Washington State Stimulates Its Economy by Leveraging Recovery Act Funds to Create Jobs Across Multiple Industries

SEATTLE, Aug. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Data released today by Onvia (Nasdaq: ONVI), the leader in gBusiness solutions and the creator of Recovery.org, reveals that Washington State is a leader among states in attracting Recovery Act funds with awards supporting projects in several industries including energy, facilities, water and infrastructure.

For access to the full report on Washington State recovery projects and job creation please visit: http://promotions.onvia.com/documents/WA_State_Recovery_Summer_Update_by_Onvia.pdf

To date, Washington State has created 17,530 private sector jobs and that number is expected to grow by 56.7 percent by the end of the year. According to Onvia's data, Washington falls in the top 20 percent of states that will see job growth above 50 percent through the remainder of 2010.

Onvia's data is based upon opportunity and award details captured at all levels of government, providing a complete, fact-based picture of the funds benefiting businesses. Many Washington-based contractors are taking advantage of Onvia's depth of information and sweeping up projects across the state.

Already in 2010, Seattle-based Mason Construction Company and Vancouver-based Kiewit Pacific Company have been awarded over $120 million in contracts. Other top contractors include, TMG Services, Inc., Tacoma, General Construction Company, Poulsbo and Tri-State Construction Inc., Bellevue. To date, Washington State has been allocated more than $4.5 billion in Recovery Act funds.

The top projects in Washington can be found in cities such as Bothell, Tacoma, Bellingham and Yakima and total more than $38 million. Projects are dedicated to road paving, turbine generators, cable barriers, road resurfacing, facility improvements and software.

"Washington has done a fair job relative to other states attracting stimulus project funds, which in turn create private sector jobs. However a good portion of the money remains to be awarded to contractors. We believe Washington will continue to see a steady progression of awarded contracts and job growth through 2010," said Michael Balsam, Onvia chief strategy officer. "Businesses that are ignoring this market are going to miss out on a substantial component of growth opportunities this decade, as the government marketplace is a rapidly expanding portion of GDP. Businesses should be tuned in to the gBusiness market now and positioning themselves to win some of these contracts."

These findings were derived from Onvia's data through August 11, 2010 – approximately 18 months since the stimulus money began flowing into Washington.

Follow @Onvia and @RecoveryOrg on Twitter.

About Onvia

For more than 12 years Onvia (NASDAQ:ONVI), the gBusiness Innovator, has been successfully delivering the research, analytics and tools required for companies to succeed at the intersection of business and government, or gBusiness, market. Onvia tracks, analyzes and reports the spending of more than 89,000 federal, state and local government agencies, giving companies a single source for conducting open, intelligent and efficient business with government. Along with providing an exclusive suite of integrated business tools, Onvia is also the creator of Recovery.org, a website that tracks economic recovery-funded projects, and DemandStar, the automated system that streamlines agency procurement processes. For information about Onvia visit www.onvia.com.

SOURCE Onvia