Stimulus Effects Here a Year Later
ELLENSBURG --- A year ago Wednesday, the stimulus bill was created. The idea was simple: more money for projects, more people would be hired to do those projects, and those people would spend their paychecks. Action News finds out if it's making a difference.
Late last April, the first of the stimulus money hit the road in our state. Two and a half million dollars paved I-90 near Ellensburg. Initially, businesses say the slowed traffic slowed business. "Because it was bottlenecked and slowed down, it made it so that we didn't have as much car traffic. As soon as they got through, they wanted to keep going," Thorp Fruit and Antique Mall owner, Mike Rowley recalled.
But once roads were finished, every business we talked to on and off camera said business didn't really get better but only back to normal. "I didn't notice any difference as far as freeway traffic," Touch of the West owner, Pamela Coe said. "Afterwards, it got back to normal and kind of stayed steady," Rowley also said. But not all of the contractors were from the Ellensburg area, so workers could be stimulating the economy elsewhere.
But now with a newly paved road nearby, businesses in Ellensburg still hope you use it to stop by. "Great prices, unique items, and things you can't find anywhere else," Coe gave as some reasons to stop by hers. You can find those businesses next to the first stimulus money project in the state.
Since the stimulus program started, the state of Washington has had about 60 percent more unemployment claims through the end of 2009, and lost more than 2 percent of jobs.
Late last April, the first of the stimulus money hit the road in our state. Two and a half million dollars paved I-90 near Ellensburg. Initially, businesses say the slowed traffic slowed business. "Because it was bottlenecked and slowed down, it made it so that we didn't have as much car traffic. As soon as they got through, they wanted to keep going," Thorp Fruit and Antique Mall owner, Mike Rowley recalled.
But once roads were finished, every business we talked to on and off camera said business didn't really get better but only back to normal. "I didn't notice any difference as far as freeway traffic," Touch of the West owner, Pamela Coe said. "Afterwards, it got back to normal and kind of stayed steady," Rowley also said. But not all of the contractors were from the Ellensburg area, so workers could be stimulating the economy elsewhere.
But now with a newly paved road nearby, businesses in Ellensburg still hope you use it to stop by. "Great prices, unique items, and things you can't find anywhere else," Coe gave as some reasons to stop by hers. You can find those businesses next to the first stimulus money project in the state.
Since the stimulus program started, the state of Washington has had about 60 percent more unemployment claims through the end of 2009, and lost more than 2 percent of jobs.
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