By Kelly Teal

Next week, the feds will announce the first round of broadband stimulus grant winners. So far companies including U.S. Cellular, Zayo Bandwidth, ERF Wireless and Leap Wireless are in the running. But don’t forget – the stimulus initiative isn’t just about building the networks to bring broadband to unserved and underserved areas.

Rather, the stimulus is about bringing together an entire industry; and while many companies are working more in the background than on the front lines, it’s all contributing to the No. 1 aim of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act: sparking job growth.

The best part is these efforts won’t die out after this first funding round, or even after the third one. That’s because the databases and tools and investor-matching services will help create the next wave of broadband growth in the United States. Heck, why limit the growth to our borders? I can see the likes of Pitney Bowes, JDS Uniphase, JANCO Partners and others taking their newfound ideas and resources to Latin America, Asia and Africa, regions where next-gen network demand is booming.

So how are these entities fueling stimulus work? Well, for one, Pitney Bowes’ Business Insight division, which used to be Mapinfo, has beefed up its databases to provide hard facts to operators gunning for some of that $7.2 billion in broadband stimulus funds. The databases show where new networks need to be built and how many people in those areas would then need to adopt broadband to make the projects worthwhile.

Then there’s JDS Uniphase (JDSU), which recently kicked off its Broadband@Work Across America campaign. The 30-year-old maker of testing tools and other devices for communications networks is using the broadband stimulus as an opportunity to teach best practices to providers that have never worked with next-gen infrastructure. Of course, the campaign also contains marketing elements – but if it didn’t, how would the twin goals of job growth and economic stimulation materialize? They wouldn’t.

Finally, there is what is perhaps my favorite idea out there: pairing stimulus grant winners with investors willing to front the required 20 percent match. JANCO partners is doing just that. The Colorado-based investment bank already is hard at work finding private equity and venture capital firms that will provide the millions in matching. That’s going to translate into hundreds, if not thousands, of new jobs and new money touching every part of the country.

So are there any losers in the broadband stimulus scenario? Frankly, I cannot think of any. The dollars about to circulate through the communications industry will impact everyone from equipment makers and construction workers to software developers and, hey, even telecom journalists. I hope you got a chance to attend the VON Expo broadband stimulus panel, “Winners and Losers,” Wednesday.