The government's recovery website is a valuable resource for proactive B2B marketers. One of the latest graphs released shows that 64% of the funding received by state and local governments in 2009 will be spent through health, education, and transportation programs. By 2012, government entities will be receiving funding for long-term economic growth opportunities in transportation, energy, and community development.

Notable milestones over the past week:

• GSA has invested $1 billion in ARRA construction projects nationwide. Click here to view the state-by-state list of projects. 
• President Obama and Secretary Duncan announced guidelines for the Race to the Top competitive grants. 
• HHS Secretary Sebelius has provided $572 million in funding to improve care in ambulatory surgery centers and $200 million to expand training for healthcare professionals.

Healthcare reform is one of the most debated topics in politics today. In light of the current discussions regarding how to reform healthcare, Dr. Edwin Long is offering his book, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Health Care, as a free and downloadable PDF. Dr. Long provides an in-depth look at the health care crisis in the U.S. There were more than 47 million Americans without health care coverage in 2006 while those with health care coverage questioned the quality and price of care received. Dr. Long shares his views on why universal health care is needed and how it can be accomplished by dividing his book into two segments. The first, The Health Care We Have, looks at the present health care system and the inherent problems it creates. The second section, The Health Care We Need, discusses possible solutions and provides direction on how to manage change. Click to continue

by John F. Hood, MCH President

As reported in the Kansas City Star on June 28, 2009, the Congressional Budget Office made this prediction for 2082 based on current trends. At 16% now and expected to be over 20% of GDP in 2018, the growth of healthcare spending is nothing short of spectacular. If you have been following employment trends this past year, you already know that the healthcare sector has been adding jobs all through the current recession.

The growth of healthcare spending is central to the growing share that B2i takes of GDP. Other B2i segments like government and education are growing too, just not quite so fast. But healthcare is attracting more government attention in the current healthcare reform debate. One of the other striking aspects of the B2i markets is that government spending is one of the main sources of funding. When the government makes changes, the B2i institutions follow. An example is the vast and unprecedented stimulus funding now reaching the institutions that will spend it. Click to continue

Steven Kahn is Vice President of Business Development Solutions and the author of the blog, AllThingsData.com. He recently interviewed MCH President John Hood and Director of Marketing Kirk Chritton regarding business-to-institution data and marketing. The three spent time discussing trends including the use of Master Data Management to integrate compiled B2i data with compiled B2B data and internal data sources to gain a competitive view of customers and prospects.

Click here to read Steve's full blog entry.

The DMA's Summer 2009 edition of Politically Direct contained great information for marketers. Topics covered include:

USPS
The USPS relies on earned income rather than taxpayer support so the recent decline in mail volume has resulted in significant operating losses. The USPS launched a Summer Sale program designed to specifically for volume mailers. Cost-saving measures being reviewed by the USPS include examination of retiree healthcare costs and analysis of reducing mail delivery from six days to five. According to a New York Times story on June 29, 2009 by Andrea Fuller, the USPS will have a $7 billion deficit in 2009. Postmaster General John Potter said that reducing delivery to five days would save almost $3 billion annually. Members of Congress who oppose changing the delivery schedule say that such an action would save far less than $3 billion and would create a permanent change based on a temporary problem.

Do Not Mail
Bills were introduced in Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Florida during the past legislative session. None of the bills moved forward in the process.

Nexus Tax
Tammy Cota, Interim Executive Director of Internet Alliance, authored an opinion piece regarding an increase in the number of states are trying to close some of their budget shortfalls by requiring online retailers to collect sales tax on purchases shipped to their state. The DMA is taking a very active role in educating legislators and the general public regarding how the sales tax issue will impact businesses and consumers.

DMA Members can click here to log-in and read the entire edition.

Education marketers need to act now to capitalize on the October–January purchasing cycle. Under ARRA stimulus funding, the federal government is providing schools with $12 billion for special education and $13 billion for Title I. In addition, schools are eligible to receive State Fiscal Stabilization Funds and school modernization funds. MCH can help you target the largest recipients of Title I federal funding with selections including Title I Top 100, Districts with increases of $400,000+ for 2009-10 and $200,000+ for 2008-09. The school-wide Title I schools in these districts should have significant funds to implement new curriculums. In addition, districts that had significant increases in Title I funding for the 2008-2009 school year may still have carryover funds that must be spent during the 2009 calendar year.

Call your MCH representative today to find out where you should be targeting your campaigns.

There are large and small furniture buyers in the institutional market. Hospitals, schools, and government offices are most likely the biggest buyers of furniture. While capturing large accounts is great, the incremental value of including smaller facilities in your marketing campaigns can be a positive also. Think about how institutions are expanding their product and service offerings and then target institutions like outpatient treatment centers, retirement homes, and medical and dental practices.

Click here to review datacards that are suitable for marketers of furniture products and then call your MCH sales representative to get a count on those "why didn't I think of that?" institutions you may have missed.

DMA09
October 18-20, 2009
San Diego Convention Center
Booth #1443
Stop by and visit with the MCH team including Peter Long, John Hood, Jerry Reisberg, Sean Sinnott, Kirk Chritton, Joan Whitney, and Larry Buchweitz.

Click here to request a quote for any of MCH's institutional databases and services.