Impact of Obama’s stimulus package hidden in plain sight
Stimulus!
Stimulus!
transportation dollars contained in the stimulus package. Wisconsin has or is slated to receive $529 million in road construction
stimulus dollars, $158 million of which is designated for local governments. WisDOT had ‘shovel-ready’ projects ready to go for the
$371 million in stimulus money that would be coming its way.
For Ruben Anthony, the Obama stimulus money has been a golden opportunity to continue WisDOT’s success on the Marquette
Interchange to significantly involve minority and women-owned construction firms — DBEs — and women and people of color in the
projects funded by the stimulus. Not only did Wisconsin have ‘shovel-ready’ projects that could be acted on quickly, but it also had the
infrastructure in place to involve historically underrepresented groups.
“For us, we had to have what we call ‘people on the bench,’ African Americans and other minorities on the bench ready to go by
the time the stimulus projects came,” said Ruben Anthony Jr., deputy secretary of WisDOT. “If you did not have African American and
other minorities on the bench, if you had not developed the relationship with the unions prior to the projects, then those states might
have difficulty doing it as soon as the money got rolled out because it takes preparation. For us, we had already started our TRANS
(Transportation Alliance for New Solutions) program. We did one in Milwaukee and one in Madison with the YWCA here. We’ve done
others across the state. That gives us an opportunity to train individuals over a 12-week period. We taught disadvantaged individuals
how to use construction tools and how to work on construction projects. It acclimated them to what the construction environment
would be like. These are the types of things that prepared us for when opportunities like economic stimulus come along. The Governor
gave us the ability to invest in these projects, which was a big step forward. We had an advantage with the economic stimulus
projects because we had people on the bench ready to go. We had relationships with unions because we had them from previous
projects.”
Through projects like Miller Stadium and the Marquette Interchange in Milwaukee — not to speak of other I-94 corridor projects —
the state has enhanced the DBE capacity to take on significant portions of the Obama stimulus roadwork. “You also have to take steps
to make sure that businesses are ready, that you have businesses on the shelf ready to go when the projects come about,” Anthony
said. “You can’t wait until when the stimulus comes to the state and then start thinking about how you are going to pull businesses
together. So having had a successful track record on the Marquette Interchange and other projects around the state, we’re able to take
those strategies and techniques and we have businesses ready to go in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison. Those are the places
where we made the greatest advances for minority business inclusion for the economic stimulus projects.”
According to Anthony, only about 60 percent of the state’s stimulus money has been committed so far. The state plans to have 75
percent of it committed by September 30 with the remaining 25 percent committed in 2010-2011. The Obama stimulus has been
designed to have a 2-3 year sustained economic impact that will not be inflationary and hopefully continue long enough until the U.S.
economy begins to add jobs.
“The federal stimulus wasn’t a one-shot opportunity,” Anthony said. “It was an opportunity that will continue because construction
projects happen over multiple seasons. You have the design work where consultants design projects and move projects forward. You
have the actual construction projects. You have construction management. Then you have the secondary markets such as the
materials that you have to purchase. That employs people too. Typically we focus on the jobs that we see out there on the actual
construction site. But having transportation projects serve as economic stimulus has what they refer to as a multiplier effect. Multiple
marketplaces benefit from having the economic stimulus.”
Instead of relying solely on tax rebates that may spur consumer spending to lead the economic recovery — as well as stimulate
the economies of other nations as much or greater than our own — the Obama stimulus plan invests in construction projects that
create jobs on a local level before the money is spent on goods and services that are a part of the global economy. While people of
color have been ‘last hired first fired’ in most U.S. recessions, the road construction projects funded by the stimulus are changing that
historical cycle.
stimulus dollars, $158 million of which is designated for local governments. WisDOT had ‘shovel-ready’ projects ready to go for the
$371 million in stimulus money that would be coming its way.
For Ruben Anthony, the Obama stimulus money has been a golden opportunity to continue WisDOT’s success on the Marquette
Interchange to significantly involve minority and women-owned construction firms — DBEs — and women and people of color in the
projects funded by the stimulus. Not only did Wisconsin have ‘shovel-ready’ projects that could be acted on quickly, but it also had the
infrastructure in place to involve historically underrepresented groups.
“For us, we had to have what we call ‘people on the bench,’ African Americans and other minorities on the bench ready to go by
the time the stimulus projects came,” said Ruben Anthony Jr., deputy secretary of WisDOT. “If you did not have African American and
other minorities on the bench, if you had not developed the relationship with the unions prior to the projects, then those states might
have difficulty doing it as soon as the money got rolled out because it takes preparation. For us, we had already started our TRANS
(Transportation Alliance for New Solutions) program. We did one in Milwaukee and one in Madison with the YWCA here. We’ve done
others across the state. That gives us an opportunity to train individuals over a 12-week period. We taught disadvantaged individuals
how to use construction tools and how to work on construction projects. It acclimated them to what the construction environment
would be like. These are the types of things that prepared us for when opportunities like economic stimulus come along. The Governor
gave us the ability to invest in these projects, which was a big step forward. We had an advantage with the economic stimulus
projects because we had people on the bench ready to go. We had relationships with unions because we had them from previous
projects.”
Through projects like Miller Stadium and the Marquette Interchange in Milwaukee — not to speak of other I-94 corridor projects —
the state has enhanced the DBE capacity to take on significant portions of the Obama stimulus roadwork. “You also have to take steps
to make sure that businesses are ready, that you have businesses on the shelf ready to go when the projects come about,” Anthony
said. “You can’t wait until when the stimulus comes to the state and then start thinking about how you are going to pull businesses
together. So having had a successful track record on the Marquette Interchange and other projects around the state, we’re able to take
those strategies and techniques and we have businesses ready to go in Green Bay, Milwaukee and Madison. Those are the places
where we made the greatest advances for minority business inclusion for the economic stimulus projects.”
According to Anthony, only about 60 percent of the state’s stimulus money has been committed so far. The state plans to have 75
percent of it committed by September 30 with the remaining 25 percent committed in 2010-2011. The Obama stimulus has been
designed to have a 2-3 year sustained economic impact that will not be inflationary and hopefully continue long enough until the U.S.
economy begins to add jobs.
“The federal stimulus wasn’t a one-shot opportunity,” Anthony said. “It was an opportunity that will continue because construction
projects happen over multiple seasons. You have the design work where consultants design projects and move projects forward. You
have the actual construction projects. You have construction management. Then you have the secondary markets such as the
materials that you have to purchase. That employs people too. Typically we focus on the jobs that we see out there on the actual
construction site. But having transportation projects serve as economic stimulus has what they refer to as a multiplier effect. Multiple
marketplaces benefit from having the economic stimulus.”
Instead of relying solely on tax rebates that may spur consumer spending to lead the economic recovery — as well as stimulate
the economies of other nations as much or greater than our own — the Obama stimulus plan invests in construction projects that
create jobs on a local level before the money is spent on goods and services that are a part of the global economy. While people of
color have been ‘last hired first fired’ in most U.S. recessions, the road construction projects funded by the stimulus are changing that
historical cycle.
By Jonathan Gramling
Part 1 of 2
A well-worn phrase that many Wisconsinites say in late spring is that
there are two seasons in Wisconsin, winter and construction season. This
construction season seems like those of summers past with major projects on
Wisconsin’s Interstate Highways and dozens of projects in progress in any
municipality. Things may appear to be normal, but they are anything but normal.
If it weren’t for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President
Barack Obama’s stimulus package, many of these construction projects —
along with the jobs they represent — would disappear, projects like University
Avenue in Madison or work on I-94 between the Badger Interchange and CTH N
near Sun Prairie. It is a sense of normalcy for many Wisconsinites in the midst
of the Great Recession that is the result of Obama’s stimulus package. The
impact of the Obama stimulus is hiding in plain sight.
The Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation (WisDOT) has been like a baseball
batter waiting for a fastball delivered over the plate in anticipation of
Part 1 of 2
A well-worn phrase that many Wisconsinites say in late spring is that
there are two seasons in Wisconsin, winter and construction season. This
construction season seems like those of summers past with major projects on
Wisconsin’s Interstate Highways and dozens of projects in progress in any
municipality. Things may appear to be normal, but they are anything but normal.
If it weren’t for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, President
Barack Obama’s stimulus package, many of these construction projects —
along with the jobs they represent — would disappear, projects like University
Avenue in Madison or work on I-94 between the Badger Interchange and CTH N
near Sun Prairie. It is a sense of normalcy for many Wisconsinites in the midst
of the Great Recession that is the result of Obama’s stimulus package. The
impact of the Obama stimulus is hiding in plain sight.
The Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation (WisDOT) has been like a baseball
batter waiting for a fastball delivered over the plate in anticipation of
| Deputy Secretary Ruben Anthony Jr. at the I-94 expansion project near the County Highway N exit to Sun Prairie, which is a federal stimulus project |