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Tips, confusion at stimulus seminar
YOUNGSTOWN — Navigating through the waters of obtaining money from the federal stimulus package can be a challenge, particularly for those who’ve never applied for grant money.
Because of that, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown’s office held a workshop Wednesday at Stambaugh Auditorium to discuss how to apply for funding in the $787 billion package. About 150 people — primarily from government agencies, nonprofit agencies, hospitals, academic institutions and small businesses — attended the Youngstown session.
Jim Converse came to see if Resettle Youngstown, an organization he’s involved with that helps improve houses on the city’s North Side, was eligible for funding. He left with plenty of questions.
“The process is geared towards career bureaucrats who like to fill out forms,” he said. “It’s a great program [the stimulus package], but it’s kind of user-hostile. It’s more for people who would rather fill out forms than get the job done.”
Peter Zeigler, project manager and grant writer for Medina Township in Medina County, came to Youngstown for the workshop.
The seminar was “very useful because it [gave] a broader spectrum of what’s out there and how to obtain the money,” said Zeigler, who worked for a Mahoning Valley advertising and consulting firm before taking the Medina job a year ago.
But if he didn’t write applications for grants for a living, Zeigler said, “I imagine this would be confusing if I wasn’t involved with this process.”
Julie Michael Smith, chief development officer for the Youngstown Business Incubator, called the stimulus package “a tsunami of money and it’s so difficult to figure out. Where do you apply?”
Thursday’s session helped provide information as to which agency to approach to seek funding for various projects, Smith said.
Smith and Zeigler credited Brown’s staff with working to make a complicated process a little easier and for offering assistance in the future.
Brown’s office had five representatives at the session along with representatives from the federal Economic Development Administration, General Services Administration and the Department of Agriculture.
The session, as well as others held by Brown’s office this week throughout the state, was designed “so Ohio can squeeze every last drop out of the bill and get our fair share,” said Max Blachman, the senator’s community liaison for northeast Ohio. “There’s no easy way to this money. That’s why we want to work with you.”
While Brown had five staff members at Stambaugh, none were permitted to speak to the local media. All calls were referred to Meghan Dubyak, a Brown spokeswoman in Washington, D.C., who said it’s office protocol to have certain people speak on behalf of the senator.
skolnick@vindy.com