Contractors and inspectors will work in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Unlike in the typical FEMA process where homeowners hire contractors individually, owners who sign up for the program at www.NYC.gov will be served by teams working their way through the city by geographical area.

“The current plan is to divide the city into three or four geographic areas with a program manager for each,” says Louis J. Coletti, president and CEO of BTEA. Funding will come from FEMA, he says.

Interested contractors must register with the FEMA Disaster Response Registry’s System for Award Management and must complete the FEMA Vendor Profile Form. Contact the Industry Liaison Support Center at 206-646-1895.

New Jersey

Higher Education Measure Makes the Grade in N.J.

Higher education in New Jersey is set for a big boost with voter approval of a $750-million bond measure for college and university construction projects.

At the New Jersey Institute of Technology and at colleges and universities statewide, “bond funding will mean new science labs, studios and research facilities, making a major investment in New Jersey’s educational and economic competitiveness,” says NJIT President Joel Bloom. The measure, which still requires matching funds from schools, would create nearly 10,000 jobs, he says.

How funds will be distributed among public and private schools has not yet been determined, however, notes Paul Shelly, a spokesman for the New Jersey Association of State Colleges and Universities. “Once institutions know their allocation, they can make a decision about which priority projects they want to fund with the proceeds and required match,” he says. “Most of these projects relate to competitiveness in the science, technology, engineering and math fields and health science professions.”

Shelly adds that campus sports facilities and other revenue-producing projects may gain from a state law enacted in August that will allow public-private finance ventures for the first time.

New York

Cuomo Forms Groups to Improve N.Y.’s Preparednes