Cabinet Secretaries, Senior Officials Hold Events Across the Country to Highlight Administration's Commitment to Job Creation, Economic Growth

CORRECTION: An error in this advisory sent on Friday stated incorrectly that Holcim directly received ARRA funds.

May unemployment report, released today, shows economy added 431,000 jobs last month

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, as the May unemployment report released this morning shows that the economy added 431,000 jobs last month, Cabinet Secretaries and senior administration officials will travel across the country to hold events highlighting the administration’s commitment to job creation and economic growth.  Among other activities, Administration officials will participate in ribbon cutting ceremonies for Recovery Act-funded projects, tour local facilities receiving upgrades as a result of Recovery Act investment and hold roundtables with small business owners to discuss the resources available to them through the federal government to help create jobs.

“Today, we learned that the economy added 431,000 jobs last month, which means we are again moving in the right direction,” said President Obama.  “The economic policies we put in place are working.  An economy that was shrinking at an alarming rate in January of 2009 has now been growing for three consecutive quarters.  After losing an average of 750,000 jobs a month during the winter of last year, we have now added jobs for six out of the last seven months.  While we recognize that our recovery is in its early stages, and that there will be ups and downs in the months ahead, this report is a sign that our economy is getting stronger by the day.”

Details on the Cabinet events being held across the country are below.

Wednesday, June 2nd

Small Business Administration
Administrator Karen Mills held a roundtable in Erie, Pennsylvania with Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper and women small business owners at Moore Research Services, the SBA’s 2010 Woman-Owned Business of the Year.  The roundtable focused on the SBA’s tools to help women-owned small businesses grow, create jobs and help the Erie community thrive.

Thursday, June 3rd

Small Business Administration
Administrator Karen Mills held two small business town halls in Kankakee and Tinley Park, Illinois with Rep. Debbie Halverson to highlight the increased access to capital that has led to small business growth and job creation in Illinois.

Friday, June 4th

Department of Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack, Governor Chet Culver and Rep. Leonard Boswell will hold a press conference at the state capitol in Des Moines, Iowa to highlight efforts to improve the economy.  Secretary Vilsack will also discuss the Obama Administration’s continued commitment to job creation and economic growth.

11:00am CDT
Iowa State Capitol, Room 116
1015 East Grand Avenue
Des Moines, IA

Department of Commerce and NASA
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will join Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Alan Grayson in Orlando, Florida tomorrow for a town hall meeting to hear directly from local leaders working to strengthen and diversify the Space Coast economy. Locke will also discuss the Obama administration’s continued commitment to job creation and strengthening the economy.

10:00am EDT
Orlando Airport Hyatt Regency Hotel
Intercontinental Ballroom – Section 5
9300 Airport Blvd.
Orlando, FL

Department of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Shaun Donovan will visit Bow Highlands, an affordable housing project in Bow, New Hampshire that is currently under construction with HUD Recovery Act Tax Credit Assistance Program funds.  Secretary Donovan will tour the facility and discuss the Obama Administration’s plans for economic recovery with employees.

8:50am EDT
Bow Highlands
195 Bow Bog Road
Bow, NH

Department of Transportation
Secretary Ray LaHood, along with Reps. Russ Carnahan and Jo Ann Emerson, will attend the ribbon cutting at Holcim’s newest cement plant in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri.  The plant supported 2,500 jobs during construction, and now supports 250 full-time permanent positions.

11:00am CDT
Holcim Ste. Genevieve Plant
2942 US Hwy 61
Bloomsdale, MO

Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Secretary Eric Shinseki will visit Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio, where Recovery Act investments will help upgrade the surgical ward and help more Veterans access VA care.  Through the Recovery Act, VA will make $15 million in investments in the Cleveland area.

10:30am EDT
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center
10701 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH

General Services Administration
Administrator Martha Johnson will join Rep. Andre Carson and Indiana businesses and workers in Indianapolis at the Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center, an active construction site funded by the Recovery Act, to discuss economic and job impacts spurred by Recovery Act-funded modernizations in Indianapolis. Construction will take place throughout the summer to transform the Bean Federal Center and the Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse into higher-performing, greener federal buildings. Administrator Johnson will survey construction and visit with businesses and workers in local construction and emerging green industries.

10:30am EDT
Major General Emmett J. Bean Federal Center
8899 East 56th Street
Indianapolis, IN

Commissioner of Public Buildings Robert A. Peck and Mayor Harvey Johnson will visit workers and survey construction at the Dr. A. H. McCoy Federal Building in Jackson, Mississippi, where Recovery Act funds are putting people to work modernizing the aging federal building into a higher-performing, greener building.

11:00am CDT
Dr. A.H. McCoy Federal Building
100 West Capitol Street 
Jackson, MS

Southwest Regional Administrator JD Salinas will join Rep. Lloyd Doggett and Texas construction workers to survey the ongoing construction of a new, energy-efficient federal courthouse in downtown Austin, Texas.  They will discuss job creation and economic growth in Central Texas as a result of Recovery Act investments in the Austin Courthouse construction and construction to transform San Antonio’s historic Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse into a higher performing, greener federal building.

9:00am CDT
501 W. Fifth Street 
Austin, TX

Acting Pacific Rim Regional Administrator Jeff Neely will join Sen. Daniel Inouye and Hawaii workers and businesses in Honolulu to break ground on the Recovery Act-funded modernization of the Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Federal Building.  State-of-the-art green technologies will be used to convert the facility into a high-performance green building.

10:00am HST
Federal Building Courtyard
300 Ala Moana Boulevard  
Honolulu, HI

Department of Labor
Dr. Ed Montgomery, executive director of the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers, will travel to Columbus, Ohio to visit Advance Industrial Manufacturing, a supplier to the energy and auto industries that has participated in the pilot program E3: Economy, Energy and Environment.  The E3 pilot is a coordinated federal and local effort to provide technical assistance to manufacturers to reduce energy consumption, minimize their carbon footprint, prevent pollution, increase productivity and enhance innovation. 

10:45am EDT
Advance Industrial Manufacturing
1996 Longwood Ave
Grove City, OH

Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Exchange at HHS, will serve as the keynote speaker at the Florida Health Information Exchange Kickoff Meeting in Tallahassee, Florida to discuss the important role of Health IT in creating jobs.  The emerging Health IT industry is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs ranging from nurses and pharmacy techs to IT technicians and trainers.

8:45am EDT
Florida State University
The Turnbull Center
555 West Pensacola St.
Tallahassee, FL