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As county officials face questions over federal stimulus money, Prince George's companies continue to largely be left in the lurch for county-based projects, some business leaders say.

County Council members fielded questions at a Nov. 10 briefing about how much stimulus money the county actually manages. Although federal officials have often said the county has received $400 million from the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, county officials say that only about $34 million of that is under their control. The lion's share of this money has gone toward hiring new police officers and purchasing new transit buses, leaving about $17 million in grants for other projects.

Through September, the most recent month for which data are available, nine prime contracts for stimulus-funded state transportation projects in Prince George's, totaling about $17 million, had been awarded, according to state figures. These contracts, mostly for resurfacing and bridge work, went to just one county company, plus others in Baltimore, Silver Spring, Fallston, Virginia and North Carolina.

Olney Masonry of Beltsville won $1.37 million for a safety project at Allview Drive and Evans Trail in Beltsville. Olney Masonry officials weren't immediately available for comment.

Information from the state's Web site for stimulus spending also shows one Prince George's company receiving a subcontract through the $116 million in transportation projects directed toward the county. General Concrete of Beltsville is subcontracting under the $2.3 million project managed by American Infrastructure of Maryland in Fallston.

General Concrete has subcontracted close to $1 million, according to the transportation department's report on minority business participation, but the exact portion for its Prince George's project was unavailable.

Prince George's businesses have signed on as prime contractors to more than $19 million in transportation projects elsewhere in the state.

Information on how to obtain stimulus contracts continues to be vague, said Rhonda Slade, CEO of the Prince George's County Chamber of Commerce. She said that by the time local businesses learn about stimulus contracts, they have already been awarded.

Stimulus projects are designed to be started quickly and typically have a short bidding time.

"We need to develop some process of communication to local businesses," Slade said. "The follow-up afterward seems to be lacking."

She said these local projects represent taxable money that could be going back into economic development in the county.

"There's a lack of commitment to get into why our businesses are not getting contracts," said Jerry Mathis, chairman of the Prince George's County Business and Community Coalition and a real estate agent. "Our county officials are being reactive and not proactive."

He also lamented local companies' ongoing issues with obtaining bonding due to their size. The county hopes to remedy this with its new contracting program at Prince George's Community College through a $5 million grant from The Peterson Cos. of Fairfax, Va. This grant provides for the Center for Minority Enterprise Development as part of Peterson's equity agreement with the county when the council approved a $35 million bond for Peterson's National Harbor project in Oxon Hill.

Mathis said both the state and the county need to do a better job of getting out information on these contracts, including providing information to local groups and listservs, rather than to just the county's economic development agency.

Prince George's businesses have fared better at snaring stimulus contracts for federal projects.

For example, J.R. Services of Bowie won a $1.3 million contract with the Department of Veterans Affairs to replace windows at the its medical center in the Bronx, N.Y. Platinum One Contracting of Hyattsville won more than $2 million in contracts for roof replacements and other improvements at various buildings in Florida and Georgia. Presidio Networked Solutions in Greenbelt won a $12.2 million contract with the Internal Revenue Service for software license upgrades. GMR Aerial Survey in Bowie received a $317,538 contract for shoreline mapping through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. And RIS Paper Co. of Upper Marlboro won a $45,000 contract to print check paper for the Treasury Department's Financial Management Service.

Targeted News Service contributed to this report.