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For years, Grant Opperman’s tiny delivery company struggled to keep up with the giants of its industry.

FedEx (FDX, Fortune 500) and UPS (UPS, Fortune 500) deployed tracking technology that could pinpoint a package within minutes of its arrival at any given facility. Opperman’s 90-employee firm — D.W. Morgan, based in Pleasanton, Calif. — was forced to rely on the memories of its 30 drivers, who were instructed to phone the boss whenever a shipment arrived. The drivers didn’t always remember to call, and managers spent hours on the phone following up. When clients — which included 20 Fortune 500 companies — called about an undelivered package, Opperman couldn’t tell them where it was.

That was okay for a niche company (D.W. Morgan delivers high-tech hardware) with $50 million in annual revenues. But Opperman dreamed of international expansion and knew he needed a better tracking system. He couldn’t afford what the big guys had — FedEx alone spends $1 billion each year on its tracking setup. So he bought the cheapest iPhone ($200) for each of his drivers, paid $300 for a developer’s license from Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and asked one of his in-house tech specialists to build a custom application that used the phone’s global positioning system (GPS) technology.

"I had to be creative to show my value," Opperman says.

Not so long ago, most of us associated GPS with expensive in-car guidance systems that gave driving instructions in patronizing voices. Today, the receiver technology, which can pinpoint your position anywhere on the planet based on data from six orbital satellites, is cheap, and small enough to fit in many phones. Most major carriers now sell GPS packages on cell phones starting at $10 per phone per month.

Global spending on GPS receivers and software is set to hit $13 billion by 2013, according to ABI Research in London, up from $2.5 billion today. Entrepreneurs like Opperman are getting creative with the technology — using it to keep tabs on remote workers, to track down stolen machinery and even to plant crops.

"GPS is pervading every aspect of life and business," says Dominique Bonte, practice director at ABI. "You’ll see many more applications in the future."

D.W. Morgan’s clients can now track shipments online in real time. The custom application — developed in six weeks — displays the precise location of each truck on a Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) map. Drivers ask package recipients to sign their iPhone screens. The signatures are immediately uploaded to the company Web site.

"Even the big guys don’t get it that fast," says Opperman proudly.

For a total investment of $21,000, including the salary of one IT worker for six weeks and $5,970 for 30 iPhones, Opperman estimates he will save $96,000 a year, based on the number of work hours he and his drivers spent filing, getting signature documentation and making manual data entries. Better yet, the system is allowing him to expand: Starting at the end of this year, D.W. Morgan will begin delivering in the Czech Republic and Thailand.

There’s no need to build your own iPhone application, though. AT&T (T, Fortune 500), Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500) and Sprint (S, Fortune 500) sell GPS packages using software from Gearworks of Eagan, Minn., TeleNav of Sunnyvale, Calif. and Xora of Mountain View, Calif. The cheapest deals buy you basic driving directions. Those monthly prices don’t include data plans, which typically range between $15 and $30 per month. Expect a onetime activation charge of $20 to $25 per phone to be tacked on.

More expensive packages, which run about $22 per phone per month, include features such as GPS time-carding, which allows employees to clock in and out using their cell phones. A tool called geo-fencing lets you draw a boundary on a map and sends text alerts if your employees cross it fast cash advance. Users of iPhones can download MotionX-GPS, a $2.99 application that will track routes and overlay the path on a Google map, tracing where they’ve gone and how long it took to reach their destination.

Getting started isn’t always simple, as John Tartaglione discovered. Tartaglione owns JMS Partners, a residential construction firm based in Hopkinton, Mass. He installed Xora’s GPS app on his four employees’ cell phones so they could clock in remotely from job sites. But getting the software to work properly was a frustrating experience that took a couple of months, including many hours on the phone with Xora’s tech support staff.

Tartaglione’s employees hated being tracked. Some simply turned off their phones. Many viewed the entire system as a waste of resources. Carrie MacGillivray, a senior analyst at Framingham, Mass.-based research firm IDC, calls getting support from employees the greatest challenge in GPS tracking.

"They don’t want Big Brother," she says.

Tartaglione has yet to demonstrate the system’s worth to his employees. Still, remote time cards shaved off 15 minutes here and there from the time workers claimed they were at the job site. The result: a few thousand dollars in payroll costs saved. Now, when bidding new work, Tartaglione knows better how long it really takes to get a job done.

"This clearly helps me with profitability," says Tartaglione. "It’s been invaluable."

Pros and cons

GPS snooping can be legally risky, particularly if your monitoring extends beyond working hours — even if you don’t know it. Fire or reprimand an employee and she could claim that your knowledge of her off-hour activities — such as a medical appointment or a union meeting — was being used unfairly.

"When they’re not working, turn it off," advises Jonathan Segal, an employment attorney with WolfBlock in Philadelphia.

On the other hand, precise time tracking can also work to the advantage of employees. When Gem Plumbing, Heating and Electric installed a GPS system to keep its 168 trucks on schedule, the Lincoln, R.I.-based firm offered bonuses to drivers who reached customers on time. The more efficient the technician, the bigger the bonus.

Gem’s technicians now reach 95% of appointments on time, up from 50% before the GPS system was installed. The average monthly bonus per worker: $750.

"Employees need to know what’s in it for them," says Gem president Anthony Gemma.

If GPS turns out to be integral to your business and you need more than phones can offer, you can upgrade to more specialized, sophisticated GPS hardware from established players such as Navtrak, based in Salisbury, Md.; NetworkFleet, out of San Diego; and Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Trimble. Operating costs for these systems can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars a month, depending on your requirements.

Trimble alone generates revenue of $1.3 billion a year selling GPS equipment such as "precision agriculture" systems that control and drive forklifts and tractors. Thanks to Trimble, Iowa corn farmer Dennis Smith can climb on his tractor, push a button and watch his fields get seeded and fertilized in perfectly straight rows. The payoff: Smith’s crop yields and profits have both climbed 5% in the year since he adopted the system.

Better yet, Smith and his single employee can work longer hours with less fatigue.

"I will not farm without it anymore," says Smith, who invested about $65,000 in the system, including activation fees and money spent on base stations, receivers, navigation controllers and antennae. "You can literally sit and read the newspaper while the tractor tills the field."  

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St. Louis — The news conference was meant to decry the lack of minority contractors on a bridge project, but it fell into disarray when one participant decided to climb onto a piece of construction equipment.

Others soon followed. And before that late June morning in 1999 was over, 31 people landed in a police lockup.

"After we got out that night, we decided we needed to do something bigger the next time," attorney and activist Eric Vickers recalled.

The day after the arrests, Vickers composed a letter to then-Gov. Mel Carnahan, threatening to block Interstate 70 in St. Louis if the state didn’t do something to increase minority participation on highway projects.

And 10 years ago today, a coalition of contractors, politicians and civil rights champions made good on that threat, bringing Monday morning rush-hour traffic along the interstate to a halt. It was an act of civil disobedience that continues to reverberate within the local construction industry.

"Nobody wanted to shut down that highway, but it opened a lot of doors," said Thomas L. Nellums Sr., the owner of TEE & E Trucking in St. Louis.

Indeed, activists and state officials acknowledge that the I-70 protest in 1999 sparked numerous changes for the better. A construction training program initiated in the aftermath of the protest has produced more than 1,000 graduates. Including minority contractors has become common practice, not only for highway work but on other major capital projects involving various institutions — the St. Louis Art Museum, University of Missouri-St. Louis and BJC HealthCare among them.

"We are doing things now to build relationships with the communities that are necessary to head off (those) types of issues," said Lester Woods, the external civil rights director for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

But some believe more needs to be done, and they say a protest similar to the one 10 years ago may be the best way to make their point.

CIRCUMVENTING RULES?

An organization called the African-American Business and Contractors Association contends that some injustices have yet to be addressed, noting how contracts have been allocated for the construction of the new, $640 million bridge connecting Illinois and Missouri.

Federal and state guidelines for minority participation give African-Americans and women equal footing, but state data show that the vast majority (88 percent) of the contracts set aside for those groups have gone to women-owned businesses, not African-Americans.

African-American contractors contend that white owners often circumvent the intent of those rules by transferring ownership to their daughters or wives.

"How can you win when the system is set up to help companies, who have been in business for 30 years, get family members certified (for minority ownership)?" said Carmell "Mack" Macklin, owner of Macklin Hauling.

Frank Haase, a white contractor who is president of R.G. Ross Construction Company, is a member of MO-KAN, the St. Louis Construction Assistance Center. MO-KAN is a consortium representing minority contractors that played an integral role in the interstate shutdown 10 years ago.

Haase acknowledges that some businesses occasionally flout the rules for women-owned contractors, but he said the practice was not widespread quick cash.

Nonetheless, black contractors are asking Illinois and Missouri to separate minority-owned firms from female-owned businesses in awarding contracts for the Mississippi Bridge project.

To draw attention to their concerns, the black contractors plan to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the shutdown with another protest Monday morning at an undisclosed location along I-70. Organizers say they will not take any action that should result in arrests.

"We have issues with (the Missouri Department of Transportation). They’re making progress, but they will have to improve," said Makal Ali, a protest organizer.

Some contractors, however, say a protest isn’t necessary this time. MO-KAN will skip the I-70 demonstration.

"We are sitting at the table (with Illinois and Missouri transportation officials), and we haven’t exhausted the means of getting to the place where we think we need to be," said Yaphett El-Amin, the group’s executive director.

‘NOT ENOUGH’ CHANGE

After the arrest of 31 demonstrators in 1999, minority contractors and advocates held discussions with state officials. The talks extended into simmering resentment among minorities over a highway bridge project at Taylor Avenue.

"All this construction was taking place in the heart of the black community, and no blacks were working on the project," said Anthony Thompson, the president and chief executive officer of Kwame Construction. "Getting attention of the community and the nation was the only way we could change the situation."

The meetings got the attention of the community. Persuading the Rev. Al Sharpton to join the shutdown guaranteed a national audience. Still, negotiations eventually faltered.

"They knew we were going to shut down the highway," Vickers recalled. "They just didn’t know how."

The plan called for vehicles driven by protestors to draw abreast of each other along I-70, gradually slowing eastbound traffic to a stop at Goodfellow Boulevard where other demonstrators, on foot, awaited.

It unfolded just as the organizers had hoped. An hour after the word to "move forward" sounded from a bullhorn, traffic began to flow again. There were no injuries.

All told, an estimated 300 people took to the highway that morning. Of those, 125 — including Sharpton — were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.

A decade later, Vickers recalls the protest with pride. The community and the state did respond to the issues that were raised. More doors began to open for minorities.

But as Monday’s protest approaches, Vickers says he’s still not sure how he feels about it. Should he stand with the demonstrators? Or, should he stand aside, acknowledging that progress has been made and there are other ways to address inequities?

"It’s changed," he said. "But just not enough."

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The buzzing saws and pounding hammers from the new project inside the Casino Queen can’t be heard on the gaming floor. But the casino hopes it will draw much-needed attention when the temporary wall comes down and reveals the new sports bar and entertainment venue.

The Casino Queen announced this week it is spending $2.15 million to develop Sevens — a 6,250-square-foot club slated to open around the third quarter of this year. The venue is a reincarnation of Club Sevens, a popular nightspot at the Casino Queen before the casino moved in August 2007 from its riverboat to a new building across the parking lot.

The original club wasn’t relocated to the new building. But with gaming revenue falling, the casino’s marketing director said the new club could prove more important than its predecessor.

The Casino Queen reported $8.1 million in revenue in the first half on 2009, down about 25 percent versus the same period last year, according to figures from the Illinois Gaming Board. Aside from the poor economy, several other factors have affected the casino since moving to the new building, said Todd Ribick, its marketing director.

"I think a lot of the legislative changes have brought some of that about, as far as the nonsmoking bill and Amendment A," Ribick said, referring to the Illinois’ 2008 ban of smoking in casinos and the fall vote that removed Missouri’s $500 loss limit, respectively.

"Those are some things that have made Missouri (casino) properties more attractive," he said

As a result, revenue at the four Missouri casinos in the St business card templates. Louis area has risen about 9 percent in the first half of 2009 compared with the same time last year, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission.

These impacts were fairly predictable, said Richard Thalheimer, head of Thalheimer Research Associates Inc., an economic research and consulting firm specializing in the racing and gaming industries based in Lexington, Ky.

Thalheimer said he has long studied the impact of loss limits and smoking in other states, and the results in Illinois and Missouri hold true to what he would expect.

What’s harder to predict are ways to win back customers. Sevens will take the place of a coffee cafe and a gift shop stationed just inside the casino’s main entrance. A new gift shop also will be constructed.

The new Sevens was not planned as a reaction to the downturn the casino has faced, Ribick said. Casino officials simply felt the new building was missing something, such as a place for sports fans to eat and gather before and after games. The club will feature displays of St. Louis Cardinals memorabilia. But Ribick noted that Sevens won’t be branded as a traditional sports bar, as it will feature space for live musical performances and other high-end touches.

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The U.S. Treasury Department allowed 11 smaller banks to repurchase stock warrants at only 66 percent of their market value, passing up about $10 million of taxpayer profits from government bailouts, a U.S. watchdog panel said on Friday.

In a new monthly report, the Congressional Oversight Panel said the government could lose $2.1 billion if it accepts similar valuation levels on warrants repurchased by remaining banks that received government capital injections.

The panel said the Treasury must apply a vigorous, transparent approach to valuing warrants and should consider leaving valuation to the markets by selling the securities in an open, public auction.

“This has the benefit of stopping any speculation about whether Treasury has been too tough or too easy on the banks that want to repurchase their own warrants,”

The Treasury received the 10-year warrants, along with preferred stock, in exchange for providing taxpayer capital to over 600 bank holding companies since the government’s $700 billion financial bailout program was launched in October. The warrants were meant as a way to allow taxpayers to share in the upside as financial institutions recovered.

But a number of banks, including 10 of the largest U.S. institutions, have repaid their bailout money and now want to buy back their stock warrants to be completely free of government restrictions. They have right of first refusal to do so.

But the Congressional Oversight Panel, headed by Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, said that a study of 11 banks found most of the prices privately negotiated by Treasury with the banks to be below market value car loans for people with bad credit.

One bank, Sun Bancorp of Vineland, New Jersey, repurchased its warrants for $2.1 million, or just 38 percent of the panel’s determination of fair value of $5.6 million.

The below-market prices were based partly on liquidity discount applied because the smaller banks have thinly traded shares that could be affected by a big warrant exercise.

The panel said it did not apply a liquidity discount in its study, which was conducted by three Harvard Business School professors using established valuation models such as Black-Scholes.

It said these discounts were not needed because the Treasury was under no pressure to sell, and larger banks have shares that are heavily traded.

The report estimates the total value of bank warrants held by the Treasury at $8.05 billion, while the Treasury has recently offered a $6 billion estimate.

Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams defended Treasury’s methods and process for valuing and repurchasing warrants, adding that assumptions in valuations may vary widely.

“We recognize that with non-traded securities, some will conclude that any price at which Treasury sells is too low, and some will say it is too high. And the problem is that model valuations alone do not represent what someone will pay for a warrant,” he said.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Kazunori Takada)

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Oil fell more than 4% to $64 a barrel Monday as doubts over a potential rebound in the global economy spurred investor risk aversion.

U.S. crude traded down $2.68 from Thursday’s close to settle at $64.05 a barrel Monday. U.S. markets were closed Friday for the Independence Day holiday weekend.

That’s the lowest settle price since May 27, when crude ended at $63.45.

Optimism that an economic recovery could bolster demand has helped lift crude off December lows below $33 a barrel. Recent weak economic data — including a poor U.S. jobs report last week — has weighed on markets, however.

U.S. stock markets dipped, despite data showing the U.S. service sector contracted at a decelerating pace last month, with activity at the highest since September 2008.

"A lot of people are nervous about the economy and now, everybody wants to get out of the exits at the same time," said Phil Flynn, PFGBest Research, Chicago.

"We are seeing this in the stock markets, the gold market and markets for other commodities, including oil. We did get a little bit of support in the latest ISM (service sector) numbers, but all in all, I feel that demand will be on a downward trend in the next couple of months," Flynn added no teletrack payday loans.

The yen and the U.S. dollar gained broadly as investors shunned risk and bought currencies perceived to be safe, adding pressure to commodities denominated in greenback.

The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global commodities benchmark, gave up about 1.75% by the early afternoon.

Crude has also found some support due to attacks on oil installations in OPEC member Nigeria.

Nigeria’s main militant group said on Monday it had sabotaged a Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) oil facility and seized a chemical tanker and six crew members, the latest in a string of disruptions to output from Africa’s biggest energy producer.

France and Britain called for action to curtail oil price volatility as part of a move towards tougher global governance to prevent a return to economic problems that existed before the financial crisis.

Crude prices hit a record $147 a barrel last July before crashing to $32.40 a barrel in December, as the economic crisis battered global fuel demand. 

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The Obama administration is widening its mortgage refinancing program to allow more borrowers hit hard by falling home prices to take part.

Borrowers whose loans are now worth up to 125% of their home’s value are now eligible to refinance their homes under the Obama foreclosure prevention plan announced in February. Previously, the limit was 105%.

The move acknowledges that home prices in many areas have fallen so far that many people were shut out of the program.

Some 67% of homeowners in Las Vegas — one of the hardest hit areas and where Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan announced the expansion Wednesday — owe more than their homes are worth.

More than one in five borrowers are now underwater, with homes in parts of California and Florida losing more than 50% of their value, according to Zillow.com, a real estate Web site. Some 20 million people own homes worth less than their mortgages.

"The president’s Making Home Affordable plan is already helping far more than any previous foreclosure initiative and with today’s announcement we will extend its reach still further," said Donovan.

How many more people will be drawn to the program now, however, remains a question, especially since mortgage rates are on the rise. Administration officials do not have an estimate.

Refinancings slow to ramp up

Some 20,000 loans have been refinanced so far, according to the Treasury Department.

The initiative waives the requirement that homeowners have at least 20% equity in their home, allowing them to take advantage of today’s lower rates. Homeowners must still meet other criteria, including being current on their payments and having loans that are owned or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The administration has set up a Web site, http://www.makinghomeaffordable.gov/, with more information.

Wednesday’s expansion means those with homes worth $200,000 and mortgages as large as $250,000 can still qualify. Previously, these borrowers could not have loans exceeding $210,000.

The program, however, has been slow to ramp up. Borrowers have complained that banks are not approving their applications. The Mortgage Bankers Association last week slashed its 2009 forecast of originations because fewer refinancings were being done than they originally expected. The group said only 13,000 were done in the three months after the plan’s launch.

The administration has projected that 4 million to 5 million mortgage borrowers would be helped fast cash advance. A Treasury official Tuesday said that the figure applied to those who would be eligible, not necessarily those who would participate.

Administration officials do not have an updated figure of how many people would be eligible or participate now that the criteria has been widened.

The recent uptick in mortgage prices has blunted the plan’s benefit, as well. The Federal Reserve has been buying mortgage-backed securities and long-term Treasurys in an effort to lower rates.

It worked for a while. Rates hit a low of 4.84% on April 28, but are now at 5.45%, according to HSH Associates.

Since mortgage rates have been in the 6% range in recent years, refinancing to the mid-5% range may not be worth it, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president at HSH Associates. A homeowner with a $200,000 mortgage at 6% would see a savings of about $64 a month if he refinanced at 5.5%, and that’s before closing costs.

"Are interest rates low enough to warrant getting into the process?" he said.

The administration’s announcement comes on the same day as an industry group reported that the demand for refinancing dropped 30% last week. In addition to higher rates, rising unemployment is contributing to the decline.

Borrowers with Freddie Mac loans who refinance through their current servicer can apply right away, but those who want to go through a different lender must wait until Oct. 1. Those with Fannie Mae mortgages can’t use a different lender and they’ll have to wait until Sept. 1 to refinance if their loans are more than 105% of their home’s value.

A second part of the program lets eligible borrowers who are in default — or at risk — lower their monthly payments to no more than 31% of their pre-tax income. This can help those who are not making as much at their jobs or who have monthly payments they can’t handle. Homeowners, servicers and mortgage investors can receive incentives to entice them to participate in the program.

Banks have extended more than 200,000 trial modification offers, according to the Treasury Department. Homeowners must make three monthly payments on time before the modification is made permanent. 

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AIG shareholders, a.k.a. U.S. taxpayers, ousted the majority of the company’s leadership at AIG’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday, removing the overseers of one of the biggest corporate unravelings in American history.

Just three of the 11 directors that oversaw the company’s downward spiral in September remained on AIG’s board. Two directors who were placed on the board after the company came undone, including Chief Executive and Chairman Edward Liddy, also stayed in place.

AIG’s three trustees, who represent the government’s near-80% controlling interest in the company, elected the new directors on behalf of the taxpayers.

The six directors who did not stand for re-election were not in attendance at the annual meeting.

The company’s longer-term shareholders stood before Liddy and a small group of about 150 other shareholders, voicing loud objections to the old board. Many tied irresponsible management by AIG’s board to the near-catastrophic losses of shareholders’ stakes in the company.

"I notice none of the [outgoing] directors are here today," said one shareholder, Kenneth Steiner. "They left like rats leaving a sinking ship. Well, goodbye and good riddance."

AIG’s new leadership will oversee AIG’s repayment of more than $80 billion in debt owed to taxpayers as well as the company’s roadmap to recovery, nicknamed "Project Destiny."

The new board includes former executives from American Express (AXP, Fortune 500), Boeing (BA, Fortune 500), KPMG, Delphi, Sears (SHLD, Fortune 500) and Northwest Airlines (DAL, Fortune 500). Liddy called them all "extremely talented," and suggested they they were well suited to help oversee the company’s transition over the next several years.

Liddy, who announced last month that he would relinquish his two positions, said that he expects the new board will find a replacements "soon." The CEO and chairman positions are expected to be split.

Taxpayers to hold onto AIG for a while. The company has previously said that it could take up to five years before the government is fully repaid. Liddy said Tuesday that there is "an excellent chance" the company will be able to repay the taxpayers.

For long-time AIG shareholders, the government’s stake has been an onerous burden, vastly reducing the value of their holdings payday loans no credit check. One shareholder, Jon Levin, suggested that AIG lobby the government to cut taxpayers’ 80% stake in the company as the government begins to pay the insurer back, calling the large stake "a disaster suffered by the shareholders."

But Liddy said he could give no assurances that the government will ever reduce its stake in the company.

Shares of AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) tumbled Tuesday afternoon after shareholders ratified a 20-1 reverse stock split, which will take effect at 5 p.m. ET. The stock was trading at about $1.15 a share in afternoon trading, down 14% from Monday’s close. Though shares have nearly quadrupled in the recent near four-month stock market rally, AIG’s stock is still down more than 90% from the day before the company’s bailout was announced in September.

Angry shareholders. A number of times throughout the 45-minute meeting, Liddy said he felt bad for the many shareholders whose holdings were nearly wiped out by the company’s collapse.

In response to one unidentified shareholder who was looking for guidance after telling Liddy that her AIG shares were worth just 2% of their peak value, Liddy conceded that though AIG’s stock "could recover, the question is, will another stock recover faster?"

"I’m sorry for what’s happened to you," added Liddy. "I wish you luck."

In an effort to prevent future collapses of the company, groups of shareholders proposed three motions for adoption, including curbs on executive compensation, reincorporation in shareholder-friendly North Dakota and the ability to hold special meetings to elect a new board of directors mid-term.

"Perhaps we could have avoided the problems we are facing now by putting a new board in place" through special elections, said Steiner, who proposed the latter two motions. "We lost 99% of our money, and no one is being held accountable," he added.

The trustees voted down Steiner’s motion as well as the other two shareholder proposals. 

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Every state has committed at least half its highway stimulus funds so none will lose any of its allocation, the Obama administration said Thursday.

States had until June 29 to obligate the funds or risk losing half the leftover money. Only a month ago, some 14 states had yet to satisfy that goal. Hawaii was the last to meet the mark, hitting it on June 19.

Maine has secured 100% of its funds and 15 states have more than 80% of their money committed.

"By delivering on these projects ahead of schedule and under-budget, we have been able to do even more than we expected," said Vice President Joe Biden.

The Federal Highway Administration has approved a total of $15.8 billion for more than 4,800 projects, as of June 25. States, however, have spent less than $190 million, as of June 19, according to federal data.

To commit the funds, states had to gain approval for their projects from the Federal Highway Administration, an agency of the Department of Transportation. The money doesn’t actually have to be spent, which can take months as projects go through the contracting and construction process.

Some states — Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Arizona, Virginia and New Mexico — have yet to claim any funds. Illinois has spent the most, claiming more than $47.6 million of the $664 million allocated so far.

Republicans in Congress said they were concerned by the slow pace of spending unsecured personal loans.

"This is pitiful that we can’t get people working, we can’t get the stimulus money out," said Rep. John Mica, (R-Fla.), the top Republican on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. "People want jobs and they want them now."

The administration did not report how many jobs have been created or saved thanks to the infrastructure funding. The issue has become a source of controversy, with Republicans on Capitol Hill questioning the the recovery act’s effectiveness in stemming the unemployment tidal wave.

States are sharing $26.6 billion for highway infrastructure projects, though only $18.6 billion is subject to the June deadline. The road allocations are among the earliest of the $280 billion in funds going to states and municipalities as part of the $787 billion recovery act.

Including transit and airport construction, the federal Department of Transportation is making $48.1 billion available, of which $19 billion has already been committed to more than 5,300 projects, according to the administration. Currently, more than 1,900 projects are underway.

A total of $369 million has been spent, Mica said. Only $11 million has flowed to the 10 states with the highest unemployment rates, he said. 

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