Local firm goes for offering local stimuli

Count Sarasota construction executive Joe Holland as yet another Gulf Coast business leader who hasn't been impressed with federal stimulus packages.

For starters, says Holland, president of Hanover, Pa.-based Holland Construction, the stimulus bills haven't stimulated much work in his industry. But now Holland hopes his potential solution to the problem — his firm recently started its own stimulus package — will bring about some real change.

The gist of the program is this: Holland Construction, which runs a Florida office out of Sarasota, will provide certain clients a financing arrangement in lieu of or in addition to bank or private equity lending. The financing, on projects including multi-family residential, health care and retail, ranges from deferring fees to potentially taking an ownership position.