leadership and innovation in local government
ORANGE – The Orange County Transportation Authority was honored by the Orange County Business Council for turning transportation “red tape” into work opportunities in Orange County.
The award was accepted during OCBC’s annual 2012 Turning Red Tape Into Red Carpet Awards and Reception hosted on Thursday, Nov. 29. OCBC is the leading voice of business on important issues locally, regionally and nationally. The organization works to enhance Orange County’s economic development and prosperity to preserve a high quality of life.
The business organization recognized OCTA CEO Will Kempton as a leader in local government whose policies and programs break down economic growth barriers and help stimulate private sector jobs creation.
Presented with the award for Public Sector Leadership, Kempton thanked his staff and the local, state and national partners who worked to create jobs and improve the economy through transportation in the Breaking Down Barriers initiative. Through the initiative, OCTA partnered with more than 30 organizations to bring together local and national leaders in the transportation industry to identify opportunities that created jobs in highway, street and transit construction projects.
“The Breaking Down Barriers initiative became the national template to help expedite project delivery by removing bureaucratic barriers to enhance transportation infrastructure and create thousands of jobs at a time when it has been one of the most needed,” Kempton said. “Through our partnership with Caltrans and other local agencies, we are continuing to forge ahead in our efforts to accelerate project delivery and do our part to create jobs in Orange County.”
Under Kempton’s leadership, the Breaking Down Barriers initiative, combined with the O.C. Jobs Now program, created or sustained more than 12,000 jobs in transportation as of June 30, 2012.
For more information on the project, visit: www.octa.net/BreakingDownBarriers.
