Jobs Now

National, state and local leaders representing government, business, labor and environmental groups convened today in Kansas City Wednesday for the “Clean Energy Roadshow.” The Roadshow was created to find ways to spur collaborative public-private investment in the clean energy economy and create quality green jobs for American workers. Kansas City is the Roadshow’s tenth stop in a multi-city, multi-state national tour that is expected to run through 2011.

I was pleased to highlight Kansas City’s Green Impact Zone initiative, which concentrates resources like federal and state weatherization funding into a low-income, high-unemployment neighborhood to create jobs and improve energy efficiency, as an example of success.

We know our nation must change the way we produce and consume energy, we must make our homes more efficient and we must get Americans back to work. The conversation we continued this week leverages once-in-a-lifetime federal resources to spur private commitments in remaking our economy for a sustainable future. The American labor movement has done more than any policy or politician to build the middle class. We are climbing out of a recession spurred, in part, by turning our back on the worker and valuing a quick buck over honest labor. It is time again for our economy to be based on hard work and fair pay.

The Roadshow is currently focused in large part on strengthening America’s energy efficiency retrofit industry. Part of the Kansas City Roadshow involved members of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 264 (pictured above) demonstrating elements of the home energy efficiency retrofits that will be done in the Green Impact Zone, including conducting an infrared scan for air leaks and blowing insulation into drafty walls.

Retrofitting energy inefficient homes in America will not only create tens of thousands of new jobs, but it will also save families an average of $440 to $600 a year on their home energy bills, and in some cases much more. In addition, it will reduce our nation’s dependence on foreign oil, improve quality of life for homeowners and families and reduce U.S carbon emissions equivalent to taking 615,000 cars off the road in order to help mitigate climate change.

First new business opens in Green Zone

This week I was very proud to announce some great news for the Green Impact Zone project. The Green Impact Zone is now home to ongoing research and development of new magnetic technology which will revolutionize the way we design and use electric motors and generators – providing more efficiency and power while helping consumers save money and energy.

It was my to join P.J. Piper president and CEO of QM Power to cut the ribbon on the first business to move into the Green Impact Zone since its inception less than a year ago. More than just opening the doors on a new business, Mr. Piper announced that he is moving his corporate headquarters from Boston to The Green Impact Zone. He literally could have chosen anywhere in the country to locate and he chose the Eastside of Troost. This is a huge win and one we should all be very proud of.

At the opening Mr. Piper said, “QM Power’s investment in innovative, game-changing clean technologies aligns well with Congressman Emanuel Cleaver’s Green Impact Zone. We look forward to bringing the world’s most efficient and power dense electric motor, generator and actuator technology to Kansas City.”

Friends, these are jobs where there were previously none, and is only the start. Currently QM Power employs six people and plans to hire an additional 20 employees within the next year. By 2013, Mr. Piper said the company will likely grow to 100 employees. Along with creating several highly-skilled, high-salaried jobs, QM Power plans to collaborate with the University of Missouri System, corporate development partners, government agencies, national research labs, suppliers and customers.

In addition to providing job prospects, QM Power will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to solidify research collaborations with UMKC. For the past year, the School of Computing and Engineering faculty and students have gained research experience by assisting QM Power with controller, power electronics, wind turbine, medical robotics and cryogenic development projects.

This is a huge win for the Green Impact Zone, UMKC and Missouri’s Fifth District. Thanks to all who have helped make it a reality!

$40 Million in Recovery funds come to our area

Pictured from left to right: Bryan Hansel, CEO of Smith Electric; Congressman Cleaver; Mike Chesser, CEO of KCP&L; Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke

I was very proud to be on hand with Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke as two Kansas City vehicle-manufacturing plants received money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for the production of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Smith Electric, a company which I was pleased to help to get into Kansas City just last year, won a $10 million grant to help produce electric vans, pickups and the company’s Newton medium-duty trucks. Kokam America Inc., a great battery-manufacturing company Senator Bond and I worked to locate in Lee’s Summit won $161 million for its Michigan plant. I think both announcements bode well for the Lee’s Summit plant’s bid for a significant Recovery Act grant to be announced later this year.

The men and women who make Ford trucks at the Claycomo Plant received part of a $30 million grant to produce hybrid vehicles in Kansas City.

The funds were announced as part of $2.4 billion in U.S. Department of Energy grants for the manufacturing and deployment of electric vehicles, batteries and components. Forty-eight projects won the competitive grants. The President and Vice President and four cabinet secretaries, fanned out across the nation to make the awards.

I am also pleased to say that our local utility, Kansas City Power and Light was on hand to announce that KCP&L has committed to buy three Smith Electric vehicles, two of which will be transformed into bucket trucks. Mike Chesser, CEO of KCP&L has also committed to put recharging stations for those trucks and future electric vehicles in the Green Impact Zone.

It is starting to happen, my friends, we are taking substantial steps toward transforming our local economy and leveraging green initiatives to help our environment and put people back to work. Congratulations to Smith, Kokam, Ford and KCP&L.

Federal Recovery Grant goes to Green Zone

I am proud to say the Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1.6 million in Recovery Act money to clean up polluted land in the Green Impact Zone.

Most importantly, about half the money will be used to train 80 people in handling hazardous waste associated with cleaning up contaminated sites.

$560,000 will be used for grants to clean up brownfields, fund redevelopment and employ nearby residents of the sites.

The plan is to recruit unemployed and underemployed people within the 150-block Green Impact Zone in the urban core of Kansas City.

New Green Impact Zone Director comes to to U.S. Capitol

Tuesday, in my role as First Vice-Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and Co-Chair of the Caucus’ Energy and Environment Task Force I was pleased to welcome Anita Maltbia, the newly hired director of the Green Impact Zone, to the U.S. Capitol Building. Anita was asked to participate in the CBC’s Inaugural Green Roundtable which I am proud to chair.

The purpose of the meeting was to develop a “green Agenda” for African American communities by gathering minority business, energy industry, faith, labor, research and elected leaders to discuss this critical issue. I am pleased to introduce my colleagues to Anita in her role as Director of the Green Impact Zone. She is an exceptional leader, and along with neighborhood and civic leaders in the Green Impact Zone I am confident she will demonstrate to the rest of the nation how green community revitalization is accomplished with a tide that raises all ships. Her insight and experience have been critical at today’s Roundtable and my colleagues from across the nation are excited to learn from the Green Impact Zone.

Anita will officially begin work Aug. 3. She will oversee a staff responsible for implementing and coordinating initiatives in the Green Impact Zone. She will work with neighborhood leaders to coordinate programs and outreach in the zone as well as build partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders.

A long time resident of the City’s eastside, Anita brings to the position many years of management and community experience, including eight years as Assistant City Manager for the City of Kansas City, Mo.

During her nearly 27 years working for the City of Kansas City, she worked closely with me in several roles. In 1993, I asked her to step in as interim director of the Convention and Entertainment Centers Department and to oversee the planning and execution of the grand opening of the 500,000 square foot expansion of Bartle Hall.

Anita is past president of the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration, and served on the national board and as vice-chair of the Strategic Planning Committee of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators.

President Obama dispatches his Cabinet to Green Impact Zone

In a sign that the hard work of neighborhood leaders is getting noticed at the highest levels, President Obama has directed his Cabinet to visit Kansas City as part of a three city national tour. Denver and Philadelphia will also be visited. I am proud to say David Warm, Executive Director of the Mid-America Regional Council was at the White House at the invitation of the Office of Urban Policy to promote Kansas City’s urban needs including the Green Impact Zone. Warm was on hand for the announcement delivered by the President.

“Instead of waiting for Washington, a lot of cities have already gone ahead and become their own laboratories for change and innovation, some leading the world in coming up with new ways to solve the problems of our time.

So you take an example like Denver. Their metropolitan area is projected to grow by 1 million residents over the next 15 years or so. But rather than wait for a congestion crisis, they're already at work on plans to build and operate a public transit system up to the challenge, and to surround that system with smart new housing, retail, and office development near each stop.

Philadelphia is an example of what's been called ‘urban agriculture.’ It may sound like an oxymoron, but one proposal is trying to make a situation where fresh, local food supplies are within a short walk for most city residents, which will have a direct impact not only on the economy and on the environment, but also make an immeasurable difference in the health of Americans.

Or Kansas City. One idea there focuses on transforming a low-income community into a national model of sustainability by weatherizing homes and building a green local transit system.

Three different cities with three unique ideas for the future. And that's why they're three of the cities that are members of my -- that members of my Cabinet and Office of Urban Affairs will visit this summer as part of a ongoing national conversation to lift up best practices from around the country, to look at innovations for the metropolitan areas of tomorrow. Forward-looking cities shouldn't be succeeding despite Washington; they should be succeeding with a hand from Washington. We want to hear directly from them, and we want to hear directly from all of you, on fresh ideas and successful solutions that you've devised, and then figure out what the federal government should do or shouldn't do to help reinvent cities and metropolitan areas for the 21st century.”

President Barack Obama
July 13, 2009
REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
AT URBAN AND METROPOLITAN POLICY ROUNDTABLE

This announcement from the President is confirmation that the work being done by the neighborhoods, MARC, the city and all the partner agencies is getting noticed by the Administration. When the President is citing your initiative as a model for the nation, you have done something right. My thanks and congratulations go to the neighborhood leaders and community groups who continue to work hard to make this vision a reality. The nation is looking to us to lead.

The White House said more details about the visit will follow.

Complete remarks can be found here >>>

I would also like to thank the City Council of Kansas City and particularly Council members Circo and Riley who achieved passage of a $1.5 million dollar operating budget for the Green Impact Zone which will be designated for the Mid-America Regional Council to hire staff to administer the Zone, open a service center, and support data collection and planning activities in the Green Impact Zone.

More recognition for the Green Impact Zone

Van Jones has been on a crusade to, in his words, "green the ghetto" by killing two birds with one stone: reducing poverty and saving the environment — exactly the goals of the Green Impact Zone.

Recently Mr. Jones, who headed the non-profit “Green for All” was appointed as President Obama's special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation. Jones now has an opportunity to implement his vision and once again cited the efforts underway here in Kasnas City as a model program the nation should be watching. This time, he used an interview on NPR’s Morning Edition to highlight our initiative.

Listen here >>>

Greensburg was amazing

My thanks to everyone who spent 11 hours on the bus Saturday to travel to Greensburg. As we were leaving one of the residents of the town came up to me and said, “This just feels right.” Indeed it did. The commitment they have to green was inspiring, and I think the only downside to the trip was that those who participated returned even more eager to start working than they were before.

I would like to extend a very special thanks to Mayor Dixson, the city administrator and school superintendent for hosting our group and spending the afternoon with us.

Truly, it was a helpful trip.

Councilwoman Cindy Circo, who was on the trip along with Council Members Jan Marcason and Sharon Sanders Brooks, wrote a great article about the trip and pictures on her blog. Please take a moment to visit the Councilwoman’s blog site found here >>>

Going to Greensburg

This is an exciting time for Kansas City. In order to recover from the current economic downturn, Congress passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to stimulate job creation, with much of the focus on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. As you are probably aware, Kansas City has taken the bold and innovative step of creating a Green Impact Zone in the heart of the urban core to concentrate and deepen the impact of the ARRA funds in a particularly hard-hit area of Kansas City. These funds will help these neighborhoods rebuild green, saving energy and creating a more sustainable environment.

You may remember seeing stories in the news two years ago about Greensburg, Kansas, which was almost completely destroyed by a powerful tornado in May 2007. Greensburg took the historic step of committing to rebuild the entire town using green principles. I am convinced that we, as individuals working to rebuild the Green Impact Zone, can benefit from the wealth of experience and knowledge that the people of Greensburg now have.

And so tomorrow morning, bright and early, I will be leading a delegation of Green Impact Zone residents and community leaders to Greensburg. This fact-finding trip will, I hope, help build a comfort level with “green” and allow local residents to talk with the residents of Greensburg about the advantages of green.

I truly believe the problems faced by urban core, primarily African American and poor residents of the Green Impact Zone are remarkably similar to the issues faced by the rural residents of Greensburg. I think we will find a great deal of common ground, and join these plains pioneers as believers in green.

I have never been to Greensburg either, and so I am excited to see this model first hand.

Wish us luck!

Climate Center takes its first step

Today, I was proud to officially announce that the City of Kansas City, Missouri, through its Parks and Recreation Department, has been awarded a grant from the Economic Development Administration (EDA) to study and plan for the development of a Climate Sustainability Center.

It is exciting to stand on the site and think about the opportunity to both change the way the world thinks about green and change the way we have historically seen the Eastside.
While was standing next to the yet undone piece of Brush Creek, it occurred to me that this creek was why I got involved in politics in the first place.

Specifically, it was September 17, 1977 that prompted my entrance in the race for City Council. Many of you can remember that a storm caused flash flooding as Brush Creek quickly spilled its bounds and flooded this entire area. In the morning, twelve people were dead and 5 feet of floodwater covered where we were standing this afternoon. I couldn’t understand how in a major metropolitan area 12 people could die due to rain.

And so I ran for City Council. And I was fortunate as Mayor to secure funding to nearly completely reconstruct Brush Creek and build the Bruce Watkins Drive.

Because of the stimulus we now have money to finish this portion of Brush Creek and replace the aging bridge that spans it now.

And if you drive on the Watkins, while the road is beautiful the neighborhoods along it are still crumbling.

But with the Green Impact Zone we hope to turn around those neighborhoods, reinvest in people and jobs and turn the corner we have long been looking to turn. Right here. Right now.

And on top of completing these long over due projects, today we stood on a cluttered piece of land to announce a project that represents the largest investment east of Troost since the Brush Creek Project and the Bruce Watkins Drive.

As you all know, I like big projects.

This, my friends, is a big project.

National Attention on Green Impact Zone

On Monday, Van Jones, the President’s Special Counsel for green jobs praised the Green Impact Zone plan on CNN’s Larry King Live. In a conversation with Robert Redford about grass roots efforts to go green with stimulus money, the founder of Green for All said:

“One of the things I think is important for people to understand, when you talk about grass roots, let's look at Kansas City right now. There is a tremendous effort right now, Representative Emanuel Cleaver said let's take stimulus money from the Obama recovery plan and give it to ordinary people. They decided in Kansas City to take 150 blocks, blighted, tough neighborhoods, weatherize every home there that needs it, fix mass transit and put people to work. Those are green solutions. They're going to save people money as well as helping planet Earth.” -Van Jones President’s Special Counsel for Green Jobs

The nation is taking notice and this is well deserved praise for the great deal of hard work everyone is doing in the Impact Zone. Congratulations!

Green Impact Zone updates

Meeting with with community leaders about the Green Impact Zone at the Mid-America Regional Council

A couple of things moved this project forward this week. I was able to attend the planning meeting on Monday at MARC, where I was proud to see nearly one hundred community leaders, neighborhood organizers and city officials reporting on their exciting progress and charting out their next steps. Later that day I joined Steve Kraske on his KCUR program Up to Date to talk about the program. You can hear the interview here (it’s in the second half of the show)>>>

I was also very glad to introduce the program at a Third City Council District community meeting Tuesday night. The idea was warmly received and the conversation focused on delivering what was promised in a timely and organized fashion. There were lots of questions after the meeting and also a great deal of excitement.

This morning, I was happy to read an endorsement of the plan from the editorial board of the Kansas City Star. They write, “The initial plan contains excellent ways to improve a part of the city — roughly 39th to 51st streets, and Troost to Prospect avenues — that has many low-income residents.”

You can read the whole editorial here >>>

Green Impact Zone passes 13-0

I am pleased and proud to say that yesterday the City Council of Kansas City, Missouri unanimously adopted Resolution No. 090245 to establish the City of Kansas City’s participation both financially and operationally in the “Green Impact Zone” Initiative.

My thanks goes to the Members of the Council and Mayor who all spoke in favor of the idea and voted to make an area that is usually last, first. Please understand that the Council, by acting unanimously, put their own interest aside for the good of this project. I think their faith is well put in people in these neighborhoods and that their willingness to advance this idea gives Kansas City the chance to shine on a national stage.

Special thanks to Councilwoman Cindy Circo, the chief sponsor and Councilwomen Sanders Brooks, Curls, Marcason, Jolly and Councilman Riley for their extraordinary efforts to move this cause forward.

With all that thanks up front, I would like to take a moment to gush a bit about the neighborhood and community groups that have come together around this project. At every challenge as they have urgently pressed forward with this plan, these leaders have chosen unity. Instead of asking, "what's in it for me" they have asked "how can this work for everyone". They have personified community and commitment.

I am both very proud and very happy for these people who have worked so hard to have this opportunity. Congratulations and thank you to all.

Now we begin the hard work of making this a reality that people can see and feel. It is time to give President Obama a poster child for the stimulus on steroids.

The plan in a nutshell:

As a result of meetings with community leaders, city staff, elected
officials locally and Cabinet and administration officials in Washington, D.C.
an idea has advanced that will target stimulus investments in a way that
maximizes and deepens the impact of every dollar in a hard hit area of Kansas
City.

This designated section of the City is bounded by 39th Street on the
north, 51st Street on the south, Troost Avenue on the west and Prospect Avenue
to 47th Street over to Swope Parkway on the east. Directly affected are the
neighborhoods of Ivanhoe, Blue Hills, 49/63 and Manheim and Town Fork Creek,
some of the City’ strongest neighborhood organizations. The area is called the
“Green Impact Zone of Missouri.”

Through community discussions convened by the Mid-America Regional
Council, an overarching goal of training and putting residents of these
neighborhoods to work weatherizing every home that is eligible within the Zone
has been suggested. This is no small task, but has the potential of reducing
utility bills, conserving electricity and creating sustainable jobs for a
portion of the City where unemployment is hovering between 20-50 percent.

As the discussions of the Green Impact Zone have progressed, excitement
has built and partnerships have been forged. Kansas City Power and Light has
stepped up to the plate and committed that, if the city is willing to adopt this
plan, KCP&L is willing to invest and deploy a “Smart Grid” in the Zone. A
Smart Grid provides enhanced reliability and efficiency through real-time
information about electricity supply and demand. It also allows consumers to
manage their electricity use, and save money, by providing useful information
about electricity prices. Perhaps most importantly, a Smart Grid allows for
renewable energy sources, such as the power that will be produced in the Green
Impact Zone, to seamlessly feed into the energy grid. KCP&L’s commitment is
to create a model of the energy grid of the future unlike any in the
country.

Committing to making neighborhoods east of Troost that have been
historically last now be first is long overdue.

I just received word that we should be receiving additional very good news next week that will play a major role in the Green Impact Zone. Stay tuned…

The Green Impact Zone

Since the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), I have spent a great deal of time trying to help our community position itself in the best possible place to take advantage of this huge federal investment.

To that end, I have been meeting with community leaders, city staff, elected officials locally and Cabinet and administration officials in Washington, D.C. to advance the idea of targeting stimulus investments in a way that maximizes and deepens the impact of every dollar.

As a result of these meetings, Resolution No. 090254 has been introduced to the Kansas City Council that will target a portion of millions in stimulus funds to a hard hit area of Kansas City. We are calling the area the “Green Impact Zone.”

Under this resolution the City Council commits to use a significant portion of the funds received under the ARRA for a focused area of the City bounded by 39th Street on the north, 51st Street on the south, Troost Avenue on the west and Prospect Avenue to 47th Street over to Swope Parkway on the east. Directly effected are the neighborhoods of Ivanhoe, Blue Hills, 49/63 and Manheim and Town Fork Creek, some of the City’ strongest neighborhood organizations.

Through community discussions convened by the Mid-America Regional Council, an overarching goal of training and putting residents of these neighborhoods to work weatherizing every home that is eligible within the Zone has been suggested.

This is no small task, but has the potential of reducing utility bills, conserving electricity and creating sustainable jobs for a portion of our community where unemployment is hovering between 20-50 percent.

In a community where every dollar counts, reducing utility bills by half would be a significant achievement. Creating thousands of jobs would be a godsend and making neighborhoods east of Troost that have been historically last now be first should bring us all to our feet.

As the discussions of the Green Impact Zone have progressed, excitement has built and partnerships have been forged. Kansas City Power and Light has stepped up to the plate and committed that, if the city is willing to adopt this plan, KCP&L is willing to invest and deploy a “Smart Grid” in the Zone. In addition to making investments to put solar panels on newly weatherized homes, a “Smart Grid” would allow each home to receive a credit for unused solar energy that can be stored in batteries to be used for the rest of the grid. Their commitment is to create a model of the energy grid of the future unlike any in the country.

From Public Works to Parks and Recreation, both government and private dollars will be leveraged to create green sustainable jobs, enhance the neighborhoods and create a model for the rest of the nation.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and business as usual will not be good enough. For too long — and I am certainly guilty of perpetuating the problem — our City has drawn down federal dollars divided equally by six Council Districts and weakened the effect of the investments. We must target our funds. This Resolution No. 090254 will do just that. Those throughout the country who have the plans and are ready to go will receive the most funding. The Green Impact Zone puts us at the front of the pack.

Thus far “green” investments have been reserved for those who can afford the upfront cost. In neighborhoods like these, where the median income is less than $20,000 a year, “greening” is simply not possible. This plan removes that burden and reduces the utility bills for those who need it most. With job training, neighborhood stabilization and infrastructure investments targeted here, “green” is no longer an academic concept for someone else — it becomes a means to change peoples lives right here in our urban core.

Let us seize this giant opportunity to create a better future and show America, when it comes to “green” we are in the lead.