Small businesses located in four Gulf Coast states (Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas) received about $2.7 billion (13.3 percent) of the $20.5 billion federal agencies directly awarded nationwide in contracts for hurricane recovery between fiscal years 2005 and 2011. Small businesses in the rest of the United States received about $2.6 billion (12.9 percent). The Corps and the rest of DOD--t

Louisiana and Mississippi received the largest shares of CDBG disaster funds and targeted the majority toward homeowner assistance, allocating the rest to economic development, infrastructure, and other projects. Between 2006 and 2008, Louisiana's total allocation devoted to housing increased from 77 to 86 percent while Mississippi's decreased from 63 to 52 percent as the state focused on economi

While SBA and Rural Development are not currently involved in a collaborative working relationship, SBA and Rural Development have used a number of different mechanisms, both formal and informal, to collaborate with other agencies and each other. For example, both agencies have used the Economy Act--a general statutory provision that permits federal agencies, under certain circumstances, to enter

GAO identified 17 large federal economic development programs that offer financial assistance and services that state and local governments can use as incentives to attract and retain jobs. While academic studies indicate that it is difficult to quantify the funds used as incentives, particularly given differing definitions of incentives, the use of federal funds for such purposes appears to be m

Officials from national organizations and state and local governments cited various purposes for which eminent domain can be or has been used, including the building or expansion of transportation-related projects; the elimination and prevention of conditions that are detrimental to the physical, social, and economic well-being of an area; remediation of environmental contamination; and economic

GAO noted that: (1) the six empowerment zones that GAO visited have reported on their implementation of a variety of planned activities in the areas of economic development, housing, public safety, health care, public transportation, education, and family self-sufficiency; (2) while the mix of activities varies among the zones, economic development activities generally account for the largest por

GAO provided information on its active assignments in the Food and Agriculture issue area as of February 2, 1998.

GAO provided information on its active assignments in the Environmental Protection issue area as of February 2, 1998.

GAO noted that: (1) all six of the urban EZs had met the criteria defined in the program's authorizing legislation, developed a strategic plan, signed an agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and their respective states for implementing the program, signed an agreement with their states for obtaining funds, drafted performance benchmarks, and established a governanc

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information about the Department of Energy's (DOE) settlement of Texas' claim for its investment in the terminated Superconducting Super Collider project. GAO noted that: (1) DOE has not estimated the cost of settling Texas' claim for project investment and cannot predict when it will be able to estimate those costs; (2) DOE agrees that Texas inve