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.

Mr. President

Yesterday afternoon, I joined several of my colleagues at the White House. I have been to the White House many times over the years. In fact, I was on President Clinton’s transition team. I say none of that to brag, only to say that I realize what a unique opportunity it is each and every time. For an American, walking into the West Wing is a privilege and, particularly when times are rough, I am struck by the awesome responsibility of the person who sits behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

I was there to talk with the President about job creation and concerns that I and others had about the pace and scope of efforts to put Americans back to work. As he always is, the President was thoughtful and serious about the matter and I think everyone came away from the meeting reminded of just how much work there is still left to do to turn the economy around.

As I said last week in this newsletter, the bill we just passed was much more a tax relief bill than it was a jobs bill. I expressed those concerns directly to the President. We are coming upon the summer months, when millions of high school students will be looking for summer work and finding none. A job market already flooded with unemployed workers looking for jobs will be joined by a tsunami of young people competing for much of the same work. It is a perfect storm.

There is a calm urgency about our President. His plate is full, the expectations are sky high and each of us, regardless of party needs him to succeed. The Washington Post wrote that I choked up a bit when I told them that, but it is true. Regardless of what you may hear, liberals are patriotic too. I want America to succeed no matter who sits in the Oval Office.

There may be special significance assigned to him because he is a historic first, but America needs him to succeed because the alternative is simply unfathomable. His programs have indeed brought us back from the brink, but the road ahead is still very long and dangerous. Now is not the time to let up.

Federal contracts for our small and minority businesses

Continuing an exciting week focused on job creation, at my request, Chairman Bennie Thompson (MS-2) and the Homeland Security Committee staff were at Penn Valley Community College today. The capacity event focused on helping small and minority-owned businesses learn how to do business with the Department of Homeland Security.

The Chairman and I, along with 150 business owners, spent the day with one focus: connecting federal prime contractors looking for sub-contractors with local businesses looking for work.

One of the best moves I made after my election to Congress was to speak with the Speaker of the House about an appointment to the House Homeland Security Committee. I wanted an opportunity to work with this panel, and devote my time to the incredibly important agenda set forth by this Committee. In 2005, the Homeland Security Committee was made a permanent committee, and was given jurisdiction of Congressional oversight for the Department of Homeland Security. In his role as Chair, Bennie Thompson has unapologetically and repeatedly demanded that the major contractors of that huge Department, which spend billions of dollars annually with vendors, spread the dollars among small and minority businesses. This is about connecting federal dollars to local jobs and I was proud to host the Chairman.

This was truly a unique experience. We had 15 federal department procurement chiefs in one place talking to small businesses from our community. This never happens outside of Washington, D.C. and I am happy to say, because of today’s success there will be many more sessions like this.

Before today, exactly zero businesses in the Fifth District had contracts to do work for the Department of Homeland Security. As I told the crowd and the federal officials assembled, if the conversations and instruction that happened today do not lead to money contracts for Fifth District businesses, I am going to be one unhappy committee Member. We can do the work required and I hope now our businesses are first in line.

FEC Receives $5 Million Grant for Health Care Jobs

U.S. Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (left), and FEC President and CEO Clyde McQueen (right) held a news conference last Friday announcing a major grant of nearly 5 million dollars coming to the metro. The two shook hands after announcing this will add more jobs and training in the healthcare field for the metro. (Picture from KC Hispanic News)

Reprinted from KC Hispanic News

By Joe Arce and Debra DeCoster
HISPANIC NEWS
FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Health care is a profession that is growing. As the population ages, predictions are that our society will need a large staff of health care workers to assist people who are living in managed care facilities, nursing homes, or who are in hospital. As the senior population grows, our society will have to have a growing workforce to care for their needs.

Last week, the federal government awarded a grant to the Kansas City Full Employment Council (FEC) to train the unemployed and under-employed for jobs in the health care field. “I was on the phone with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and she was very excited about making the announcement that a significant grant was coming to Kansas City,” said Congressman Emanuel Cleaver.

The FEC was awarded $5 million in stimulus money for a new program to train individuals in the health care industry. The FEC received one of 55 awards that were given nationally. “It was awarded competitively which means that the proposal developed by Clyde McQueen and his staff was superior to just about every other proposal in the country, and when you look at the proposal that was developed and the inclusiveness you can understand why it caught the attention of the federal government,” said Cleaver.

The grant is part of the Recovery Act Initiative to fund workplace development projects that promote economic growth by preparing workers for careers.

Although the FEC received the grant it is a bi-state program that will be available to those in Missouri and Kansas. The Labor Department awarded $200 million in health care and high growth stimulus grants last week.

The stimulus money is good news to citizens in Missouri as the FEC is beginning to take names of people who are interested in enrolling in the training program for future health care professionals.

“We have a lot of people who are aging and going into managed care facilities and we are trying to address that. We have the Kansas City region, it is known primarily as a major health care hub and we want to meet those needs, and most important, it is going to be a focus for all the unemployed in our region and this is a way for us to train them for the long term,” said Clyde McQueen, FEC CEO.

The training courses for health care jobs will be on demand courses. Individuals wishing to take the course will not have to wait for a semester to begin.

The time line for the courses will depend on the health care field the individual would like to enter. As a phlebotomist or a medical technician it could take six to twelve weeks for training. A person who is currently an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) and would like to become an RN (Registered Nurse) training could take two years.

The stimulus money will also help individuals that want a health care career with tuition. “We know that some people will have problems trying to keep their rent up or trying to figure out how they will pay their bills and care for their children. The bulk of the grant money will go to tuition payments for college or vocational schools,” said McQueen.

“This is a high growth area. What the labor department is doing is pumping $226 million into high growth areas. It doesn’t make sense for us to put money into something that is not going to be growing in the future. As Americans live longer there is going to be a greater need for health care workers and that is exactly what this project will do,” stated Cleaver.

Grant recipients are expected to work in conjunction with a diverse range of partners, including labor organizations, employers and workforce investment boards. The FEC has joined with partners Kansas City Metropolitan Health Care Council, the Kansas City Area Nurse Executives, the Kansas City Greater Chamber of Commerce, Health Care Foundation of Kansas City, the Collegiate Nurse Educators of Kansas City, and the United Services Community Action Agency Work Force and the Work Force Investment Board of Kansas City Local Area 3, along with the metropolitan area community colleges, to get the health care program rolling within a month of receiving the grant. Training will be conducted locally and it is tied to jobs that will be available to individuals entering the health care field.

“We have employers who have said we have jobs and we need to have people to meet the jobs that we have. We have employers identified, we just need to get people trained to enter the health care field,” said McQueen.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This morning, the Department of Labor released its unemployment report for January showing the unemployment rate improved slightly. The rate may have dropped, but the economy is still not producing a net gain in jobs. So, while a step in the right direction, these numbers are nothing to beat our chest about. There is far more to do. House has already passed a job creation bill and the Senate is debating additional measures. That too is progress. Here are a few press clips that have come across my desk in the last few days:

• According to today’s report from the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate for January was 9.7%, a slight improvement over December’s rate of 10%. And while the country lost 20,000 jobs in January, “aside from November's gain, January's job losses were the smallest since the recession began.” Today’s report included other indications that America continues on a path to economic recovery: “The report included more good news from the manufacturing sector, which is a key factor in the recovery. Manufacturers gained 11,000 jobs, its largest increase since April 2006. Retailers added 42,100 jobs, the most since November 2007, before the recession began. Temporary help services gained 52,000 jobs, the fourth month of gains in that category. That could signal future hiring, as employers usually hire temp workers before permanent ones.” [Associated Press, 2/5/2010]
• President Obama announced plans for a new program to encourage small business lending, another important step in efforts to help businesses create jobs. “The administration's proposal would invest $30 billion from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program in community banks to encourage them to lend to small businesses.... The lending program is part of a broad package of jobs-growth proposals that Congress will consider in coming days.” [Wall Street Journal, 2/3/2010]
• A manufacturing report from the Institute for Supply Management indicates the U.S. economy is recovering: “a new survey showed that banks have stopped making it tougher for consumers and businesses to borrow, and manufacturing activity climbed to its highest levels in five years…. With manufacturing activity at its highest point since August 2004 and continued month-to-month gains, the sector's recovery appears more sustainable than many economists predicted just a few months ago. That bodes well for the overall economy.” [Wall Street Journal, 2/2/2010]
  
• A report released by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board indicates that the Recovery Act created 600,000 jobs in the last 3 months of 2009, “a figure in line with the administration's goals for job creation through the end of 2010.” [Washington Post, 2/1/10; White House, 1/6/10]

So the good news is that unemployment fell and temporary employment increased, which is a good sign for future job growth. This slowing of labor market losses, combined with last week’s positive GDP figures, all point to an economy that is beginning to recover. That’s the good news.
The bad news is that 20,000 jobs were still lost last month.

And the downright ugly news is that the deepest part of this recession, was even deeper than analysts thought. The reports show that the economy lost over 1 million more jobs during the recession than previously estimated. Over 14 million Americans are out of work, there are six job seekers for every available job, and 4 in 10 unemployed workers have been searching for a new job for at least six months.