The Infrastructure Bill Explained: How Your Business Can Get a Piece of the Pie

Anthony and Jenn break down how your business can take advantage of the infrastructure bill. From potholes to bridges to water management, they discuss what's in the bill and where to find contracts.

On November 15, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. The bill, which was passed by a bipartisan majority in Congress, will invest $1.2 trillion in the nation's infrastructure over the next ten years.

The bill will provide funding for a variety of projects, including:

• Repairing roads, bridges, and highways
• Expanding broadband access
• Modernizing the electric grid
• Investing in clean energy
• Improving water infrastructure

The bill is expected to create millions of jobs and boost the economy. It is also expected to improve the quality of life for Americans by making it easier to get around, access information, and protect the environment.

One of the potential benefits of the infrastructure bill is that it could create jobs. The bill is expected to create millions of jobs in the construction, manufacturing, and transportation industries. These jobs could help to boost the economy and reduce unemployment.

Another potential benefit of the infrastructure bill is that it could improve the quality of life for Americans. The bill will invest in projects that will improve roads, bridges, and highways. This will make it easier for people to get around and could reduce traffic congestion. The bill will also invest in broadband access, which will help people to stay connected and access information.

However, there are also some challenges that businesses and individuals may face in implementing the new infrastructure projects. One challenge is that the bill is very complex. It is over 2,700 pages long and contains a lot of technical details. This could make it difficult for businesses and individuals to understand the requirements of the bill and comply with them.

Another challenge is that the bill is not fully funded. The bill will provide $1.2 trillion in funding for infrastructure projects, but this is not enough to cover the total cost of the projects. This means that businesses and individuals may have to contribute to the cost of the projects.

Jenn 00;00;14;02 - 00;00;26;13

Today on Smarter Business Finance Podcast Season two, Episode eight We're going to be talking about the infrastructure bill and how it may affect you and how it's going to impact our industry.

Anthony 00;00;26;29 - 00;00;32;02

So let's talk about that $1 trillion elephant in the room. Mm hmm. The infrastructure.

Jenn 00;00;32;02 - 00;00;32;25

Bill. Yes.

Anthony 00;00;33;05 - 00;00;56;27

This is a monstrosity of a bill that is set to go ahead and assist several different sectors throughout our United States. Affecting almost every American, if you will, because this is actually going to touch on anything from, say, a DOT sector waterworks. It's going to jump over into new clean energy. It's going to talk, you know what, Jenn

Anthony 00;00;56;27 - 00;01;05;21

As a matter of fact, it's going to talk about something that you like a lot. We had this discussion, potholes and all the wonderful repairs we have.

Jenn 00;01;05;21 - 00;01;32;00

Yes, I am from Boston, Massachusetts, and we have a lot of potholes where our potholes come from, snowstorms. So we'll actually link a little an article below. But there's an amazing opportunity that some people started realizing that the city in Chicago. Excuse me. Yeah, the city of Chicago wasn't filling their potholes, so this artist went out and decided to fill the potholes with mosaic Art.

Jenn 00;01;33;06 - 00;01;53;04

It's actually pretty cool. And I feel like that's, again, it's a great opportunity. So unfortunately, we don't have artists all over the United States that can take care of all of our issues and problems that we might have with our bridges and our roadways or what have you. But thank you to all those artists that did that. I would love to see that all over Las Vegas, but that.

Anthony 00;01;53;04 - 00;01;53;17

Was pretty.

Jenn 00;01;53;17 - 00;01;56;23

Cool. Yeah, but we don't have that. We don't have potholes like they do in Boston.

Anthony 00;01;57;00 - 00;02;22;18

So the reason that I bring up potholes, I think if you were to look at the statistics from each and all independent cities such as Los Angeles and what those costs are, it's astonishing. It's astonishing. In my last venture, I was actually working for a company that had an actual bonding agent that would go ahead and laminate itself to see asphalt or concrete within, say, a set amount of time to get rid of those potholes, if you will.

Anthony 00;02;22;25 - 00;02;40;11

But you really don't understand the scope of what we need until you understand the size of that bill. That bill is $1 trillion for a reason. I want you to imagine just some of the things that are happening here in Las Vegas when it comes to water. How are we going to go ahead and refill up Lake Mead?

Anthony 00;02;41;06 - 00;03;03;13

This infrastructure bill is in line to go ahead and possibly touch on some of those issues, whether it's rerouting channels, whether it's new drilling that has to take place throughout different parts of the state, whatever the case might be. But this infrastructure bill is going to touch on everything from D.O.T. all the way down to, say, road signage, if you will.

Anthony 00;03;03;22 - 00;03;28;19

And it's important that everybody understands how they can have a part of this or be a part of it, if you will. In my past I worked with different Dottie's, whether it was text on a dot for Arizona, Caltrans out in California. You have no idea what is needed to get us up to speed when it comes to how far behind our states are, whether again, waterworks, roadways, bridges.

Anthony 00;03;28;28 - 00;03;57;15

All of these things have a major impact on our daily lives. So I'm talking to contractors. I'm talking to trucking companies. All those that make this machine move. Every single person is going to have an opportunity to go ahead and take part, whether they're delivering materials. Right. Whether they're actually repairing stuff. Correct. And then if you wanted to actually seek out some of these contracts, what you would do is you would check in with your state.

Anthony 00;03;57;28 - 00;04;19;11

A lot of this work is prevailing wage. What that means is that the actual state is subsidizing or the government is subsidizing that particular work. So all the wages are set under that contract, and then you as a contractor, can bid on those contracts. But I would start off with your state. I would check in with your dot.

Anthony 00;04;20;03 - 00;04;38;17

Right. You could check in with, say, TexDOT for Texas. You could see what all work is coming down the pipeline in relation to this actual bill. Why is it important if you were to take a look at all the different roads throughout the United States, just the roads themselves? I think we could all agree that this bill is long overdue.

Anthony 00;04;38;27 - 00;05;02;18

So for anybody that's in the DOT sector, what does this mean for you? Something that's really important to kind of like highlight about this, Jenn when it comes to this infrastructure bill and where to look for contracts? And why is it important? We're all adults here and we've all seen what's taking place in the first place, but we've all seen what's taken place in the world.

Anthony 00;05;02;18 - 00;05;24;06

Correct. So for those that are involved in any shape or form in the construction sector that touches infrastructure, this is a key relevant topic for you and your future for, say, the next couple of years. I think this is something that people have to be attentive to. They have to start to understand what type of equipment that is going to be used in this.

Anthony 00;05;24;19 - 00;05;51;18

And when I say what type, I mean any type. If you are a paving contractor, this is when you want to take advantage of getting the equipment that you need and leverage it against the jobs that you're going to receive from this type of a contract. Your company can not only grow based on the size of these agreements, but more so you can own the equipment instead of eroding your profits, if you will, by just renting them.

Jenn 00;05;51;19 - 00;05;52;27

I see what you did there.

Anthony 00;05;52;27 - 00;05;53;10

You see what?

Jenn 00;05;53;10 - 00;05;53;22

I'm a little.

Anthony 00;05;53;22 - 00;06;16;07

Pun. It's and the reason that I mention that is because throughout the time that I financed clients, you don't see things like this pop up out of nowhere. It's not like there's a $50 billion trucking bill to help out our truckers. Right. And we work with tons of truckers here, right? We take pride in that. But the reality is, is this sector has never seen anything like this before.

Anthony 00;06;16;27 - 00;06;44;02

With $1 trillion starting to be scaled out and floating out to each each state, all of these sectors will have an opportunity. And it doesn't matter. We can finance all that equipment. I've seen equipment, whether it was say, spray spray foam equipment, where you need to get in and you need to seal tanks for the water works departments, whether it's going to be, say, water drilling equipment, because they have to do wells for an independent city.

Anthony 00;06;44;07 - 00;06;53;20

Mm hmm. There's so many different variations where you can take this even down to our truckers who are not seeing a part of this because they're having to deliver the materials to the site.

Jenn 00;06;53;21 - 00;06;56;16

I was actually going to say that aggregate dump trucks.

Anthony 00;06;56;21 - 00;07;19;05

It's just going to stimulate so many other industries. See, when I say construction, I'm not saying it's isolated just so that that sector sees the benefit. Quite honestly, this is going to splinter off into manufacturing. It's going to splinter off into, say, fluids, diesels, things of that nature. Right. So many other industries are going to benefit from this bill.

Anthony 00;07;19;16 - 00;07;24;15

And this is the time to enact and to take action. I love it. Why is it important?

Jenn 00;07;25;04 - 00;07;32;23

So when people are bidding on different contracts, how long does it take for them to actually know if they're awarded something? And what's the process of that?

Anthony 00;07;33;01 - 00;08;01;13

You know, that's funny because you have your initial bidding and then they'll narrow it down to a few people. And this is possible even after 6 to 8 months and in some cases, Jim, almost a year or two. Wow. So not all of these things are going to move, right, when the agreement or the bid comes out. Some of these things have been in the works, believe it or not, for 2 to 3 years, and they've been waiting for the funds, if you will, in order to do something like this.

Anthony 00;08;01;21 - 00;08;27;19

If you've driven through Southern California, through that corridor where Irvine is. Holy cow, Irvine looks different. Before you would drive through, there were nothing but apartments there. Sky rises, shopping malls, brand new homes. The gas company, it's going to affect sewers and waste. All of that has to be built. So just taking that one little isolated city, because you and I both know how it's grown over the past two decades.

Jenn 00;08;27;19 - 00;08;28;02

Yes.

Anthony 00;08;28;09 - 00;08;58;09

Imagine the entire United States having to do that. Right. And that's basically basically where we are. We're layering in clean energy. Right. So it's an initiative. We have to layering clean energy. But at the same time, we have to bolster what is there right now. And I think this is where everyone has to kind of turn their head a little bit, start to look to the future and how they can take part in that, whether it's through manufacturing, supplying production or actually installing.

Jenn 00;08;58;18 - 00;09;23;14

Right. All right. I love it. I love it. Now, if you think that this infrastructure bill has pros or cons or affects you or what industry that you're in, let us know. Comment below and tell us how it's going to affect you if it's going to bring you more business and what industry that you're in. We would love to hear about that, especially because when it comes down to just building or construction or paving or trucking, there's so much more than that.

Jenn 00;09;23;14 - 00;09;37;03

When you bring in more people, when you when you're building more buildings, it brings in more restaurants, it brings in more gyms, it brings in so much more. So we'd love to hear from you guys how we think or how you think that it's going to affect you and your industry. Go ahead, comment below.

Anthony 00;09;38;11 - 00;09;59;26

I really like what you said right now, Jen, especially with the fact that all the other industries I, I don't think people really realize that movie theater schools, all of those different entities that have to be put up to support that type of infrastructure, if you will, even though the infrastructure is supporting them. Everybody's going to see a benefit to this.

Anthony 00;09;59;29 - 00;10;01;03

All right. Really good point.

Jenn 00;10;01;04 - 00;10;02;10

Yeah, We'll all grow together.

Anthony 00;10;02;11 - 00;10;03;05

Absolutely.

Jenn 00;10;03;05 - 00;10;29;11

Absolutely. So there was a gentleman in New Zealand who really didn't care for all the potholes that were around his city. So he took it upon himself to buy $286 worth of neon green spray paint. And what did he do? He spray painted a male body part all over the roads, so that way the city could fix the potholes.

Jenn 00;10;29;21 - 00;10;48;26

So, I mean, I have to say, of all the creative things out there, filling it with a mosaic piece of art was this is a complete different end of the spectrum. But I like how creative this guy got. And look, the city fixed it. I don't know how long it took them to do it, but I'm sure it was a lot quicker than the people that filled it with Mosaic.

Jenn 00;10;48;26 - 00;10;54;24

So we will link an article to that below. Have a laugh and enjoy some some adult humor there.

Anthony 00;10;55;02 - 00;11;13;07

You know, on a more serious side of what you brought up because that is funny. But believe it or not, it's a reality in today's world. You don't realize the damage that is done to a vehicle when you're going down the highway and the highways aren't set, you know, you hit a pothole, you hit a broken piece of concrete or something like that on a curb or something.

Anthony 00;11;13;07 - 00;11;36;28

It blows out your tire dents, your rim. When you when you start to look at the numbers and you start to understand how Americans are affected by these numbers, you realize why this bill is so vital. Although we're utilizing something that's funny that someone did. The truth of the matter is, is that this gentleman was completely frustrated when in fact he's paid his taxes.

Anthony 00;11;36;28 - 00;11;59;15

Nothing's changing. Nothing's getting better. With the size of this bill, we're able to go ahead and address many of these things. So if you're in concrete, let me just be frank. I would be chasing cities such as Los Angeles to repair all of their sidewalks. You have no idea what the lawsuits are per year in the city of Los Angeles, just from trip and falls.

Anthony 00;11;59;26 - 00;12;03;11

And we're only touching on one aspect of infrastructure in that manner.

Jenn 00;12;03;12 - 00;12;04;04

Absolutely.

Anthony 00;12;04;05 - 00;12;24;16

Sticking with the city of Los Angeles, how many times have you ever traveled through there and you're stuck on the highway forever? Well, it's usually because they don't have enough exits. There's not enough you know, things aren't moving fluidly. This is exactly what this bill is going to address. Another part of this bill, Jenn is is the clean energy side.

Anthony 00;12;25;02 - 00;12;39;05

And it's kind of funny because we both know our friend Jackson, a friend of ours that works here, and he has a Tesla. Well, part of the infrastructure bill will make sure that he doesn't have to stop in Barstow for 2 hours for. I'm sorry.

Jenn 00;12;40;03 - 00;12;51;09

No, it's the truth. I had a I had a friend come in town, and I think that she said it took her 7 hours to get from California to Nevada. And I said, Are you sure?

Anthony 00;12;51;10 - 00;12;52;05

It's no joke.

Jenn 00;12;52;07 - 00;12;53;07

Take that car.

Anthony 00;12;53;08 - 00;13;15;19

It's no joke. So I think that's another part of this infrastructure bill that when you really start to think it through, why $1,000,000,000,000? Well, let's talk about it. Imagine every gas station in the United States and we're trying to replicate it, whether it's at your house or whether it's at a charging station. This is an epic change within our society.

Anthony 00;13;15;25 - 00;13;36;21

And this is a great opportunity for those that are in any form of DOT to start to layer in this part of of that type of work in their portfolio, scope of work for those that are in the trades under. Everybody understands that when you receive a contract, you're being hired for the scope of work that they've contracted you for.

Anthony 00;13;37;05 - 00;13;56;10

It's not unheard of for a contractor to pick up three to 4 to 5 different items on that site. So this is another great initiative for people to start to look into. What are some of the things that you would think of, Jen, that people would look into when they talk about green energy other than, say, charging what other items?

Anthony 00;13;56;23 - 00;13;59;26

Oh, solar.

Jenn 00;14;01;10 - 00;14;03;12

Yes. Mm hmm.

Anthony 00;14;03;18 - 00;14;18;18

It's incredible. You can actually look at the city of Las Vegas right now. You could drive towards California or you can drive towards Bullhead City, and you're going to find these massive sections of solar powered plants.

Jenn 00;14;18;19 - 00;14;19;29

And they're called solar farms.

Anthony 00;14;20;00 - 00;14;41;13

There you go, solar farms. Now, Nevada has been toying with the subject about taking these up a little bit further. Even Elon has joked about how he can drop in a certain amount of them and go ahead and supply all the energy to the United States that we would ever need. This is something that is just we're barely scratching the surface.

Anthony 00;14;41;14 - 00;15;03;01

So when we talk about infrastructure, it's not just about cement, It's not about asphalt or even rebar. It's about improving our lives. So some of it is going to be electric. In fact, a lot of it. So for those that are in the in the contracting world, when it comes to, say, electric or solar, this is going to be a game changer for them.

Anthony 00;15;03;11 - 00;15;12;04

Huge stations. There's a lot of stuff for us to think about otherwise. Jackson It's going to take them about a good 7 to 8 hours.

Jenn 00;15;12;04 - 00;15;13;04

To get to California.

Anthony 00;15;13;04 - 00;15;14;12

To get to California.

Jenn 00;15;14;13 - 00;15;14;22

Yeah.

Anthony 00;15;14;26 - 00;15;17;06

Meanwhile, we're getting there in about three. Mm.

Jenn 00;15;17;21 - 00;15;40;16

It's interesting to you. I was actually just speaking with a friend of mine who's renovating her kitchen, and she was saying how she wasn't able to actually get the stove that she wanted because it was cooked up on natural gas. She's required to, based on the size gets. I mean, that's electric based on her area. So this is going to be a huge opportunity for even appliance companies to think outside the box in regards to how they do things.

Jenn 00;15;40;24 - 00;15;44;17

Things will be a lot more, obviously, solar and electric base moving forward.

Anthony 00;15;44;17 - 00;16;08;02

And this is something that's going to affect builders as well. As a matter of fact, builders are having to go back and to revamp all of their internal, if you will. Washer and dryer stoves, for that matter, their furnaces. This is changing. And as we progress, the United States themselves, our country as a whole is attempting to make that change as well.

Anthony 00;16;08;08 - 00;16;37;02

And this $1 trillion is its first step towards that change. So we touched on it a ton of topics, and obviously we can't list every single trade that will benefit from this. But I'm sure for those that are watching, the question has come to you. Can I be a part of this? You have to ask yourself that as a business owner and how you can benefit as a business owner and help change the United States United States infrastructure.

Anthony 00;16;37;13 - 00;16;48;02

So whether you're going to help on the green energy side, whether you're going to make sure that someone's not slipping and falling in a city. All of that is tied together within this bill of $1 trillion.

Jenn 00;16;48;06 - 00;16;50;28

Yeah, definitely. Awesome. Great information.

Anthony 00;16;51;02 - 00;16;52;29

Yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah.

Jenn 00;16;52;29 - 00;17;09;09

Thank you so much. Thank you. And again, if you guys have any comments or questions or thoughts about the infrastructure bill or how it's affecting you or how it's going to change the world of small businesses, go ahead and comment below. We'd love to hear from you. And once again, thank you for joining us on the Smarter Business Finance Podcast.

Anthony 00;17;09;26 - 00;17;12;05

Thank you.

Anthony 00;17;17;02 - 00;17;41;25

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Anthony 00;17;42;05 - 00;17;47;00

An episode that's of interest to you. That would be fantastic.