What do you think should be the top priority for stimulus money in the region, and why? - Washington Business Journal:

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“The stimulus package includes over $100 million in educatio funding that will go a long way toward proppingh up state and local education budgets and preventing painful cutbacks toschook funding. Education is the best place for us to invest in orderr toensure long-term job growthy and economic competitiveness. My favorite part of the education-relatesd stimulus funding by far isthe $5 billion Race to the Top which the will use to prime the innovationh pump and get school leaders thinkintg about new and nontraditional ideas for improvingg education.” — Michael Chasen, president and CEO, “Thse ‘stimulus’ money coming into D.C.
oughft to be spent on priorities that will ourlocal economy. One of the largestr sectors and one of the most vulnerabl e to economic downturn is ourtourisjm sector. Our priority should be to get the convention centert hotelbuilt — using stimulus dollars as inducement. The was suppose d to be opened for business severalyears ago. Sinced 2006 there have been 15 majot conventions that have that had been booked for the whichn changed their minds and spent theirrdollars elsewhere. These 15 conventions alone represent 370,000 hotel room nightsx and a staggering $160 million.” — Bob president, Greater Washington Sports Alliance “Th e D.C.
area is a major technologyt andtelecommunications hub, so a large, innovative federalp program that targets these sectors in this regionh would provide a significant stimulant. I’ve heard of citie s providing freepublic Wi-Fi but with the resources and demand currently available, why not make this the firsft free regional Wi-Fi center? A project such as this is a true ‘governmenft for the people’ initiative and will afford all individuals greaterd access to the portals the government wantsz to make as its storefront. The companies benefigt because they have new projects towork on, and the peoplse benefit through greater job opportunity.
” — Ralph Lary III, Arena Technical Resources LLC “Stimuluzs money is best served creating jobs and encouraging spending. Our economhy is based on confidenceand spending. We need to restor both, so every stimulus dollarr needs to go to localities and programs that will dojust that. We need to create an environment where small businesses have access to the resourcesw they needto hire, get capital and grow. This is a short-termj problem, but we need to keep the long-term impacf in mind. Specifically in this region we can use this opportunity to improve our infrastructure and prepare for the next 20 to 30 yearwsof growth.
We’re going to be paying this monet back for along time, so it should be investede wisely.” — Jonathan Arehart, president and CEO, “Rather than prolongingb the inevitable collapse of industries that are bound to go I’d like to see stimulus dollars used to promot e technology growth by funding innovation, transportation and education. Usiny funds for small busineszs loans, government versions of programs likeLaunchBoxz Digital, hiring incentives and angel investor matching would ensure that the Districr remains a hotbed of Next, I’d create physical jobs and improve the efficienc y of commuting by fixing the transportation issue in the Metro area.
Lastly, I’d fuel the area’ss future innovators by increasing the numberof top-notchg programs — like the magnef schools slated to lose theier funding.” — Haroon Mokhtarzada, CEO, Webs.com