For some time now, I’ve been looking for any sort of solid numbers regarding just where/how many jobs are going to be created by the Stimulus Package– I believe Obama’s statements have been “to save/create three million jobs”. part of those, I believe one million, are to be green jobs.
Frankly, I don’t see where/how we’re going to get 1 million or more green collar jobs, given the high tech nature of renewable energy (low labor intensive).
Chicago’s Crains Business Report is out with some numbers regarding the stimulus money going to Chicago for infrastructure projects:
Metropolitan Chicago will receive more than $25 million in federal funding for various construction and Army Corps of Engineers projects.
The amount, announced Wednesday by U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., is part of $4.6 billion to be distributed nationwide under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Illinois will receive more than $300 million.
Six Chicago-area projects are expected to generate 514 jobs.
The largest is a $21.1-million endeavor to repair and stabilize the main structure protecting Chicago Harbor. Another $1.6 million will be used to complete a levee on the Des Plaines River, and $1.1 million will go toward increasing dredging capacity in the Calumet Harbor and Calumet River.
Other Chicago projects include:
- $500,000 to complete construction of a stream channel to help protect North Park University’s administration building on the Northwest Side.
- $350,000 to complete the second phase of a mandatory study of the Des Plaines River.
Note the 514 estimated jobs created number. Not sure how this breaks out in terms of direct (construction workers on site) vs. indirect (truck drivers delivering materials to the site) but even if you double the number of jobs to 1,000 +, you don’t get many jobs for the $25 million expenditure.
my other issue is the bulk of the money being spent on the Chicago Harbor project– yes, this is an infrastructure project, but it’s also a project the city/state has had sitting on the back burner for years- because they didn’t want to spend the money. now they have the money (from we the taxpayers) that project gets priority over others.
some of this money should have been spent on low income housing, which would have employed standard carpenters and masons… these type of infrastructure projects tend to require more specialized labor forces.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=33872&seenIt=1