Stimulus Works
Here it is – tax day. And while we sign our checks and submit our forms, it’s hard to ignore the big checks that the federal government has been writing lately to stimulate the economy.
The stimulus program is all about job creation. Now whether or not you believe in this economic strategy, jobs will certainly be created – that has already begun. The real question is how many and how fast.
Why talk about it here on a blog about traffic calming? Because some of this taxpayer money will undoubtedly wind up in the hands of companies involved in traffic calming projects. With increased construction, road building and infrastructure repairs, the need to keep workers safe around moving traffic will be an important consideration. Other stimulus-related spending will be directly tied to pedestrian safety and neighborhood improvements projects. And so, keeping traffic flowing at a safe speed will be a critical goal.
From a business perspective, we can’t help but to see the stimulus spending as an opportunity, but at Information Display Company, we believe that with this opportunity comes responsibility. This money is supposed to create jobs. We feel that the more we can do to maximize this intent, the better.
So the board of directors at IDC agreed to make a company-wide commitment to ensure just that. We’ve put a stake in the ground; taken some risk. And we’ve made a very specific declaration: for every X amount of revenue we receive directly related to stimulus spending, we will hire one new employee. This X amount is significantly lower than that which is considered standard for our industry. It’s a bit risky and is contrary to “business-as-usual” practices. But these are unusual times and the stimulus spending is certainly unusual.
An editorial regarding IDC’s commitment was recent published in several newspapers and blogs. Information Display Company made a formal announcement about it as well.
We’ve also invited other companies to join in this effort.
If you or your company is expecting to benefit financially from stimulus spending, we invite you to join a growing list of businesses that are committed to ensuring this money helps create jobs. You can find out more and sign up via a newly created website called Stimulus Works.
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