According to Nextgov.com, US$6 billion will be used to bring broadband to rural areas. The Social Security Administration will get $500 million for a new computing center. The State Department will receive $290 million "to strengthen information security and modernize its networks." All of these projects stand to benefit software, hardware, and services vendors.

Companies have yet to win any government contracts as a result of the stimulus bill, but several tech giants have already made their interest clear. An article from The Hill reports that Intel board chairman (and GOP donor) Craig Barrett "argued vehemently against planned cuts" when the bill was still being debated on Capitol Hill. In a letter to lawmakers, he described the spending as "investments in our knowledge future -- students, education and research -- not money for my industry or for my company."

But the author of the article, Kevin Bogardus, noted that "Less selflessly, Intel lobbyists have also explained to lawmakers how various provisions of the recovery effort would specifically benefit the Santa Clara, Calif.-company."

Bogardus also noted that "senior executives for Google and Qwest have said that if the stimulus passed, their companies would hire more people based partly on provisions that direct the building-out of broadband access." Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has also spoken in favor of the bill.

The solar power industry is also likely to benefit. An article at Examiner.com lists 17 solar-friendly provisions totaling in the billions of dollars.