There are two very big contracts which will be bid in the next few weeks. The first is the $8 million restoration of the Merced Theatre, and the other is the multi-million dollar project at Livingston High School.
There may be no local bidders who qualify for the Merced Theatre job and there is only one local bidder for the Livingston High School work.
The reason is that no other contractors meet the bonding requirement for such big jobs.
Similar jobs have been bid in the county which have had few or no local bidders. Local bidders tend to use local subcontractors and the money from the job is more likely to stay in the area.
One recent Letter to the Editor was a complaint from a man who said he had tried to get a job on the G Street undergrounding project but they weren't hiring.
With unemployment fluctuating between 18 and 20 percent Merced County is desperate.
Even government is finally being forced to lay off staff.
While some stimulus money has filtered down, the federal government has conducted surveys and admits the system is not aiding the co unties like Merced which need the most help.
We had our own survey when we placed a help wanted ad in the paper and had 42 applicants. The list took three weeks to go through and still there were others waiting in line.
This was not a high paying job with great benefits. This was a poor paying job with poor benefits.
Another thing which makes it difficult for local business to compete for big jobs, is that when they have any government funding, they must pay "Prevailing Wage" to all workers on the job.
As many know who work in the valley, this is a figment of the political world and of Union pressure. Most valley businesses do no pay Union wages and provide Union benefits. Most other costs for living in the valley are cheaper too.
When local businesses are forced to pay Prevailing Wages for jobs they could do with regular wages it turns their pay scale upside down. With normal wages, these businesses could underbid most out of town bidders on smaller jobs. In normal times this is how local businesses exist.
These are not normal times. In the newspaper business we have cut rates to the bone. Restaurants and furniture stores have great specials as do clothes stores and even home builders.
Why can't we take advantage of these prices and do business local? Big jobs need to be split down so local bidders can afford the bonding.
The Livingston High School job could have been broken down to land development and building construction. Merced theatre could have been broken down to construction and electrical.
We want to say that there is a small light at the end of the tunnel when a contract is written so the bidder is required to use a certain portion of local labor, such as the Merced Union High School District is doing. However more needs to be done or things will get a whole lot worse before they get better.
There are two very big contracts which will be bid in the next few weeks. The first is the $8 million restoration of the Merced Theatre, and the other is the multi-million dollar project at Livingston High School. 
