U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development
Alejandra Y. Castillo
Photo courtesy of EDA
The U.S. Economic Development Administration yesterday announced
the list of the 509 applications submitted for the $500 million
Good
Jobs Challenge, one of EDA’s six American
Rescue Plan programs and its signature workforce development
initiative. EDA anticipates announcing approximately 25 to 50 awards in
summer 2022 and providing related technical assistance opportunities to
further this work among grantees. “Applications were submitted from a
diverse range of workforce development programs and demonstrate a strong
commitment to supporting underserved communities and groups with
barriers to employment,” wrote U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo in a letter to applicants.
“They reflect the importance of creating interconnected workforce
systems that enable access to in-demand skills training and connections
to employers that lead to good-paying jobs.”
Project names range from general titles such as the Washington Jobs
Initiative from the WTIA Workforce Institute in Washington State;
the Georgia’s Pipeline to Good Jobs program from the Technical
College System of Georgia; and Train Up New York from JobsFirstNYC
to more focused projects such as a fiber technician program in
Bluefield, West Virginia; the South Carolina Cybersecurity
Apprenticeship Partnership from South Carolina State University; and
the SEMI Career and Apprenticeship Network (SCAN), a Registered
Apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship program for the
microelectronics industry from the SEMI Foundation in California.
Analysis of the full list reveals these top states for applications:
As if the $3 billion new steel plant that U.S. Steel broke ground
for in Osceola earlier this month weren’t enough good news, the city
this week welcomed news from Corona, California–based Envirotech
Vehicles that it would construct a new $80 million, 800-job
manufacturing facility in Osceola to make its zero-emission,
purpose-built electric vehicles. “We are thrilled to announce that
we have chosen Osceola as the home of our first U.S.-based
manufacturing facility, backed with the support of the Great River
Economic Development Foundation and the state of Arkansas,” said
Phillip Oldridge, CEO of Envirotech Vehicles, in a company release.
“We are confident that Osceola has the perfect business climate and
local workforce to allow us to see growth and success in the region
as the state’s first commercial electric vehicle manufacturer. This,
and the plant’s location near the Mississippi River with access to
the port of Osceola, will be vital as we position EVT to bring new
innovation and technology advancements to the state.” The company
said it purchased the facility from the city of Osceola and intends
to initially utilize the plant to handle the final outfitting and
shipment of its imported vehicles while simultaneously converting
the plant into a full manufacturing operation. EVT is currently
manufacturing and delivering three products to customers: Electric
Urban Trucks, Electric Logistics Vans and Electric Cutaway Vans.
Siemens Healthineers announced this week it will invest about €60
million through 2025 to expand and upgrade its location at Kemnath
in Bavaria, where it will create up to 50 new jobs. “The investment
will ensure that the strong demand for medical technology products
can continue to be met with no impact on quality,” the company
stated. “Radiotherapy devices from Varian — linear accelerators —
will also be manufactured at the location in the future.” The
company also will construct a new administration building for around
130 employees that will include a new training workshop and
reception area, and the existing 3D printing Center of Competence
will be expanded to cover more space and more devices. The Kemnath
plant in the Oberpfalz region was established in 1962. “It has grown
since then from a purely contract-based manufacturer to a Center of
Competence for mechatronics that covers large parts of the Siemens
Healthineers product range,” the company said. “Siemens Healthineers
currently employs a workforce of more than 1,200 at the location. It
recently invested €13 million in a new logistics facility that began
operations in January of this year.”
This “geobubble” estimates the impact of lost wages due to the trade
disruptions in Sarnia and Windsor, Ontario, associated with the
“Freedom Convoy” protests. It comes from Anderson Economic Group,
whose updated analysis issued February 14 includes
lost direct wages for Michigan, lost direct wages in Ontario, and
some lost direct wages in Kentucky, Ohio, and Alabama. The group
found there were lost direct wages of $144.9 million (mostly in
Michigan and Ontario) and losses to automakers — including GM, Ford,
Chrysler (Stellantis), Honda, and Toyota — of $155 million.
“Within hours of the trade disruption at the Ambassador and Blue
Water bridges, we observed shortages and then slowdowns at assembly
plants,” said Patrick Anderson, Anderson Economic Group’s principal
and CEO. “Only some of that lost production can be made up given the
tightness of the auto industry’s supply chain right now, so these
are real losses to the men and women working in this industry.” The
group used a methodology similar to the one it used during
the UAW-GM strike in 2019.
PHOTO OF THE
DAY
Photo courtesy of Sam Fentress for
Clayco
This photo shows Fulton East, a 12-story, 90,000-sq.-ft. health and
wellness-focused design center, office and retail building in
downtown Chicago that recently earned the WELL Health-Safety rating
from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). The building
was developed by Parkside Realty. According to a release from
Clayco, global asset manager Calamos Investments, based in
Naperville, Illinois, signed a multiyear lease for two full floors
at Fulton East to expand its office space downtown. The firm plans
to move into the new space in spring 2022. “Global flooring
manufacturer Tarkett will also move to Fulton East in spring 2022,
relocating its showroom, offices and design center from Merchandise
Mart (theMART),” said Clayco.
Launched by the IWBI in June 2020 in response to the COVID-19
pandemic, the WELL Health-Safety Rating is an
evidence-based, third-party certification of best practices in
building operation and management for mitigation of COVID-19 and
improving overall building wellness.
