Traverse City Record-Eagle

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    BILLIE HEDGLEN
November 28, 2009

Federal program creates area jobs

Stimulus dollars largely go toward existing programs, not new projects

BY BRIAN McGILLIVARY

TRAVERSE CITY -- Billie Hedglen lost her home to foreclosure and worked part time at a department store to make ends meet.

Then along came funding from the federal government under the national stimulus program, and Hedglen is back to full-time employment.

She works for the Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency and advises struggling homeowners how to avoid foreclosure.

"There's not a lot of opportunity out there right now and with the stimulus money not only do I have a job, I get job training and get to help people," said Hedglen, of Kingsley. "I know what they're feeling ... and to be able to give them some hope and peace of mind is a wonderful thing."

Hedglen is among a handful of temporary workers the agency added with an $800,000 grant it's using to expand a financial counseling program and provide emergency financial assistance.

"This is a pot of money we've never had before that will allow us to expand the safety net until Sept. 30, 2010," said John Stephenson, the agency's executive director. "I'm sure we'll never see this again."

The grant is part of about $58 million in federal money allocated to Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim, Benzie and Kalkaska counties from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

But the act, which provides more money for tax credits and unemployment than infrastructure and construction, isn't what many in northern Michigan expected.

"Back last spring when everyone thought there would be a recovery act, everybody thought it would be for infrastructure, but none of us knew what the recovery act would actually be," said Elaine Wood, chief executive of the Northwest Michigan Council of Governments. "It basically put a boost of funding into existing programs."

Large construction

projects are few

Total infrastructure projects for the 5-county Grand Traverse region total about $16.6 million, of which $8.2 million is targeted for roads, for everything from repaving to sealing cracks.

To date, Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department is the lone local agency to win a large construction grant -- $2.8 million for a new fire station. Two federal facilities, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Jordan River National Fish Hatchery, will split $5.6 million for projects.

Sleeping Bear used a small part of its $2.25 million pot for trail maintenance and invasive species removal, but its main grant of $2.1 million will restore the historic village of Glen Haven and make it more accessible, said Tom Ulrich, deputy park superintendent.

"We were pretty happy to see the funding come in, because without the recovery act funds we would have never gotten to something like Glen Haven," Ulrich said. "We would have had to nibble away at it for years."

Contractors will do most of the work, but the parks service also gave extra chores to its seasonal carpentry crews.

The Sleeping Bear work is among the few construction projects under way in the 5-county region. Most have been delayed until spring as federal and state employees struggle to process the influx of grant applications and new money.

Still, stimulus money is credited with creating or retaining more than 22,500 jobs in Michigan as of October, based on a formula that includes the number of hours a worker is employed.

"In some places the jobs created are really clear-cut, but in others it's more of an interpretation," said Leslee Fritz, director of the state's Economic Recovery Office. "But just look at last month's unemployment numbers: This is the first time in a while we've had an increase in payroll jobs and construction."

Federally supported

programs benefit

Zac Moore's job was among the easy-to-tally posts. Moore, his wife and newborn baby prepared for a major family budget cut this summer when the Traverse Symphony Orchestra planned to cut his job from full to part time.

But TSO spared Moore's post as general manager, thanks to a $15,000 stimulus grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.

"It would have been tough. I'd have to look for part-time work and try to piece together a living," Moore said. "I'm glad the position was able to stay as it had been and I can continue to do the work I enjoy so much."

Agencies traditionally supported by federal dollars appear to have fared best in funding quests.

The Northwest Michigan Community Action Agency, which oversees a number of federally funded human service efforts, received about $7.5 million, including money for food assistance, Head Start, home weatherization, emergency assistance and financial counseling.

Stephenson said the agency had significant leeway on how to use the $800,000 that funded the jobs of Hedglen and others, but the government dictated other expenditures.

A $470,000 grant received by Head Start had to be spent on a 4.9 percent raise for 303 employees, plus an additional two weeks of training for teachers.

Head Start employees haven't had a raise in four years, Stephenson said. But their stimulus-dependent wages will drop 1.84 percent in 2010.

The largest chunk of the agency's funding, about $6 million, went to pay for home weatherization. The agency typically has funding to weatherize about 160 area homes, but now will do at least 900 before its grant expires in two years, Stephenson said.

Gary Yankee, the weatherization program's director, said six independent contractors were added to do the jobs -- lifting the contractor total to 10 -- and more may be added.

Contractors toiled on Sharon Richards' home in September. The Traverse City grandmother kept her thermostat at 60 degrees last winter and huddled in an upstairs bedroom to make the best use of heat.

Her heating bills remained "unreal," despite her best efforts, but she's already noticed a big difference since stimulus-funded crews winterized her home.

"It's a grand program for people," Richards said.

Training for teens,

young adults

The Northwest Michigan Council of Governments created 320 summer jobs from a $4.1 million grant for job retraining and youth programs through its Northwestern Michigan Works offices.

The largest piece, $1.75 million, went to launch a one-time summer work and training program for teens and young adults. They tackled a variety of community projects throughout a 10-county region.

The agency also employed young adults to help out state human services agencies struggling with budget cuts and increased service demands.

Remaining funds supplemented the agency's existing job retraining and job counseling programs.

"We have roughly 800 people in school and training right now and in a normal year we could afford about half of that," said Wood.

Funding to help those struggling the most during the current recession generally runs out at the end of September 2010, though some grants will extend for another year.

Program directors voiced optimism that work they do now will help alleviate future need, though they acknowledge some concern over what will happen when the financial well runs dry.

"We are investing in the work force with the hope when they finish they will find good jobs that help our companies grow," said Jan Warren, director of the Michigan Works office.

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