Civil servants will play a pivotal role in making sure President Obama's $787 billion stimulus plan works and the money flows fast enough to boost the economy. The Washington Post reported on Monday about the importance of federal workers in the effort to right the economy, get it growing again and direct the rush of money to targeted projects.

It will be up to undersecretaries, regional agency directors and local contracting officers to get the money out in a targeted manner to the projects that will help create jobs and faster growth, to do it promptly and without any problems.

"This is an historic opportunity for federal managers to rise to the occasion, to stand up and make sure these dollars are spent well," Donald F. Kettl, a University of Pennsylvania political scientist, told the newspaper. "It's an historic shot, but it's a tough shot. It may be an exaggeration to say they've been set up to fail, but the expectations are very high."

The amount of money is mind boggling. Here are just a few of the agencies that will need to put their most talented and established teams to the task on the stimulus money:

• $3 billion for the Interior Department
• $40 billion for the Energy Department, including creating a rolling application process for loans and adding staff
• $1.5 billion for the Department of Housing and Urban Development to help reduce homelessness
• $140 million for the U.S. Geological Survey

That's just the tip of the iceberg. At the end of the day, it will be the federal workers who will make this historic endeavor a success.

For more on civil servants and the stimulus:
- check out this Washington Post article

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Economic stimulus plan news from FierceGovernmentIT