Jump to main content

This is historical material “frozen in time”. The website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work.

Search form

The Vice President on Business and Recovery

June 2, 2009 at 6:50 PM ET by Katherine Brandon
Today Vice President Biden hosted a roundtable with business leaders, ranging from small business owners to corporate CEOs, to discuss how the Recovery Act is providing new opportunities for creativity and innovation in business.
In his opening remarks the Vice President discussed how, in addition to providing direct benefits to business owners, the Recovery Act also includes numerous tax credits that are helping to drive new product demand, including over a dozen energy-efficiency and renewable energy tax credits that are creating new opportunities for companies.
The Vice President at a Recovery Act Roundtable(Vice President Joe Biden takes part in a recovery act business roundtable with business leaders at Pace University in New York City, New York, Tuesday, June 2, 2009. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)
John Berger, Founder and CEO of Standard Renewable Energy, was one of the business leaders who attended the roundtable. Previewing the roundtable, he gave a statement on how the Recovery Act has allowed his business to expand:
The Recovery Act provides innovative ways for businesses and consumers to save money while also investing in energy efficiency.
Because of the Recovery Act, our business is growing, not shrinking. We just opened a new office in Phoenix, and by year's end, our workforce will have grown over 70 percent.
Steve Chen, Executive Vice President of Crystal Window & Door Systems, Ltd., praised the Recovery Act’s emphasis on Energy-star rated products:
The Recovery Act is not just an injection of cash into the economy; it goes a long way in educating the public and changing perceptions about Energy-star and greener products – how homeowners can invest in their homes, the environment and the economy at the same time
Additionally, the Recovery Act allocated billions of dollars to develop and commercialize renewable energy sources. This has prompted companies to make targeted venture capital investments in companies that are developing the energy technology that will serve as the basis for economic recovery.