Since trying to keep my mind off of politics lately, and avoiding current events in the regular news, I managed to miss a couple of plane crashes, the rumor about Shaq going to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and some reports of random violence, but I have not missed out on the hullabaloo surrounding the stimulus package construction projects.

Having been on the phone with commercial contractors the last week or two, there is a little bit of discussion as to how the 2009 stimulus funds will be spent — what little is to be spent in 2009. The story goes that only about 15 percent of the package will hit in 2009, up to 50 percent in 2010, and the rest in 2011. Thank goodness this recession will be over by the time the golden hammers get picked out of the heap.

According to recent reports, approximately 22,000 projects have been awarded. The projects range from bridges in rural Wisconsin that have traffic counts of under 10 vehicles per day, to entire municipality makeovers. Some city planners are giddily awaiting the confirmations to begin construction — of what, they don’t yet know, but they will certainly build something.

The HVAC industry has some tremendous opportunities in its future. Federal, state, and local buildings are among the first in line for makeovers — equate that to energy efficiency upgrades, and lots of them. If you have not registered at www.recovery.gov, check in with your best buddies in the general contracting world, because they can probably turn you on to some good projects.