By Patrick Anderson
An unusual pair of Gloucester organizations — computer chip technology company Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates and nonprofit social service provider Action Inc. — have been Cape Ann's two largest recipients of federal stimulus funds.
Varian, which was hit hard by the recession over the past year, received $2.27 million from the U.S. Department of Energy for research and development of technology used in solar panels, according to the government Web site that tracks money from the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress last winter.
Bob Halliday, Varian's chief financial officer, said this week the company had actually pulled in around $3.2 million in total stimulus dollars this year when all grants were factored in.
Cape Ann's largest private-sector employer and only publicly traded company, Varian had resorted to shutdowns and a series of layoffs to weather the downturn.
Touted as a job creator and economic lifeline during the recession, the stimulus package has also been a tool to boost sectors of the economy, such as renewable energy, prioritized by President Obama's administration.
In that way, the grants to Varian for a high-tech project with green jobs potential is a natural for the Department of Energy.
Halliday said orders for equipment had now stabilized and the company had plans to end the shutdowns next year and start hiring back workers.
"We plan not to do shutdowns and put money back into 401k's," Halliday said. "We are hiring people in manufacturing and R&D."
Halliday estimates the grant will allow the company to create between 15 and 20 jobs directly connected with the new project at its Blackburn Industrial Park plant.
Meanwhile, Action Inc., whose functions include a shelter on Main Street, pulled in even more stimulus money, around $8 million over the next two years, for its home heating assistance and weatherization project, according to executive director Tim Riley.
Action Inc. conducts the Massachusetts Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program for much of the North Shore from its Gloucester office.
The program includes not only heating oil assistance, but energy audits and weatherization services if an applicant's home is inefficient enough to qualify.
Riley said direct job creation from recovery spending was limited, but indirectly, through the contractors, may have produced a substantial amount of jobs.
A contractor Action works with on the energy program had recently hired seven new workers, Riley said.
When the stimulus package was born last winter, the immediate focus was on so-called "shovel-ready" state public works and municipal projects.
But as the money has trickled out through various state and federal agencies, the benefits to non-profit groups and corporations has become apparent.
So far the stimulus has netted the city of Gloucester $388,000 to keep firefighters on duty, provide increases to school aid, and low-interest loans for the combined sewer overflow project, among other things.
According to the federal stimulus tracking Web site recovery.gov, which some have criticized for being incomplete, awards to Rockport and Manchester for special education are the only stimulus awards on Cape Ann that did not involve Gloucester.
Other local stimulus awards listed on recovery.gov this week include:
$676,150 for Cape Ann Transportation Authority to replace two buses.
$968,506 worth of contracts through the National Marine Fisheries Service for Integrated Statistics of Woods Hole to review federal action in Sandy Hook, N.J.
$30,844 for SeniorCare Inc., an elder care non-profit to administer the Meals On Wheels program.
$91,435 for Pathways for Children on Emerson Avenue.
$158,087 for the Gloucester Housing Authority.
$1.5 million to the North Shore Community Health Center for the Gloucester Community Health Center.
Patrick Anderson can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or via e-mail at panderson@gloucestertimes.com.
