more individual funding than Kent State, Miami University and Bowling Green University.
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@LucasDaprile
