The U.S. House and Senate have passed the humongous economic stimulus spending bill, which the President will sign into law. You can go to plenty of other blogs and news sources for arguments for and against this initiative. Whether you think this is necessarily forceful or ineptly wasteful spending one thing is for certain — many of those dollars are coming to New Hampshire. To be exact $610 million for jobs, $250 million for Medicaid, all told $2.12 billion in federal spending and tax breaks.

For those of us interested in the state’s employment scene it’s useful to know where these dollars are actually going and for what purposes. Perhaps, you’re one of those recently laid off, fearful of being so, or want to get ahead of the hiring curve. Here are some things to pay attention to.

Gov. Lynch has created an Office of Economic Stimulus and has tapped a deputy attorney general Bud Fitch to head it. His job is to help the governor and state agencies know how to manage and expend the federal bucks. Let’s hope and expect that there will be complete transparency in this office, so that we can track state government’s priorities.

We should see some degree of stimulus relatively soon. Nationally, 74% of the funds are to be pushed into the economy within eighteen months and 91% by October 2011. Tax cuts aimed primarily at low and middle income earners and increased unemployment benefits should start being felt soon. This influx will be helpful with retailers.

But with regards to industry employment, who is being targeted? According to Sen. Shaheen we can expect the following to receive money:

Schools–  $295 million is going to schools and public colleges. Teachers can breathe a sigh of relief. What may have been a lot of lay offs looks to be averted. With Baby Boomers continuing to retire there will be spots for young educators and career changers wanting in. Also, education dollars for Special Ed and Head Start will be available. Good news for those who want a real instructional challenge. And with support heading to the state’s colleges they will be better positioned to accommodate the increased enrollments that usually occur during recessions.

Energy– $49.7 million is going toward weatherization and state energy programs. Opportunities are expected in making more efficient everything from old buildings and windows to air conditioning and heat pumps. Development of wind turbines, solar panels, and better batteries will mean new jobs for many. NH has a workforce capable of grabbing their fair share of these jobs.

Infrastructure– $197 million is going into infrastructure improvements covering everything from roads, bridges, drinking and waste water systems, to rehabilitating and constructing new buildings. These should be well paying jobs sending dollars into the peripheral economy while improving our surroundings.

Additional funds are headed for mass transit and law enforcement. This could be a boon for those workers ready to move into these spots. While not forgetting that long term economic sustainability rests on the generation of private capital, in the short term there would appear to be some employment relief for those ready to respond. Remember, if you snooze, you very well may lose.

I’m trying to launch a career development business. I offer career consultation to individuals and personality and interest assessments used to help people determine career directions. I also offer a resume and cover letter writing service. It’s an idea that I have had for years, but am now at a point in my life where I can finally devote time and resources to establishing it.

Getting the business concept cultivated and shaped has been fun — a unique exercise that has meant applying newly acquired business ideas on top of the background knowledge that I came into this with. And now here we are, the start of 2009 and what kind of business climate do I find myself in? What happens to be going on just as I’m constituting myself as a career development specialist? Our world has become an economic calamity of rising unemployment rates and faltering confidence in the future. For anyone, not just myself, getting into business or trying to survive in business now means reassessing previous assumptions, especially those that framed our images of what we saw ourselves doing and how we thought to do it.

The question for me naturally comes up, is this a good time for a career development business or a bad time? To be honest, that has yet to be seen. But, I don’t think there is much doubt that the need for career development professionals exists. More people are searching for jobs than in recent history. There is more thought going into what can one do that’s at the very least tolerable while treading in a contracting workforce. And a lot of people need to revamp that old resume which, let’s face it, doesn’t get updated unless you really have to. So, yes. I believe the capacity of individuals needing career services is out there. But are they willing to commit to paying for such assistance?

I liken going to a career development specialist similar to going back for more education. Historically, during recessionary times, enrollment in two- and four-year post-secondary classes and programs rises. People realize that they need to retool and realign for changing employment conditions. At the very least, many see themselves as now having the time to further their education, which they didn’t have before.

Workforce survival means having to adjust, to change, and to grow. Active learning can be achieved by going back to school, of course, but another and more customized way to prepare yourself for career transitions, whether the need to has come by choice or not, is to work with a career advisor or coach. They can help a client calm down, take a deep breath, and strategize how to make the best out of the current situation. You never know, levels of personal and professional growth not at all anticipated may result from such a collaborative interchange.

Everyone has a story to tell and a brand to sell. Putting the two together along with doses of job search skill building will position you best no matter what the nation’s financial predicament. And with such a lousy economy little should be left to chance.

Yeah, I think it is a good time to be in the career development business.

Former President Bush got his way. We are now the ownership society. We all own the mess known as the US Economy. And as owners of the economy, whether we consciously bought into it or not, we have a variety reactions. Here is mine.

One is to hope that others from the new Administration to the titans of American business left standing will figure out a solution to our economic crisis that will benevolently secure our financial futures or its alternative, which is to individually, and when possible, collectively muster our resolve, brains, experiences, and talents to forge our own futures given whatever conditions confront us. 

I think that there has been a shift in the economic relationship between organizations and individuals over this decade. One that leaves individuals needing to fend for themselves more competently in a business climate that needs the best talent available in order to weather this storm. Much needs doing from environmental remediation, to infrastructure improvement, to combating poverty, to keeping technology moving robustly forward to help with all of the above and more. And in doing so, there should be money to be made out there.

Perhaps one of the ways to loosen credit markets is to have ideas worth financing. If I were a lender, I too would be nervous lending to businesses and concepts that are counter-progressive and tone deaf to the real economic needs of people. Legacy scenarios of maintaining a national lifestyle characterized by resource over-consumption to the detriment of the planet and our fellow world citizens can’t go on as before. We need creative individuals thinking entrepreneurially, resulting in business models and plans that help build back American confidence toward a better future. And we very much need credit unions and banks willing to take chances on financing the long-term return of America. 

Whatever the stimulus ultimately is that transitions us to a more stable and sustainable economy, it’s got to be more than just large sums of taxpayer money, and it’s also got to be made up of a lot of good business ideas that move us forward as a people.

New Hampshire has the potential to be a player here. There is talent in this state. Cross-generationally there are people who can use their skills and experience to champion winning ideas that benefit us all. What better way for New Hampshire individualistic resourcefulness to be expressed?

Also necessary is establishing legal and legislative means for attracting and retaining a creative and forward-looking workforce. This is essential for New Hampshire in these times.

Getting out of the economic demise must be largely from Main Street, not Wall Street or even Pennsylvania Avenue. We now own it. Time to start climbing out of this deep economic hole.