ARPA Funds: The Key to Advancing Your Tech Stack
John Wilkerson of the Arkansas Municipal League gives a primer on acceptable expenditures for the American Rescue Plan Act Funds.
by Angela Sarno
VP Marketing
PaymentWorksAt PaymentWorks, we are passionate about secure vendor onboarding as the lynchpin of secure payments.Ā When nearlyĀ three quarters of organizations have actual or attempted payments fraud scamsĀ aimed at them, we know that finding ways to gain peace of mindĀ when it comes to avoiding these scams is keeping a lot of you up at night.
In the summer of 2021, while attending theĀ Government Finance Officers AssociationĀ of Arkansas meeting (in awesomeĀ Eureka Springs, check it out if you can!), the general counsel of theĀ Arkansas Municipal League, John Wilkerson, gave a primer on acceptable expenditures for the American Rescue Plan Act Funds.Ā And when he got to āLost Revenueā funds he mentioned cybersecurity. Forgive the bad humor, but while in Eureka I thought ‘EUREKA!” This āonce in a lifetime funding sourceā is the opportunity so many cities, towns, colleges, universities, counties and states have been pining for: the opportunity toĀ advanceĀ their organizational use of technology to create efficiency, ensure compliance and yes,Ā to secure their vendor payments!
I was excited when John Wilkerson graciously allowed me to interview him for ourĀ Risky Business podcast.Ā Even more graciously, he then spent additional time researching the different rules for higher ed vs. government usage of the funds, and shared his knowledge during a webinar we co-hosted withĀ E&I Cooperative. He walked our customers through all of the acceptable uses, how to calculate lost revenue, what to know about uniform guidance, and how āto stretch the rubber bandā to get those funds to work for you, and to move your organization forward.
Listen to a short clip on the usage of “Lost Revenue” funds.
If your institution or government has ARPA funds to spend, take 40 minutes to listen to John give this tutorial and you will be ready to make the case for technology investments related to your vendor onboarding, vendor management and vendor payments. (Or all three in one, like PaymentWorks. )
