Leaders discuss using transportation-related projects to facilitate job creation
Aug. 12, 2011
ORANGE – Transportation officials, business leaders, economists and labor representatives will join together in a first-of-its kind summit to highlight the importance of infrastructure investment as a way to create desperately needed jobs in an industry still reeling from the recession.
The public is invited to join the discussion during the Orange County Jobs Now Summit. The event will provide a platform for leaders from both public and private sectors to focus on how to create jobs in challenging economic times.
The free summit is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Aug. 31 at the Doubletree Hotel in Orange, 100 The City Drive. Space is limited and RSVPs are required by Aug. 24 at www.octa.net/jobs.
Expected to participate in the event, among others, are Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez, U.S. Rep. Gary Miller, OCTA Chair Patricia Bates and Vice Chair Paul Glaab, and Orange County Business Council President and CEO Lucy Dunn.
“Transportation projects in Orange County and throughout the nation continue to play a critical role in putting Americans back to work,” said OCTA Chair Patricia Bates, also the Fifth District Supervisor. “Our job is to continue focusing on moving plans off the drawing board and into construction as quickly as possible.”
Through OCTA’s Measure M2 program, more than $200 million in projects are anticipated to be under construction throughout the county in the next 12 months.
Individual stories from those working on these projects will be told at the event, highlighting the struggles faced while trying to find a job in today’s economy. The workers, now employed as a result of M2 projects, give insight into the importance of transportation projects in job creation.
Currently, the rate of unemployment in Orange County is at 9.2 percent, up from 8.5 percent in May 2011.
