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February 16, 2010 - As the Recovery Act crosses the one-year mark, Administration officials will travel to over
35 communities across the country this week to survey Recovery Act progress to-date and continue the Administration’s
push for additional job creation measures to put more people back to work. Governors, mayors and Members of Congress
will participate in the meetings and events, which will be held in more than 25 states and in every region of the country.
On Wednesday, President Obama will mark the anniversary here at the White House with an event involving Americans
from across the country who have benefited from the Recovery Act. Today, the Vice President is spending the day in Saginaw,
MI, hearing from local residents how the Recovery Act is helping this hard-hit former auto community reinvent itself to be
competitive in the 21st century economy.
At the events, Administration officials will discuss how the
President’s additional job creation proposals will build on early Recovery Act progress to create more jobs and drive
more economic growth. From assistance for small businesses to additional investment in green energy retrofits, many
of the President’s proposals are expansions or extensions some of the most popular and effective Recovery Act programs.
The Recovery Act was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The program is a combination
of tax relief, financial assistance and infrastructure projects designed to cushion the impact of the downturn and lay a foundation
for economic recovery. Public and private forecasters estimate the program is already responsible for about 2 million
jobs – putting it on-target to support more than 3.5 million jobs by the end of 2010.
Who's Visiting Where?: Detailed Schedule Follows
**Tuesday, February 16
Vice President Joe Biden is spending the day in Saginaw, MI, visiting a local community
college that is providing advanced technology job training for former auto workers through the Recovery Act, having lunch
with local business leaders benefiting from the Recovery Act SBA loan program and touring a solar facility that is expanding
its operations thanks to Recovery Act advanced energy manufacturing tax credits. SBA Administrator Mills is accompanying
him on the trip.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is in Atlanta,
GA where she will tour a local community medical center that has received funding through the Recovery Act.
Department
of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is touring Transportation Security Administration (TSA) explosive detection
technologies and canine program operations in Virginia and Texas—highlighting $576 million in American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act funds devoted to securing the U.S. aviation system and creating jobs in local communities across the country.
DOD
Deputy Comptroller Mike McCord and DOD Recovery Act Resources Coordinator Sandra Richardson are visiting Fort Bliss in El
Paso, TX. They will tour the warrior transition unit, an ongoing construction project with Recovery Act funding.
**Wednesday,
February 17
President Obama will mark the one-year anniversary at the White House with an event involving people
from across the country benefiting from the Recovery Act.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will be in the Seattle,
WA area with Governor Gregoire to discuss all Interior Recovery projects in the state of Washington.
Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack will be doing media conference calls in several states to discuss the impact the Recovery Act is having
on job creation in rural communities.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will visit a construction project at the Labor's
Community Service Agency in Phoenix, AZ. YouthBuild students are currently working on the construction site at LCSA. They
will later receive green construction training (with Recovery Act funding), which will be used to install solar panels at
LCSA.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will make a major Recovery Act announcement in Kansas City, MO.
Secretary LaHood will also hold Recovery Act events in Tucson, AZ on Thursday and Los Angeles, CA on Friday. Additional
Recovery Act announcements will be made by Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo in Birmingham, AL and Federal Highway
Administrator Victor Mendez in Albuquerque, NM. Mendez will also break ground on the largest Recovery project to date
in Dallas, TX.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan will visit Riverside Elementary School in Alexandria, VA.
Most of the $239,000 Riverside received under the Recovery Act was used for the continuation of extended learning time (formerly
called Project Excel) initiatives and the implementation of a series of parent workshops. Recovery Act funds enabled
Riverside to augment all teachers’ contracts to pay for the 2 additional hours of instruction every Monday (in Fairfax
County most schools have a half day). Secretary Duncan will visit a class of kindergarten students and hold a roundtable
discussion in the library.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki will hold an event in Chillicothe, OH at
a VA Medical Center that has eight Recovery projects slated for completion. The total combined budget for all eight projects
is $8.3 million. Construction contracts totaling $2,208,000 are currently underway for two of the projects. These two
projects include repairing approximately 1,200 linear feet of steam and condensate lines, and renovating the Therapeutic Exercise
Gym and adding air conditioning. These two projects employ up to 21 workers. These Recovery projects will help nearly 20,000
Veteran patients in the area served by the Chillicothe VA Medical Center and its five community-based outpatient clinics.
SBA
Administrator Karen Mills will travel to an Arkansas small business that was able to grow and create jobs due to the Recovery
Act. Nearly 250 Arkansas small businesses have benefited from the Recovery Act so far.
GSA Administrator
Martha Johnson will visit workers at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, CO who are building a more efficient utilities
infrastructure and 35 acres of solar panels, funded by the Recovery Act.
GSA’s Senior Sustainability Officer Stephen Leeds will visit the Goodfellow Federal Center in St.
Louis, MO, where local small business workers are converting buildings in the former World War II munitions plant into high-performance
green buildings, funded by the Recovery Act.
DOD Deputy Comptroller Mike McCord and DOD Recovery Act Resources Coordinator
Sandra Richardson will visit Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, CA to attend the ground breaking ceremony for the Child Development
Center.
**Thursday, February 18
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will travel
to Pittsburgh, PA and Wheeling, WV to make Recovery Act announcements.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan will travel
to Cincinnati, OH to visit an affordable housing project that is under construction as a result of $1 million in Recovery
Act Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) funding and $249,000 in Treasury Exchange funding. The project, called Forest
Square, will produce 21 affordable apartments for seniors in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.
EPA
Administrator Lisa Jackson will travel to Columbus, OH to announce more than $249 million in clean water and drinking water
projects for the state. With this key Recovery Act infrastructure investment, Ohio will put people to work in cleaning up
the region’s water systems. EPA officials will also hold events in ten other communities across the country.
On
Thursday and Friday, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will highlight Recovery Act projects in New Mexico.
HUD
Deputy Secretary Ron Sims will visit an elderly public housing complex in Tampa, FL that is receiving energy efficient upgrades,
and creating green jobs, as a result of the Recovery Act.
**Friday, February
19
Attorney General Eric Holder will be traveling to North Carolina for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
Commencement Ceremony where police officers hired through the COPS Hiring Recovery Program will be graduating.
Energy
Secretary Steven Chu will tour a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Windsor, CO to underscore the importance clean and
renewable energy is playing in putting more and more Americans back to work. The company has announced it plans to reinvest
more than $1 billion in its facilities in Colorado thanks to provisions contained in the Recovery Act. Secretary Chu will
also co-host with Rep. Betsy Markey a renewable energy forum, highlighting the success the Recovery Act has had in the state
and across the country.
Treasury Assistant Secretary for Management and CFO Dan Tangherlini will travel to Maryville, TN
to break ground on a school being financed with $20 million in Recovery Act Qualified School Construction Bonds.
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