The following is the author's opinion on passage of The American Jobs Plan.
The United States is ranked 13th in quality of infrastructure, according to the March 31, 2021, White House Briefing Room Fact Sheet on The American Jobs Plan. With the decline in infrastructure over the years, The American Jobs Plan proposal is much needed. Small businesses have always been the unspoken backbone of the American economy but have suffered tremendously due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Their success means economic expansion for the rest of the country, which is why it is important that there is a focus in the revitalization of small businesses in a post-pandemic America. The Biden Administration’s answer to this call, The American Jobs Plan, will invest approximately $2 trillion into national infrastructure.
The plan to improve infrastructure in the United States has the potential to reignite the workforce in industries relating to building and maintaining infrastructure. On May 6, 2021, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development held a hearing entitled, “Growing Jobs Through Infrastructure Investment”. Testimony was given by Michael Tamasi, President and CEO of AccuRounds in Avon MA; Dr. Annette Parker, President of South Central College in Mankato, MN; Eddie Bustamante, Political Director of Laborers’ International Union of North America Local
720 in Denver, CO; and Gus Bruner, President and Project Executive of Caliagua, Inc. in Anaheim, CA. Below are some of the highlights from the Small Business Subcommittee Hearing and how the witnesses relayed their experiences and contributions to the Subcommittee.
There are 17.2 million infrastructure workers in the country but more than a quarter of those workers are projected to quit or retire over the next decade.
According to Subcommittee Hearing Memo, there are 17.2 million infrastructure workers in the country but more than a quarter of those workers are projected to quit or retire over the next decade. Biden showing not only interest, but desire, to put this plan through is hopeful to influence more people to take infrastructure jobs. A boost in infrastructure will positively impact manufacturing jobs, most of which are small businesses. As discussed at the May 6th Hearing, the proposals like the American Jobs Plan can potentially jump start job creation through sector partnerships with community colleges and utilizing the growing popularity with apprenticeships.
The American Jobs Plan will not only pump more people into infrastructure jobs, but will add people that are qualified to do so. The May 6th Hearing discussed how the plan will fill the gap between quantity and quality by investing $100 billion into development programs that will produce the skilled workers needed to fix America’s infrastructure. With many Americans being laid off or not able to find work because of the pandemic, skills training is needed if the economy will improve as a result of the infrastructure plan. The Subcommittee Memo pointed out that community based organizations and other groups will focus on pre-apprenticeship programs to help women and people of color as a way to prepare them for apprenticeships and then ultimately infrastructure jobs. Having a large pool of workers that can fill what will eventually be millions of jobs will also be a rallying point to gain interest towards these jobs. Major investments into these programs also shows the growth and attention that infrastructure jobs were not able to offer in the past.
With many Americans being laid off or not able to find work because of the pandemic, skills training is needed if the economy will improve as a result of the infrastructure plan.
The focus on workers’ condition and focus on strengthening the economy will show a type of modernization in these jobs, unlike over the past decades. As Michael Tamasi, President and CEO of AccuRounds, stated at the May 6th Hearing, “Manufacturing is no longer dark, dirty and dangerous. It is safe, smart, and sustainable”. Tamasi’s statement encompasses what the American Jobs Plan is trying to show - that growth in infrastructure would not only make the infracture workers’ lives easier but will also make travel and commutation for all Americans easier, and safer, as well. This ripple effect will greatly improve the lives of most Americans.
The future of infrastructure may be in the population that has been laid off during COVID, but it is also in the student body in America as well. Not all students are able to have the traditional college experience. Providing financial aid to students seeking skills training will allow them another route. This allows small businesses to offer more workers progression in their fields and more qualified workers to be accepted in their ranks. As was discussed at the May 6th Hearing, small businesses are faced with workforce shortages of skilled workers and consider this one of their biggest obstacles in 2021. Community colleges are in a position to not only help solve this problem but be the future for a continuous pipeline of qualified workers. Dr Annette Parker, President of South Central College pointed out in the May 6th Hearing that partnerships between community colleges and the areas they are in will be mutually beneficial. Students are trained to not only get a job, but have a career, and the small businesses have a constant flow of skilled workers. Dr. Parker served on Obama’s advanced manufacturing partnership 2.0 steering committee in 2013, which emphasized partnerships and work-based opportunities. As a result, South Central created the Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, which was made of twelve Minnesota state colleges and two centers of excellence. Dr. Parker discussed how a $15 million tax grant from the U.S. Department of Labor enabled the group to create a work-based program through certifications and apprenticeships. With this success in Minnesota, it is clear to see that what the American Jobs Plan wants to achieve is backed by previous success at the state level.
Small businesses are faced with workforce shortages of skilled workers and consider this one of their biggest obstacles in 2021.
Eddie Bustamante, political director of LIU of North America Local 720, focuses in the different sectors of construction, is an advocate of apprenticeships. This includes training when on the job and training in the classroom. According to Mr. Bustamante’s testimony at the May 6th Hearing, the focus is to not just get the worker to have skills for one job, but the skills needed throughout the whole industry. Having this wide scope approach only strengthens, in this case, the construction industry by having access to a larger variety of skilled workers. Mr. Bustamante discussed how one of the LIU apprenticeships required apprentices to get certifications in forklift operating, CPR, hoisting and rigging and other Colorado Department of Transportation certifications.
The Hearing focused on not only the need for more workers, but the need for funding to be able to offer more advanced training in a field that is requiring it as it grows. Whether it be a college student that wants to try something new or a worker that has been in manufacturing for years and needs to improve their skills, the American Jobs Plan is the breath of fresh air that small businesses have been waiting for. The mass effect Covid had on all small businesses will not only be made up but gives the blueprint for successful futures as well. The improvement of the country's infrastructure will also expand the markets that small businesses will reach. Over the next decade the country will face challenges with the infrastructure improvements, but after the fact we will be able to look back and call this America’s next greatest revival.
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