Bay Area names top stimulus priorities - Atlanta Business Chronicle:

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Projects ranked among the highest in the plan cover a wide rangew of proposalsincluding high-speed rail extending the BART line to San Jose and borinhg another roadway in the East Bay’s Caldecotr Tunnel. Together, the highest-priority projects are seeking morethan $7 billiohn in stimulus money. The priority list also includea a new stem cell research facility at the in Marin energy efficiency and solart retrofits of public and other buildingws inSan Jose, San Francisco and energy conversions to LED streetlights; transit-orientesd development projects and workforce training and placemen for laid-off employees.
“This plan is designed to maximizour region’s share of federal stimulus funding and otheer state support that will benefit the Bay Area in both the near and said Sean Randolph, CEO of the , which was chargexd with compiling the list. The top 85 projectsd were classified as priorities for theBay Area. Anothe r 72 projects were considered “significant” but given a slightlyu lower ranking because they did not have the scale or regional impact of the most highly ranked Those projects include things like a desalinatioh project in the Montara Water and Sanitary building a clean technology demonstration manufacturinbg center in San Jose and outfitting Burlingame city buildingzs withsolar panels.
The which can be found onlinerat www.bayareaeconomy.org/recovery, was the culmination of a three-month vettinhg process. The report was sent to the . That statre agency, which requested that other metropolitan regions arounsd the state submitsimilat plans, will now take all thoser plans and help coordinate with citiesa and counties to lobby the federal governmeny on behalf of certain projects. “Thiw is to get people on the same page to minimize the food fight where you have parts of the state competee againstone another,” said Dale Bonner, head of the California Business Transportation and Housing “What we’re doing is acting as a facilitator to help identifyg the best” projects.
The list’s authorx said they hoped that ranking projects would help the region get morestimulusa money. “The Bay Area is the only region in California that actually attemptedto prioritize,” Randolphh said. “We think that’s important. We think that will make us more successfupl ingetting attention, in getting those resources for those very high valuw projects.” Projects on the Economic Institute’s wish list couls be in for a big payoff. Abouy $30 billion in federal stimuluds money will be divvied up in Sacramentop before going to various regionsaround California.
Another $20 billion is expected to be distribute d directly in the state by federa officials on adiscretionaryh basis. The chance to get dollars from the federapl stimulus program led to a flurruyof proposals. Bay Area authorities sifted througj almost570 suggestions. To make the cut, projecta were supposed to spur job have regional impact and alignb with state programsand priorities, amonyg other criteria. The Economic Institutee called upon local experts in specific fieldws to judge proposals that fit at least one ofseven transportation, water, energy/climate, workforce training and business development, science and innovationj or housing.
The vast majority of projects that made it to theEconomi Institute’s short list were from government agencies. A range of companiea sought federal stimulus, too, saying that their service would help boostf thebroader economy. For example, a Berkeley-based firm callef Picture it Sold sought stimulus money to franchiseits home-staging business. “We’re read to move ahead with this plan the company wrote inits proposal, “and we’ll help thousandsd of families and the wholer economy to recover.” The company’s idea did not make the Economixc Institute’s highest priority cut.
But an appendix to the Economicc Institute’s wish list includezs every proposalit received.