I am glad to see there are government agencies that are actually creating jobs with stimulus dollars and not just the construction industries. So many small businesses need help on a day to day basis or could use extra labor to get neglected projects finished. Hopefully, some of the recent hires will stay on — which I think is the idea. Even f they are let go, at least these individuals got paid directly.

A 100 Percent Hiring Subsidy

San Francisco is using federal stimulus funds to give immediate aid to small-business owners. Its $25 million program reimburses owners for 100 percent of the wages for certain new hires. So far, restaurants, cafes, delivery services and even law firms have hired nearly 1,800 people through the program, called Jobs Now.

Employers do have to pay for Social Security and unemployment insurance, and the program requires those hired to have been unemployed for 30 days or longer. More than 800 businesses have signed up for the program, and the city is pushing to extend it beyond its September expiration.

At first, said Steven B. Falk, chief executive of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, “businesses had to warm up to the idea of turning to the government for hiring. Now, small businesses are telling me this is the motivation that pushed them to hire.”

via What States and Cities Do to Help Small Businesses – NYTimes.com.