Administration Officials Continue Travel Across the Country for "Recovery Summer" Events, Project Site Visits
Vice President Biden Talks Recovery Manufacturing Jobs at GE, Groundbreaking for First TIGER Grant Project Slated for Thursday
WASHINGTON, DC – This week, Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials are continuing to hold “Recovery Summer” events and visit Recovery Act project sites as part of the six-week-long focus on the surge in Recovery Act projects underway across the country this summer. The Recovery Act had already funded tens of thousands of projects and put about 2.5 million Americans to work, but this summer is the most active Recovery Act season yet, with thousands of new projects breaking ground that are helping to create more jobs for American workers and economic growth for businesses, large and small.
This Week:
Monday, June 28
Vice President Biden
Vice President Biden visited the headquarters of GE Consumer & Industrial in Louisville, KY with Governor Steve Beshear and Congressman John Yarmuth to discuss how the facility is adding three new energy-efficient appliance product lines and creating hundreds of jobs because of Recovery Act EnergyStar rebates and 48C Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credits. Click HERE for a dispatch from the road and photos of the event.
Department of Agriculture
Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment Jay Jensen visited the Smith Lake Fuels Reduction project in the Montana Forest, which is putting 16 different logging, forest treatment and trucking companies to work reducing wildfire fuel loads on small non-industrial parcels and forested subdivision lands near Smith Lake, MT.
Wednesday, June 30
Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez will visit the M-59 East Crooks-Ryan Road Project in Detroit, MI where a $50 million Recovery Act grant is upgrading infrastructure, creating jobs, and stimulating local economic activity.
Thursday, July 1
Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Deputy Administrator Greg Nadeau will attend the groundbreaking for the first Recovery Act TIGER grant project in the nation to get underway. The $10 million Recovery Act award will be used for reconstruction and improvements to a 15.6 mile segment of US-18 highway in Pine Ridge, South Dakota that currently has deteriorated pavement and no shoulders. The Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant awards were first announced on February 17th.
Friday, July 2
Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez will visit the groundbreaking of SR 9B new road construction in Jacksonville, Florida where a $71 million Recovery Act grant is upgrading infrastructure, creating jobs, and stimulating local economic activity.
Recent Events:
Small Business Administration
Last Friday, June 25th, Small Business Administrator Karen Mills visited Mud Bay, a Seattle-area pet store, that has opened a new location and created eight new jobs thanks to a $200,000 Recovery Act small business loan the company received last year. Since 1999, the local pet store chain has grown to $24 million in sales and 165 workers with the help of four SBA-guaranteed loans totaling almost $2 million – including the Recovery Act loan the Administrator highlighted. Overall, the Small Business Administration has supported nearly $30 billion in loans to over 65,000 small businesses through the Recovery Act.
Department of Labor
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced $75 million in Recovery Act funds for On-the-Job Training, National Emergency Grants to 41 states, the District of Columbia and three federally recognized Native American tribes as part of a visit to Denver, CO last Friday, June 25th. The grants will be used to help Americans get back to work, especially in geographic areas disproportionately impacted by the recession. More information on the grants is available HERE.