It was announced with plenty of fanfare last August, as a win for both political parties. Many entrepreneurs are wondering how they can cash in on the bonanza, so the following should answer a few of your questions.
Most of the 1.2T bill is actually a continuation of the regular spending already slated for the period. The new legislation only adds an additional $550B reserved specifically for roads, bridges, public transportation, electric vehicle charging stations, and other physical infrastructure.
The money will not flow directly from the federal government. It will first go to the states that will determine what projects they would like to see completed. Once the states have detailed their needs, the contracts will be put up for bid.
This means that the original $650B that was already scheduled and planned to go to the individual state’s DoT’s, is already in the works. It will probably take another 6 to 18 months for the additional $550B in projects to be thought through by the states, and put into process.
The money from this bill is not earmarked specifically for union shops, but to bid on the projects you must pay wages based on your location as outlined by the Department of Labor in accordance with the Davis-Bacon Act. In other words, you pretty much need to be paying union wages whether you are tied to a union or not.
This will preclude many small business owners, who don’t want to end up in a union situation, from bidding on the projects. Many will think of the long-term effects and the problems it might cause with their existing employees.
If your entity is set up for these government contracts, the bill will certainly provide multiple years of additional infrastructure money. It may ease some of the labor problems that you might be currently experiencing.
Let me leave you with this.
I spend a lot of time talking about entrepreneurial burnout and how to avoid it. This pandemic has been incredibly difficult on us all.
But maybe we should also think about our employees. Without them,. where would any of us be?
Different owners are trying different things. Some are experimenting with four-day work weeks. Others are doing flex-time to try to handle particular employees’ scheduling difficulties, but nothing works in every situation.
You need to find that subtle balance that works in your particular situation, and your client’s needs must always come first.
In the last thirty-one years that I’ve done this, many different management philosophies have come and gone. There was bossism, team concepts, and every other imaginable approach known to man.
Whether they worked or not had everything to do with a particular work product, business environment, or corporate culture. Bossism may be an unpopular word, but it’s the only thing that works in certain instances where you have large work forces of mostly untrained workers.
Other products or services lend themselves to more of a team concept. If most of your employees are well-trained thinkers with leadership abilities, this might work for you.
My point is there’s no such thing as a panacea. You need to think of your customers, your products or services, and your quality controls first, last, and always.
One piece of advice would be to not throw out the baby with the bathwater. If you have an employee making demands that simply won’t work in your particular instance, then maybe it’s time to find someone new.
But certainly, we need to look at the world through the eyes of our employees. We need to deal with their burnout issues in a way that works for all concerned.
That’s all, not just the one.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
Accounting Solutions Ltd. stands ready to complete our mission and purpose of protecting you, your family, and your business. Whether you need Employee Retention Credits, PPP Loan Forgiveness, Payroll Services, or Accounting and Tax Work, you have but to ask. I’m here and I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
773-267-7500
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
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