The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was passed by Congress and then signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The Recovery Act is the single largest domestic spending program in U.S. history and is designed to stimulate the economy, create or save 3.5 million jobs over the next two years, and make significant improvements to the nation’s infrastructure. These federal funds will help citizens get through this economic crisis while investing in our future.

The Recovery Act represents a number of separate funding opportunities for which the City of Philadelphia is directly eligible, either by formula or competitive grant. In addition, grants to other local governments and authorities, which will be spent in and on Philadelphia, are significant and will benefit the city.

For each of the funding opportunities contained within the Recovery Act – whether formula or competitive – the City must identify exactly what projects and initiatives it will pursue with this funding.  The federal agency or department responsible for administering the funding stream must then evaluate the proposals according to the established eligibility criteria. This also includes a commitment to complying with strict reporting and accountability requirements.

You can review the funding opportunities for which we are eligible and pursuing here (Recovery Projects). For each, we have designated the local lead agency and identified the relevant federal and/or state decision maker. We will be updating this information regularly and, once funding is received and projects are underway, we will post detailed project status reports.

City of Philadelphia Recovery Structure

The City of Philadelphia's Recovery efforts are coordinated through the Recovery Office, led by the City's Recovery Officer, Maari Porter — maari.porter@phila.gov.

Recovery Office Staff:

• Kathryn Dreher — kathryn.t.dreher@phila.gov

Role of the City’s Recovery Office:

• Set the strategic direction for recovery in support of the City’s goals
• Vigorously pursue ARRA funding opportunities for Philadelphia City
• Fulfill federal reporting requirements set by the Office of Management & Budget
• Provide guidance and technical assistance to City project/grant managers
• Track and report on performance of ARRA related activity
• Promote and communicate recovery opportunities to Philadelphia businesses,  including minority owned businesses, and non-profit organizations
• Maintain, improve and update the City’s recovery website
• Respond to all public inquiries related to the City’s Recovery program
• Support the City’s compliance and control processes and procedures

Role of Recovery Officer:

• Guide overall direction of City’s Recovery strategy and centralize reporting and oversight
• Facilitate communication across departments
• Update Cabinet, City Council, other stakeholders on progress

Role of Recovery Project Team:

• The Project team has representation from each of the deputy mayors, the department of technology, the mayor’s office, city planning, finance, the City’s Recovery Office, city council staff and a staff member from the Office of Economic Opportunity.
  
  The group meets on Monday on a bi-weekly basis.  The meetings are chaired by the Recovery Officer, Maari Porter.

Role of Recovery Steering Committee:

• Meets on a quarterly basis. Meetings are chaired by the Finance Director, Rob Dubow.
• Get reports on recovery activities from the Recovery Officer
• Approves grant applications for recovery funding
• Make decisions about the strategic direction or process for the City’s management of Recovery going forward

This website will be updated regularly to provide current and comprehensive information related to the City’s use of federal stimulus funds and the impact of the funding on Philadelphia. Please check back often to learn more about the economic recovery and how the money will be used to help Philadelphia.