Growing Jobs through Infrastructure Investment (House Small Business subcommittee hearing, May 6, 2021)
Summary
Transcript of the House Small Business Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development hearing Growing Jobs through Infrastructure Investment, on May 6, 2021, published as Small Business Committee Document Number 117–011. Representatives Jason Crow and Young Kim gave opening statements. Witnesses were Michael Tamasi of AccuRounds, Dr. Annette Parker of South Central College, Eddie Bustamante of Laborers' International Union of North America Local 720, and Gus Bruner of Caliagua, Inc. for the Associated General Contractors of America. The appendix adds material from Airports Council International—North America, the National Association of Minority Contractors, the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, Revision Energy, SBE Council and surety and insurance groups.
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“Growing Jobs through Infrastructure Investment (House Small Business subcommittee hearing, May 6, 2021).”
Original at www.govinfo.gov. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/growing-jobs-through-infrastructure-investment-house-small-business-su-69dbb8db67/
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GROWING JOBS THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENT
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION,
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND WORK-
FORCE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
HEARING HELD
MAY 6, 2021
Small Business Committee Document Number 117–011
Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
44–448 WASHINGTON : 2021
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HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
NYDIA VELÁZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman
JARED GOLDEN, Maine
JASON CROW, Colorado
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
JUDY CHU, California
DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania
ANDY KIM, New Jersey
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri, Ranking Member
ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas
JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
CLAUDIA TENNEY, New York
ANDREW GARBARINO, New York
YOUNG KIM, California
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
BYRON DONALDS, Florida
MARIA SALAZAR, Florida
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
MELISSA JUNG, Majority Staff Director
ELLEN HARRINGTON, Majority Deputy Staff Director
DAVID PLANNING, Staff Director
(II)
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CONTENTS
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Hon. Jason Crow ...................................................................................................... 1
Hon. Young Kim ...................................................................................................... 3
WITNESSES
Mr. Michael Tamasi, President and CEO, AccuRounds, Avon, MA .................... 5
Dr. Annette Parker, President, South Central College, Mankato, MN ............... 7
Mr. Eddie Bustamante, Political Director, Laborers’ International Union of
North America Local 720, Denver, CO, testifying on behalf of Construction
Craft Laborers in Colorado .................................................................................. 9
Mr. Gus Bruner, President and Project Executive, Caliagua, Inc., Anaheim,
CA, testifying on behalf of Associated General Contractors of America ......... 10
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Mr. Michael Tamasi, President and CEO, AccuRounds, Avon, MA ............. 29
Dr. Annette Parker, President, South Central College, Mankato, MN ....... 34
Mr. Eddie Bustamante, Political Director, Laborers’ International Union
of North America Local 720, Denver, CO, testifying on behalf of Con-
struction Craft Laborers in Colorado .......................................................... 42
Mr. Gus Bruner, President and Project Executive, Caliagua, Inc., Ana-
heim, CA, testifying on behalf of Associated General Contractors of
America .......................................................................................................... 43
Questions for the Record:
None.
Answers for the Record:
None.
Additional Material for the Record:
Airports Council International—North America (ACI) ................................. 49
National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC) ................................. 54
National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) .................................. 56
Revision Energy ................................................................................................ 58
SBE Council ...................................................................................................... 62
Surety & Fidelity Association of America and the American Property
Casualty Insurance Association ................................................................... 65
(III)
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GROWING JOBS THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENT
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP,
AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:01 p.m., via Zoom,
Hon. Jason Crow [chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Crow, Phillips, Newman, Bourdeaux,
Williams, Tenney, Garbarino and Young Kim.
Chairman CROW. Good morning. I call this hearing to order.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a recess at
any time.
I want to thank everyone, especially our witnesses today for join-
ing us today for this Committee’s remote hearing. I want to make
sure that we start by noting a couple of important requirements.
Let me begin by saying that the standing House and Committee
rules and practice will continue to apply during remote proceedings
and all members are reminded that they are expected to adhere to
these standing rules including decorum when they are partici-
pating in any remote event.
With that said, the technology that we are utilizing today re-
quires us to make some small modifications to ensure that the
members can fully participate in these proceedings. House regula-
tions require members to be visible through a video connection
throughout the proceeding, so please keep your cameras on. Also,
if you participate in another proceeding, please exit and log back
in later.
In the event a member encounters technical issues that prevent
them from being recognized for their questioning, I will move to the
next available member of the same party. I will recognize that
member at the next appropriate time slot provided they have re-
turned to the proceeding.
Should a member’s time be interrupted by technical issues, I will
recognize that member at the next appropriate spot for the remain-
der of their time once their issues have been resolved. In the event
a witness loses connectivity during testimony or questioning, I will
preserve their time as the staff address the technical issue. I also
may need to recess the proceedings to provide time for a witness
to reconnect.
And finally, remember to remain muted until you are recognized
to minimize background noise.
(1)
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In accordance with the rules established under H.Res. 965, staff
have been advised to mute participants only in the event that there
is inadvertent background noise. Should a member wish to be rec-
ognized, they must unmute themselves and seek recognition at the
appropriate time.
All right. We have all the technical stuff out of the way now.
So it is no secret that America’s infrastructure has long been in
decline. The World Economic Forum ranked the United States 13th
in the world for infrastructure in 2019. Our country earned a C-
in a recent infrastructure report card issued by the American Soci-
ety of Civil Engineers, continuing a streak of subpar marks from
the organization.
Across the country, roads, bridges, and railways are crumbling.
In April, President Biden announced the American Jobs Plan. The
framework would invest nearly $2 trillion in the national infra-
structure over the next decade. The plan would modernize 20,000
miles of highway, repair 10,000 bridges, eliminate all lead water
pipes and provide highspeed broadband to all Americans.
In the process, America’s infrastructure revitalization would
boost our Nation’s small businesses. In multiple nationwide sur-
veys, over half of small business owners viewed infrastructure
spending as integral to their business’s success. Small firms rely on
new bridges, new electrical transmission lines, and accessible high-
speed Internet to ship their products, power their business and
market their brands. By investing in infrastructure, we can help
entrepreneurs reach new domestic and international markets, tap
new suppliers, and ultimately, expand their business. The Amer-
ican Jobs Plan represents a generational investment in American
infrastructure. If enacted into law, President Biden’s plan will lead
to a wave of job creation unprecedented in recent memory.
However, it is not enough to create jobs. Our country needs a
pipeline of skilled workers to fill them. The infrastructure work-
force is staring down a deficit of qualified employees. Infrastructure
workers number 17.2 million nationally and more than a quarter
of them are projected to retire or permanently leave their positions
over the next decade.
A 2020 survey found 72 percent of construction firms anticipated
that labor shortages would be their biggest hurdle in 2021. On top
of that, many of those who permanently lost a job due to COVID
were concentrated in low-income sectors like service and retail.
These workers will need skills training to fill the void in the infra-
structure workforce.
If we are to successfully rejuvenate America’s infrastructure, we
will need qualified workers to get the job done. That is why the
American Jobs Plan invests $100 billion in workforce development
programs. These funds will help underserved groups like women
and people of color, including a $40 billion investment in a new dis-
located workers program, and a $48 billion investment in workforce
development infrastructure and worker protect.
With college tuition costs skyrocketing and little guarantee that
it will lead to a middle-class lifestyle, apprenticeships are gaining
popularity. Apprenticeships are mutually beneficial for businesses
and their employees. Workers are compensated as they learn new
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skills and firms have the opportunity to develop otherwise ineli-
gible applicants into valued members of their team.
The American Community College system also provides students
with the skills needed to get a good job after graduation. These in-
stitutions are located all around the country and are sometimes
more accessible than 4-year universities. They often work with the
private sector to determine workforce needs.
So I hope that today’s hearing will allow us to explore workforce
development programs and discuss how Congress can leverage
them to train a new generation of workers.
I now yield to the Ranking Member, Ms. Kim, for her opening
statement.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you, Chairman.
As the country continues its recovery from the widespread de-
struction caused by COVID-19, there are issues that existed before
the pandemic that must be addressed. Chief among those is the
state of America’s infrastructure. Therefore, I think our hearing on
Growing Jobs through Infrastructure Investment provides a timely
discussion.
It is not hyperbole to state that infrastructure is one of the driv-
ing forces behind America’s economic, military, and political
strength. Every great civilization in times past acknowledged the
tremendous importance of a robust infrastructure network and our
country is no different. It is one of the reasons for America’s rapid
expansion and rise, and it is one of the reasons why this Nation
has become globally recognized as a world leader for nearly 2 cen-
turies.
Unfortunately, our Nation’s infrastructure is declining in almost
every sector. From delays caused by traffic congestion on poorly
maintained roads and highways, to overburdened and aging air-
ports, antiquated drinking and wastewater systems, an ever-ex-
panding backlog in rail and public transit maintenance, the Na-
tion’s sprawling infrastructure network is long overdue for an up-
grade.
We ignore the seriousness and immediacy of this program at our
own peril. The more we allow our infrastructure to decay, the more
we will see economic activity wither.
Close to my home district in California’s 39th District, stalled
traffic robbed the LA Metro area commuters an average of 119
hours in 2017. So clearly, we must do more to decrease commuting
time in an increased savings through a better infrastructure sys-
tem. When infrastructure is a priority, it produces well-paying con-
struction and manufacturing jobs for middle-class Americans.
Given the large concentration of small businesses in manufacturing
and constructure, investing in infrastructure can and will improve
the lives of millions of small business employers and their employ-
ees on a wide scale. Additionally, investing in infrastructure causes
an outward rippled of prosperity, creating jobs in many industries
through a significant multiplier effect. In short, infrastructure
means wealth creation in struggling small businesses now more
than ever in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic need this boost.
While we can all agree on the importance of investing in infra-
structure, how we get there is a more delicate matter. The term
‘‘infrastructure’’ can encompass many things, from roads, highways,
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and bridges, to aviation, ports, water systems, and even broadband.
However, to maximize the public benefit of a vigorous and healthy
infrastructure network, we must start with a focused, targeted ap-
proach to our core infrastructure systems. Additionally, I believe
small businesses operate best when the government does not stand
in their way. We need to cut the red tape, reduce the bureaucracy,
and eliminate burdensome regulations and requirements that hold
small businesses and our economy back. Subjecting small busi-
nesses to inflexible labor laws and increased taxes as we have seen
proposed by some of my colleagues across the aisle will undermine
the hard-earned recovery efforts undertaken by small businesses
clawing their way back from the break.
It is no secret that we have different views on many issues. Yet,
infrastructure is one issue that is too important to be waylaid by
partisan politics. We should build on our common ground and bring
this Nation’s infrastructure back to the shining example of modern
development and success it used to be.
I look forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses today,
and I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Kim. The gentlewoman yields
back.
I would like to take a moment to explain how this hearing will
proceed. Each witness is going to have 5 minutes to provide a
statement, and each Committee member will have 5 minutes for
questions. Please ensure that your microphone is on when you
begin speaking and that you return to mute when you have fin-
ished.
With that, I would like to introduce our first witness.
Our first witness is Mr. Michael Tamasi, president and CEO of
AccuRounds, a manufacturing company in Avon, Massachusetts.
He is a second generation owner and has been working in the fam-
ily business since 1985. In 2014, he was named to the New Eng-
land Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
where he became Chair in 2018. He is also active in the National
Tooling and Machining Association as an audit team leader and
served on the Boston chapter’s board for 15 years. He currently sits
on the advisory board for the Mechanical Engineering Department
at the University of New Hampshire where he received a Bachelor
of Science in Mechanical Engineering before going on to earn an
MBA from Babson College. Welcome, Mr. Tamasi.
Our second witness is Dr. Annette Parker, president of South
Central College in Faribault, Minnesota. Dr. Parker has a long his-
tory in the community college system having obtained an education
from Lansing Community College and serving in leadership posi-
tions in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System as
the director of workplace education. Dr. Parker was appointed to
President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership Steering
Committee 2.0 and Co-Chaired the Demand-driven Workforce De-
velopment Team. Among many other roles, she has served on the
board of directors of the American Association of Community Col-
leges and on the MIT Work of the Future Taskforce Advisory
Board. Welcome, Dr. Parker.
Our third witness is Mr. Eddie Bustamante. Mr. Bustamante is
the political and legislative director of Laborers’ International
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Union of North American Local 720 in my home district. He re-
ceived a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Metropolitan
State University of Denver and has served on the Workforce Work
Group for the Energize Denver Taskforce to create jobs while clean-
ing up the city’s current and future buildings. Welcome, Mr.
Bustamante.
I will now yield to the Ranking Member to introduce our final
witness.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you very much.
I would like to welcome our final witness, who is from the great
state of California, Mr. Gustavo Bruner. Mr. Bruner is the presi-
dent and project executive of Caliagua, Inc. Under his leadership,
Caliagua earned a stellar reputation within the Southern Cali-
fornia community for delivering precise, detailed, and successful
outcomes on water and wastewater engineering and construction
projects. Mr. Bruner has a long and rich history in this industry
starting his career as early as high school working in the field as
a laborer with skilled pipefitters, carpenters, laborers, and oper-
ating engineers to construct water and wastewater facilities. He
continued his education with a pipeline and mechanical contractor
as a project engineer, cost accountant and estimator, and eventu-
ally transferred to join the private sector as a controller for a mul-
tinational industrial painting and coatings contractor. He joined
Caliagua in 1986. This is a family business started by his father
in 1987, and he has served in multiple roles from mechanical and
concrete field work to project manager, and now the president and
owner of this company. He is a native of Anaheim, California, hav-
ing grown up just blocks away from Disneyland and is a proud
graduate of California State University Fullerton where he earned
his B.A. in Business Administration and Accounting. Today, he is
testifying on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of Amer-
ica (AGC), which is the leading association in the construction in-
dustry representing over 27,000 firms, many of whom are small
businesses. Mr. Bruner, thank you for your participation today and
we look forward to hearing your testimony. I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
Mr. Tamasi, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENTS OF MICHAEL TAMASI, PRESIDENT AND CEO,
ACCUROUNDS; DR. ANNETTE PARKER, PRESIDENT, SOUTH
CENTRAL COLLEGE; EDDIE BUSTAMANTE, POLITICAL DI-
RECTOR, LABORERS’ INTERNATIONAL UNION OF NORTH
AMERICA LOCAL 720; GUS BRUNER, PRESIDENT AND
PROJECT EXECUTIVE, CALIAGUA, INC.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL TAMASI
Mr. TAMASI. Thank you, Representative Crow. And thank you
to the Committee on Small Business Subcommittee for the oppor-
tunity to speak today. Thank you for all Congress has done during
the pandemic to keep small businesses afloat and people employed.
My name is Michael Tamasi, a second generation family business
owner, president and CEO of AccuRounds, a mid-sized precision
machining company located in Avon, Massachusetts, providing me-
chanical components. We make parts for Boeing, Amazon Robotics,
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Walmart, and more. Our higher purpose today is making shafts
used in machines that manufacture vaccines. That work has tripled
in the past 12 months.
I have been involved in the workforce space for over 30 years,
both locally and nationally, ensuring that the manufacturing indus-
try has strong workforce development, which is extremely impor-
tant to me, my team, and my community.
The shortage of skilled workers is not a new story. I have an ar-
ticle in my office from 1975 featuring my father titled, ‘‘Just give
me a few good men.’’ Forty-five years later, we still have a skills
gap. We need people with critical thinking and problem-solving
skills; and the desire to continuously improve.
As our workplace becomes even more reliant on advanced tech-
nology, we also face the need to upskill workers with digital skills.
Thirty-five percent of workers in our industry need additional dig-
ital skills to be successful in jobs of the 21st Century. The pan-
demic has only exacerbated our ability to hire and train skilled
workers. We are turning away work due to the lack of talent. We
need investments in infrastructure, manufacturing, and clean en-
ergy, which will intensify the hiring challenge for small business,
making the role of public investment and policy that supports
workforce development a critical part of any infrastructure invest-
ment. Supply chain resiliency is vital to the future of advanced
manufacturing, and more importantly, to our national security de-
fense, semiconductor, battery technology, biomanufacturing, and
more.
AccuRounds has addressed this problem in many ways and I will
highlight three. Sector partnerships. The Massachusetts Advanced
Manufacturing Collaborative, which I Co-Chair with our Secretary
of Housing and Economic Development, is a sector partnership that
convenes public and private stakeholders to develop and implement
the Massachusetts Manufacturing Plan. State funded regional con-
sortium grants deliver job-driven, short-term training programs
through collaboration among industry, education, and government.
The Massachusetts Emergency Response Team launched out of the
AMC when COVID hit, assisted Massachusetts companies to pivot
their operations in record time to produce much needed PPE for
our medical community. Highlighting the importance of a vibrant
manufacturing ecosystem and what can be accomplished with the
proper investments and resources.
Vocational School Partnerships. Voc-Tech schools are our top
pipeline for talent with a focus on recruiting and advancing women,
people of color, and people with disabilities into our workforce. We
currently have a female CNC machinist co-op from a technical
school who will join us full time when she graduates. One team
member of color who stated as a co-op just over 10 years ago pur-
chased a home recently. Multiple training programs helped him ad-
vanced his skills and pay. I was thrilled the day he shared that
news with me. Manufacturing is no longer dark, dirty, and dan-
gerous. It is safe, smart, and sustainable.
Finally, Incumbent Worker Training. AccuRounds supports and
invests heavily in on-the-job training which is a daily activity. In-
cumbent worker training is essential for our business and for our
team to succeed and advance their career. Through the
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AccuRounds Lifelong Learning University, we have created a learn-
ing mindset utilizing state-funded technical training, MEP soft
skills training, custom internal programs, online courses, and more.
Manufacturing is very capital intensive. CNC machines, quality
tools, software programs, thus, the need to constantly learn new
technology, costly in both dollars and training time.
How can Congress help? With these proven solutions there are
many ways Congress can continue to partner with the small and
mid-size businesses. The proposed American Jobs Plan has an in-
vestment of $100 billion for workforce, a critical step, and we will
need this Congress to maintain robust investments in workforce de-
velopment as a foundation of any infrastructure and job creation
package. In addition to new funding, Congress should ensure exist-
ing funding supports industry or sector partnerships, like the Ad-
vanced Manufacturing Collaborative that drive job-specific train-
ing, changing students’ lives, supporting STEM careers, while bol-
stering American products and industries. These investments
should support costs on providing incumbent worker training in-
cluding developing digital skills. 3D printing, robotics, automation
are here. At our doorstep is artificial intelligence, augmented re-
ality, and virtual reality.
Finally, better aligning postsecondary policy with industry de-
mand and worker need would revolutionize our capacity to upskill
and reskill our workforce. If Congress expanded financial aid to
anyone seeking skills training, student in high-quality, short-term
training programs, not just those seeking traditional college de-
grees, then small business, could offer career progression for even
more workers than we do today.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to answering any ques-
tions you may have.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Tamasi. I appreciate your tes-
timony.
Dr. Parker, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ANNETTE PARKER
Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Subcommittee Chair Crow and Rank-
ing Member Kim and distinguished members of the Subcommittee.
My name is Dr. Annette Parker and I serve as the President of
South Central College, with campuses in Faribault and North Man-
kato, Minnesota. I testify before you on behalf of 30 community and
technical colleges and 7 universities within the Minnesota State
system. My testimony also reflects perspectives of over 1,000 com-
munity colleges.
South Central College has a campus in a small metropolitan area
and another in a rural community that are influenced by agri-
culture, manufacturing, and healthcare. We are surrounded by
many small towns and businesses and they rely on South Central
College to meet their workforce needs. They are challenged by
workforce shortages and skills gaps in which community colleges
are uniquely positioned to help.
South Central College has developed strong public-private part-
nerships with our communities, organizations, and businesses, to
provide education that meets the needs of our employers, supports
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the economic development of our communities, and grows student
employment.
In 2013, I served on President Obama’s Advanced Manufacturing
Partnership 2.0 Steering Committee. Within the Committee’s re-
port, public-private partnerships, work-based learning opportuni-
ties, stackable credentials, and innovative apprenticeship models
were emphasized. As a result, South Central College created the
Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing Partnership (MnAMP), a con-
sortium of 12 Minnesota state colleges and two Minnesota state
centers of excellence. We have created a work-based learning pro-
gram using stackable certifications and apprenticeships that were
funded by a $15 million TAACCCT grant from the U.S. Depart-
ment of Labor.
The successes we achieved were also achieved by other commu-
nity colleges across the country thanks to TAACCCT.
Given the impacts of the pandemic, it is critical for the Federal
government to fund community college-led job training programs to
prepare the workforce needed for any major national infrastructure
initiative. Meeting the workforce needs of our employers requires
a strong infrastructure. This infrastructure includes labs within
community colleges that mirror the workplace. With technology ad-
vancing rapidly, it is challenging for community colleges to make
the necessary investment. I was also privileged to sit on the advi-
sory board for the MIT Work of the Future Taskforce. The
taskforce found increased technology will not significantly reduce
the workforce but will require skilled workers to augment their
work using technology. It suggests the need for more short-term
credentials.
The increasing sophistication of technical education requires con-
tinuous, large capital investments. While we are thankful for the
state support we receive, it falls short of meeting our infrastructure
needs. We appreciate our business and industry partners with their
financial support and equipment donations in trying to address
that need. But to educate the workforce of the future, we need an
infrastructure that supports them.
For this reason, community colleges across the country are en-
thusiastic and thankful for the Jobs Plan Community College In-
frastructure Investment. The President’s Community College Infra-
structure Proposal is critical to our success. The American Associa-
tion of Community Colleges estimates a national deferred mainte-
nance and needed renovations and upgrades at $60 billion. For
Minnesota state institutions alone, the deferred maintenance is at
$1.1 billion. Any Federal efforts should ensure a broad infusion of
funds including smaller community colleges that serve small and
rural businesses. Emphasis should be given to facilities projects
with a strong local economic impact.
Finally, expanding Pell grants to include short-term training is
critically important. This allows students to master a skill, start
work, and return to the college later for additional education. The
Jobs Act supports low-income students’ access to job-ready pro-
grams that develop a skilled workforce.
I thank you, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on
our college’s experience in building a strong workforce and I look
forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you.
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Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Parker. I appreciate your tes-
timony very much.
Mr. Bustamante, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF EDDIE BUSTAMANTE
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you so much, Representative Crow
and members of the Subcommittee. Thank you so much for the op-
portunity to speak today on behalf of this hearing titled Growing
Jobs through Infrastructure Investment.
I am Eddie Bustamante, a member of the Laborers International
Union of North America Local 720, and the political director for my
local, which is a Colorado Statewide Local.
Our laborers work in many sectors within the construction indus-
try, such as heavy-highway construction, commercial building,
pipeline and tunneling, precast plants, traffic control, clean energy
infrastructure, and water infrastructure. We take great pride in en-
suring our members have access to high quality training through
our registered apprenticeship program and a state-of-the-art train-
ing facility in Brighton, Colorado.
Our trade became an apprenticable trade in 1993 and we have
since worked to create a solid pipeline of workers into the industry.
Apprenticeship programs are an ‘‘earn while you learn’’ model pro-
gram meaning workers are employed by a contractor while receiv-
ing on-the-job training and also receiving in-class training to fur-
ther their knowledge.
It is important to highlight that through our apprenticeship pro-
gram we train for industry and not just for one job or one con-
tractor.
Within our training, members have trained state and U.S.-recog-
nized and approved certifications such as OSHA 10, OSHA 30, all
terrain forklift certifications, First AID and CPR, hazardous waste,
hoisting and rigging, work zone safety, Colorado Department of
Transportation certifications. These are just a few among many
other training courses available to our members that extend from
general construction training, concrete safety training, et cetera.
We know that our country faces a shortage of workers and the
goal of the current administration is to create good union jobs
through this infrastructure investment. Therefore, creating a pipe-
line of workers is incredibly important. A key component to this is
ensuring we set a high standard for training as we talk about
workforce development. For example, our apprenticeship programs
are approved and registered through the U.S. Department of Labor,
holding us to the highest standard of training. These standards
should be set across the industry to help prevent shortcuts for con-
tractors, associations, temporary staffing agencies to create their
own apprenticeship programs without oversight from the U.S.
DOL. A solid workforce development plan begins with high training
standards.
Here on the ground, we have ongoing efforts to reach our youth
and our underserved communities to educate them on the value of
a career in the construction industry. We consistently attend job
fairs and career fairs in the community and in high schools.
From a policy standpoint, we must also ensure high quality and
meaningful labor standards that promote family sustaining wages,
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employer paid benefits, jobsite safety, local area hiring, and ap-
prenticeship utilization standards. The communities in which this
infrastructure is built deserve the opportunity to work on these
projects in an equitable fashion.
Our LIUNA Local 720 members earn great wages and employer
paid benefits, which include a healthcare plan classified as a plat-
inum plan under the Affordable Care Act, lifetime pension benefit,
education and training. We believe these things are key to a solid
career in construction. If these standards are set across the indus-
try, I believe there would be a natural progression of workers,
young and old, to want to start a construction career thus helping
us fill the voids of these workers shortages.
I yield the rest of my time and I look forward to answering any
questions as well. Thank you so much.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Bustamante.
And Mr. Bruner, you now have 5 minutes. You are recognized for
your testimony. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF GUS BRUNER
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you very much, Chairman Crow, Ranking
Member Kim, and members of the Subcommittee on Innovation,
Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development. Thank you for in-
viting me to testify on this vitally important topic.
My name is Gus Bruner. I am the president and project execu-
tive of Caliagua based in Southern California. For more than 43
years, Caliagua has been trusted and respected for our engineering
and contracting work in water and wastewater pumping and treat-
ment facilities. We are a small union contractor specializing in the
construction of potable water, stormwater and sewage pumping
plants and related water and wastewater facilities. I am testifying
on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC),
the association of the general construction industry which rep-
resents more than 27,000 firms.
First, I want to thank the Committee for taking prompt and bi-
partisan action during the pandemic, including the Payroll Protec-
tion Program and ensuring that loans are fully deductible. Federal
investments in infrastructure can play an essential role in rebuild-
ing our economy and creating well-paying jobs for the American
people. It would enable the industry to hire more workers and
jumpstart our economic recovery today while providing long-term
capital investment that will support our economy and communities
for generations to come.
Importantly, infrastructure yields high returns on investment.
The Department of Commerce estimates that for
spent on water infrastructure, about $2.6 is generated in the pri-
vate economy. And for every job added in the water workforce, the
BEA estimates 3.68 jobs are added to the national economy.
The coronavirus and related economic lock downs led to signifi-
cant changes in the labor market compared to just a year ago. For
example, the construction industry cut nearly 1 million people from
its payrolls between March and April 2020. Today, the industry has
200,000 fewer workers than before the pandemic. Meanwhile, there
are 8 million fewer workers in the broader economy today than be-
fore the pandemic.
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This new labor dynamic has created a unique opportunity for the
construction industry to attract significant portions of the recently
unemployed into high-paying construction careers. These are jobs
that cannot be outsourced and provide enormous opportunity for
career advancement. Policies that ensure the industry does not
miss the current labor opportunities should be encouraged while
regulatory and labor policies that restrict growth and economic re-
covery need to be rejected.
Today, few school districts offer what is now known as Career
and Technical Education (CTE) programs or provide instruction in
construction skills. This signals to many students and their fami-
lies that construction is not a career worth considering, despite the
fact that it pays more than 10 percent above the average job.
CTE programs are among the most valuable education programs
for exposing students to construction skills and lifelong careers.
However, CTE programs are expensive to administer and fund,
with cost-intensive classrooms and equipment, and quality CTE in-
structors in short supply. The Federal Government could do more
in the areas of CTE apprenticeship programs.
There have been barriers, especially for small employers, to tap-
ping into other government programs like Workforce Innovation
and Opportunity Act (WIOA), with its burdensome reporting and
compliance requirements, lack of flexibility, and the fact that many
employers are unaware of the myriad of federally supported pro-
grams or how to get engaged.
While there are many policies that will support and spur long-
term infrastructure investment and create good paying jobs, there
are certain policies that restrict job growth and the economic recov-
ery that is desperately needed. I list these in my written testimony
and will briefly touch on them.
The misleadingly named ‘‘Protecting the Right to Organize’’ Act
or PRO Act will dangerously alter the balance between an employ-
ee’s right to bargain collectively and an employer’s right to manage
their business. Of note, an issue that does not get enough attention
is the PRO Act could actually harm unionized employers and their
employees. Unclear regulatory permitting requirements result in a
chaotic patchwork of Federal mandates that create considerable
economic hardship on the construction industry, especially small
businesses, amounting to fewer construction projects built and
fewer construction jobs available.
Lastly, there is a concern that increases in corporate and indi-
vidual tax rates will hinder construction investment and job growth
by limiting the ability of many businesses to invest in capital im-
provement that will provide additional career opportunities for con-
struction workers.
Thank you again for inviting AGC to testify before the Com-
mittee today. I look forward to answering any of your questions.
Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Bruner.
I will begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
Mr. Bustamante, one of the things that I have learned talking
to businesses and particularly those in advanced manufacturing
and construction and the trades is the challenge of getting young
folks interested in this work, in these careers, and I know that
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your union in particular does a lot of work. You all spend a lot of
time trying to make the case and recruit young folks into the field.
Can you just discuss for a minute, what are the areas of reluctance
you are hearing from folks and what do you find the most effective
in helping promote careers and trades in construction?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you, Representative Crow.
I can give a little backstory of me personally, and a lot of it has
to do with the message that gets sent within grade school, for ex-
ample. Right? I did not know about apprenticeship programs until
after I graduated high school. So right now what we try to do is
we try to create relationships with counselors or leadership within
schools here locally, really all over the state, wherever we can get
in contact and connect with any school leadership and really talk
about the value of a career in construction because like it was said
earlier, there is great value behind it and it is an above par job as
long as the standards are there. And that is part of it. You kind
of mix in the education part where these kids, you know, kids are
just not getting exposed to the value behind this type of training
and apprenticeship programs, you know, this earn while you learn.
Everything is so pushed for 4-year colleges which is great but not
all of us are headed that way. So we just need the exposure. So
that is what we try to do as a laborers union. We just try to expose
the value of our training and really, like I said in my testimony,
we train for industry. A lot of people think that construction is a
one time, you go to this project and then you kind of drop off and
it is hard to gain work in another project or whatever it is. No. Our
training is meant to train for industry. Therefore, our workers
bring value to any contractor who is willing to bring on high-skilled
craft laborers, for example, and like you said Representative Crow,
we work extremely hard. We have a mobile training unit that we
can take anywhere into the state to bring the training to students
or to these underserved communities like I mentioned earlier.
So there is a disconnect. There is a disconnect within schools to
not expose kids who might not be ready for a 4-year college, to ex-
pose them to trade apprenticeship programs. So we will continue
to promote that.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Bustamante.
Dr. Parker and Mr. Tamasi, I am particularly interested in the
issue of the startup abilities for small and medium size businesses
to create apprenticeship programs. Often the startup costs are pro-
hibitive for many small growing businesses to create these pro-
grams. Very briefly, if you could touch on what would be the best
way to reduce those startup costs and help those businesses create
these programs so we have a better pipeline? Mr. Tamasi, maybe
starting with you.
Mr. TAMASI. The best way to do that for small companies is to
work with regional consortiums. We cannot afford it. We are a 75-
person company. We cannot afford to develop our own apprentice-
ship program. And we do not necessarily need a full trained ap-
prenticeship. We have very specific machines that are specific to
our company and they need specific training for that. So the gen-
eral portion of apprenticeships, we actually had individuals
through COVID do an online apprenticeship program that was
sponsored by one of our regional consortiums. So that works quite
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well. It was tailored to our industry and then we were able to take
that individual, give him the specific training on the equipment we
have, and in 2 years, has advanced his pay by about 50 percent
which is a record in our company. He has done tremendous. So
with the proper training, he continued to advance and have a high-
er earning power.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Dr. Parker?
Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Mr. Crow.
What we have done in Minnesota is through our collaborative of
12 community colleges, we are working on apprenticeships and we
call it Work, Learn, and Earn. We bring all of the employers to-
gether. Some of them have maybe one or two apprentices at a time,
but by bringing regional partnerships together we can coordinate
with the employers on the apprenticeship and make sure that cer-
tain days of the week they are learning or certain times in the
week they are learning. The other times they are earning. And
through coordinating that regionally, it helps all of the employers
make that more affordable and more achievable for them.
The other thing that we have done through our collaboration
through Minnesota State colleges and universities is we offer some-
thing called Live Online where we can take the training into a
lunchroom at an employer’s site, one or two employees at a time,
and we do that in partnership with all of the colleges and univer-
sities so we can have one instructor that might be reaching compa-
nies, small companies throughout the great state of Minnesota.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Parker.
My time has now expired, so the Ranking Member, Ms. Kim, is
now recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you, Chairman.
Before I begin my line of questioning, I would like to make an
apology for the record. In my introduction of our witness, Mr.
Bruner, I incorrectly stated that his company, Caliagua, was start-
ed in 1987 but it was actually 1978. So with my apologies I would
like to make that correction for the record.
And I would like to speak to all witnesses. I could not agree more
that investing in workforce development is critical for the future of
this Nation. However, I am a bit concerned that the focus of the
Democrats’ infrastructure bill does not seem to align with our
shared priority. Large portions of the $100 billion in spending allo-
cated for workforce development programs seem to be diverted to
priorities unrelated to manufacturing, construction, or traditional
infrastructure.
So given that funding is a finite resource and sweeping infra-
structure bills coming out of Congress are rare, what are your
thoughts or reactions to this? Do you or do you not think an infra-
structure bill should focus its funding on actual infrastructure?
Your thoughts? Any or all witnesses, please.
Mr. BRUNER. Well, I would be happy to address that. I think
we have to spend money equally. I think it is very important to
spend it on the infrastructure projects, because without the projects
there is not a lot of learning that can happen in the field. I think
it starts with the projects, getting projects that have already been
designed and get them out to the field or in contractors’ hands to
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bid on and construct. If we can do that then we can add more em-
ployees to our payrolls and we can hire more apprentices and they
can learn more. I belong to the Agency of California. We are a
union contract. We belong to several of the union apprenticeship
programs and the unions do a very good job, the best they can in
training the people that we get from the unions. My experience as
a small business is the projects you want to bid on are small some-
times and there is not enough room for a bunch of apprentices to
work. We have smaller crews and we need the opportunity to have
more apprentices on the project and yet because the projects are
small they do not provide for that. So we have got to figure out a
better way so that small businesses, as well as large contractors,
can get the opportunities for apprentices to work on their projects
because once you find a good worker, I can tell you having 30 or
40 years in the business, they are an asset that you know this per-
son, this employee can make a lot of money for you because he is
such a good worker. He is just like any other asset. You realize it
very quickly and you want to put him on the next job. And so the
more opportunities we have for larger projects where we can in-
crease our manpower, the better off we are going to be and the bet-
ter off these employees who can train on the job. So I hope that
answers some of your question.
Chairman CROW. Ms. Kim, you are muted.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Sorry about that.
In the interest of time, may I hear from the other witnesses, just
a quick yes or no to the question that I just posed?
Mr. TAMASI. Yes, Rep. Kim, I think any investment in infra-
structure starts with physical investment, the training of individ-
uals to work.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you.
Mr. TAMASI. We are looking at a program called the Uniquely
Abled program. It started in California, by the way, and we want
to bring it to Massachusetts. We are trying all over the state and
there may be some Federal funds but we are trying to figure that
out. And we want to start a program in September, and hopefully,
there will be funds to start a program like that, to put people on
the spectrum through a machinist training program and place
them into jobs.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you.
Let me reclaim my time so I can ask another question to Mr.
Bruner.
I concur with your assessment that the government is overloaded
with massive overlapping regulations which is particularly chal-
lenging for a small contractor. So if you could waive a magic wand
and strike your top three most ineffective or burdensome regula-
tions in the small business space, which three would you choose
and why?
Mr. BRUNER. That is a great question. I think in California, in
terms of regulations that are currently out there, the California Air
Resources Board. We are very concerned with the regulations that
are there being formulated in the Federal Government and state
government where they challenge the equipment that we use to
construct our projects and placing burdensome regulations on the
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pollutants that might come from this equipment. And as a small
contractor, you are constantly replacing your equipment.
Another one is the labor component of having local hiring re-
quirements on projects. Local hiring requirements do serve a pur-
pose but I think they are filled with a lot of regulatory require-
ments that could be streamlined and allow the contractor to be
more competitive.
And finally, again, I think, I do not know, I think those are the
two most important ones. I cannot even think of a third. Thank
you.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you very much. I yield back my time.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
Next up is the gentlewoman, Ms. Bourdeaux, from Georgia. You
are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. BOURDEAUX. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chair-
man. And thank you all to the witnesses here.
I taught at Georgia State University and have been involved in
these kinds of issues for a long time and I probably share some of
your frustration. I think I have been talking about the workforce
development issues for decades and this mismatch between our
training and these good paying jobs out there.
So you all have addressed some of these issues but I will just
kind of circle back on some of them. And maybe start with Mr.
Bustamante. Why do we not have more of these programs in high
schools? In college, I teach an MPA program. It is public adminis-
tration. And all of our students, they have an internship even as
they are in school. So they go right out of that program and they
already have experience. They have worked in the area where they
want to develop themselves. And I continue to be puzzled why we
do not have more of these in our high schools.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. That is a great question, Representative
Bourdeaux, and thank you for it. It is a question that even we ask.
It is a question that we ask when we make these connections with
leadership from schools, and we try our absolute best within our
building trades capacity here in Colorado to partner with, we have
actually a program here in the city of Arvada where there is a part-
nership with the high school and with a technical college as well
where these kids have the opportunity to do some in-class kind of
training and then after a certain amount of time of this kind of in-
class exposure to the trades they get to have a little fieldtrip to go
to one of our training facilities and then they also receive some
kind of hands-on training at the technical college. I do not know
if it is a matter of funding. I do not know if it is a matter of just
the openness of schools wanting to bring these programs into their
mix, into their curriculums, and you would be surprised at how
hard those conversations are to have because there is a lot of steps
you have to take. There are a lot of people you have to talk to
whether it is district leadership, principals in schools, and there is
always somebody else that has to approve of some kind of cur-
riculum. Right? So it is a great question because it is something
that even we wonder where it is like you would think it would be
a lot easier, especially with the way the conversations go right now.
Apprenticeships are a hot topic and we are just as surprised as you
are that we do not have something more like that in more schools.
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So we are still trying to figure that out to be honest, Representa-
tive.
Ms. BOURDEAUX. Yeah. No. I keep having the conversation and
somehow wonder how much of this is related to just the will to get
it done to do it.
Dr. Parker, I bet you have some insight on that as well. So peo-
ple working in the community colleges. And I know you guys have
those kinds of programs and that is really what you are describing.
How do we move it to the high schools and so we have that kind
of continuum from the high school into the community colleges?
Ms. PARKER. Well, Representative Bourdeaux, I would like to
provide an example of something that we just did here in one of
my communities in Faribault, Minnesota. We created a new pro-
gram. It is called H2C, High School to College to Career. We start-
ed off with health science but we are starting now with advanced
manufacturing as well as construction trades. What we did was
work with the high school. Initially, they did not have a 7th hour.
And you think about all the general education requirements. There
was not enough time in the day for young people in high schools
to take a vocation that they have interest in. So we worked through
a referendum to the community to add a 7th hour. We partnered
with our local chamber of commerce and the superintendent and
hospitals and health facilities throughout the region for the health
facilities to help us design the curriculum where high school kids
will now get 36 college credits before they leave high school from
South Central College. And then if they decide to go on and be a
nurse or a medical lab technician they will have one semester or
two additional semesters from the college and they will have a de-
gree. Now, that makes it more affordable for a high school student
when you think about student debt, and it also provides the work-
force of the future.
And one last thing I will say is that this community is changing
demographically, so it is very diverse. It has a lot of Somali stu-
dents, new Americans, and this now is creating that diverse work-
force for the community as well.
Ms. BOURDEAUX. I think I am out of time but I think we are
all interested in hearing about those innovative programs and how
we do more of those. So thanks so much.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
Next we have the gentlewoman, Ms. Tenney from New York is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. TENNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to say
thank you to all the witnesses.
I am a small business owner. We are celebrating our 75th year.
We are in an industry that is light manufacturing but we do al-
ways have to adapt to technology. We started out with one of the
longest newspapers continuously operating in the United States, a
weekly newspaper, and the technology was very similar 75 years
ago but now it is so much more advanced. And we are so grateful
for all the innovators in our community. We have a wonderful com-
munity. Where we had an Air Force base, we now have a company
called Innovari, which is doing a lot of innovation.
But I want to direct my first question to Mr. Bruner because I
know you had indicated in your testimony, and I just took a look
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at it, you stated that the PRO Act would restrict job growth and
the economic recovery that is desperately needed. Can you give me
like maybe your top three reasons why the PRO Act would do that
and you know, why it would hurt small business and innovation?
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you. That is an excellent question, Rep-
resentative Tenney.
The problem for small businesses especially and larger busi-
nesses have a very good relationship with their employees as it is.
And I believe that the unions would be better served spending their
time instead of trying to separate. The problem with the matter is
we belong to the AGC of California and they serve as our collective
bargaining agent and we are a small employer. If the PRO Act
were to be initiated, it would prevent the employer, our company,
Caliagua, from being part of a joint collective bargaining agreement
with the AGC of California. We would have to negotiate directly
with the unions ourselves rather than be a part of the association.
The association does a much better job because of their size and
strength to represent us with each union that we belong to as op-
posed to just representing ourselves. And the cost of having a labor
manager for us and all the other benefits that come with the AGC
and their affiliations, every time we have an issue with the union,
which we do not have many of, they represent us much better than
we could probably represent ourselves and it would cost us more
to hire an attorney or a labor specialist to do that. I think that is
probably the most important for me is wanting that strength of the
association to represent us. They have done an excellent job for the
last 30 years and we do not want to change that.
Ms. TENNEY. Yeah, my question, so as a small business owner
we do not have a union in our business but we do have a lot of
really good trade unions in our community that really do great
work and we have other unions in the private sector, public sector
of course, too, and you know, they do provide a lot of strength and
security and a lot of good things for their union members.
My big concern is that in New York they are considering doing
through the PRO Act something that I think could be really detri-
mental to innovation and that could be equating an independent
contractor and an employee as one. And there is no distinction
which actually quite honestly a lot of independent employers or
independent people that I know who work really do not want this
to happen. They want to maintain their independence. How is that
affecting California? I do not know in action. I know how it is in
New York. The gap is narrowing. The PRO Act would basically
make the rest of the country California. Is that my correct read?
Mr. BRUNER. I could not answer that question, so I am sorry.
Ms. TENNEY. So do you deal with independent contractors in
any way?
Mr. BRUNER. No. Well, we deal with subcontractors. We are not
allowed to work with independent contractors technically. I mean,
if they are an independent contractor they would have to be an em-
ployee of us and then they would have to belong to the union and
a bunch of other problems that come with that. So we do not gen-
erally use independent contractors in our business. We hire small
subcontractors that have to be union companies which is great. I
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support the unions and all that in that effort but we do not hire
independent contractors.
Ms. TENNEY. So even independent contractors, some of them
are union. You know, like IBEW and others. But I just did not
know how that would affect, I mean, I know the PRO Act is seek-
ing to do that and that could be problematic for a lot of industries
as they are seeking innovation, independence. But I appreciate
your work as a small business owner.
I have a question for Mr. Parker, Dr. Parker. You mentioned that
your college had developed dual training partnerships between
businesses and educational providers and that these partner-
ships——
Chairman CROW. We are going to have to, Ms. Tenney——
Ms. TENNEY. Oh, am I out of time?
Chairman CROW.—your time has expired, so we are going to—
we might have time for another round. So if you want to stick
around——
Ms. TENNEY. Oh, thank you. Sorry.
Chairman CROW.—you might be able to get your question——
Ms. TENNEY. Sorry. I do not have a clock here so I cannot tell
where my timing is. I apologize. Thank you though.
Chairman CROW. The gentlewoman yields back.
Next is the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Phillips. You are rec-
ognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PHILLIPS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Greetings to my col-
leagues and to our wonderful witnesses.
I am just going to jump right in and talk about upskilling and
public-private partnerships. And I have to direct my first question
to my fellow Minnesotan and a woman of whom I am a great fan,
Dr. Parker. And this might go along with my colleague from New
York, Ms. Tenney’s question as well. I would love for you to share
with my colleagues some more about the Minnesota Advanced
Manufacturing Partnership. If you spoke of it earlier, for give me,
but I think it is a best practice, one that we should be replicating
around the country. And perhaps you can just share some of the
details and success of that with my colleagues.
Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Representative Phillips.
Let me just say that it started in 2013. I mentioned in my testi-
mony that I was appointed to President Obama’s Advanced Manu-
facturing Steering Committee. That comes from my many years, I
am a native Michigander that started in the auto industry and
then went on to build a National Center of Excellence with Toyota
to support all the major automotive companies throughout the Mid-
west and the Southeast. So in that work we determined that it was
best to develop apprenticeships that were innovative. Some were
registered. Others were designed using a European model we call
dual training. And once I got on that Committee I realized that the
next round of TAACCCT grants would come out shortly thereafter
and I wanted to position the state of Minnesota to benefit from that
work. And so we came together as a state system, 12 of the commu-
nity and technical colleges, and our two manufacturing Centers of
Excellence at two of our universities to really look at how we could
support manufacturers throughout Minnesota through industry-
recognized credentials that were stackable, were portable, and al-
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lowed students to get one semester, for example, into welding, get
certified through the American Welding Society, and get into the
workforce. That work, once it was funded, then led to us helping
testify for Senator Bonoff at that time at Minnesota state legisla-
ture to fund the Pipeline initiative through the Minnesota Depart-
ment of Employment and Economic Development that helps em-
ployers pay for the journeymen, so to speak, at their site and help-
ing support the students when they come into their facilities for
training, as well as working with DOLI here in Minnesota, the De-
partment of Labor and Industry on registered apprenticeships. So
that work has continued and really the Federal initiative gave Min-
nesota the kickstart to begin to do this work but there is much
more that needs to be done because we still have challenges in hav-
ing highly skilled workers and it is really slowing growth with our
employers. There are just not enough bodies that have the skills
for the demand.
Mr. PHILLIPS. Agreed. Well, thank you, Doctor. And we look
forward to sharing that success with others around the country.
Mr. Tamasi, I would like to direct my next question to you rel-
ative to innovation. I believe the United States, unfortunately, has
seated leadership in innovation to other countries around the
world. The United States Congress is not exactly a bastion of inno-
vation itself, and yet we are entrusted with advising policies to in-
spire. I would love your comments quickly, if possible, as to what
incentives, what subsidies, what policies in your estimation would
be most effective in the near term to reignite innovation in the
United States.
Mr. TAMASI. I will point to a couple. Thank you, Representative.
We have Green Town labs, which I believe is now called Forge,
that was started here as a startup, a place for startup companies
to go to, to be housed to develop their products. Have some Federal
or State funds. And I believe they just opened in Texas. We have
Mass Robotics here where companies that have a concept can go
and collaborate and learn. And that is somewhat subsidized. And
of course, Massachusetts is the number one innovation state in the
country but we also can make stuff here which is not as well-
known as our innovative capacity.
What was the third one I was thinking of? I am sorry.
Mr. PHILLIPS. No, not to worry about it. You will probably
think of it——
Mr. TAMASI. Oh, the Manufacturing USA Institutes. So Massa-
chusetts is involved with six different institutes. I have been to the
ARM Institute in Pittsburgh that we worked with. We wrote letters
to support Stonehill College down the street from here and doing
work with the Photonics Institute. And they are trying to reach out
more to small business and their grant programs to get some of
these new technologies in the future, wearables and fiber and all
that started up. And I think that is driven by the Federal Govern-
ment. That is a great program that needs to be pushed through
more through the——
Chairman CROW. The gentleman’s time is expired. I am going
to have to——
Mr. TAMASI. Thank you.
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Chairman CROW. We may come back to you, Mr. Tamasi, but
I have to move to the next witness. Thank you.
Next up is the gentleman, Mr. Williams, from Texas. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Mem-
ber.
Federal permitting processes are complex and cause headaches
for small businesses. We should be cutting red tape to help small
businesses grow, not enforcing them to navigate a time-consuming
and complicated web of bureaucracy. President Biden has made
several proposals to bolster environmental reviews that will simply
add years to completing some of these necessary infrastructure in-
vestments. So because of this bidding on federally funded projects,
it will be less attractive to small businesses.
Mr. Bruner, can you elaborate on how the permitting process can
stand in the way of your contracting firms and how we can more
efficiently expedite projects for communities in need of new infra-
structure?
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you, Mr. Williams. That is a great ques-
tion. I would say first and foremost because I am from California,
they should seek the advice of our representatives and the CEO of
AGC of California and ask them to pick their brains and get some
suggestions of how to work with the local agencies that put out
some of these projects like CEQA, who is one of the main compo-
nents of many construction projects here in California where they
have to go through vast amounts of environmental reviews before
the projects are ready to go. And if an infrastructure project does
come out and Congress, you know, allocates millions of dollars to
these projects, the first hurdle is all the environmental reviews and
lawsuits that occur when these projects have to begin and they get
delayed for years and years. And I think we have to take the teeth
out of some of these laws and lawsuits that allow some of these
public interests that want to stop and not have any growth and not
allow these projects to continue for their own particular reasons.
And that is a tough ask is to change the law to prevent these mat-
ters from happening. But if we could encourage them to have some
good discussions and eliminate these lawsuits—that is the best
thing we could give them.
Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you. Small businesses are finally recov-
ering from COVID and the last thing they need are the taxes in-
creased like is being proposed again in President Biden’s American
Jobs Plan which quite frankly is a No Job Plan when we raise
these taxes. As a small business owner myself, I am an auto dealer,
I know firsthand how increasing taxes will cause businesses to hire
less people and invest less back into their business. They will play
defense. For small businesses who are critical components of do-
mestic companies, supply chains that are competing around the
globe, these tax rates will also make us less competitive compared
to international companies.
So Mr. Tamasi, can you discuss how these proposed tax increases
would affect your business and how it could lead to the domestic
companies being less competitive?
Mr. TAMASI. Well, we do not want to pay more taxes if that
means less for our team and less for our investments. Plain and
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simple. The more we can put back into our companies to invest in
the futures the better. And as I mentioned, we are very capital in-
tensive. We purchased five CNC machines this year. That comes at
a great cost. Fortunately, borrowing is less expensive these days so
we can afford to take money out of the bank and take on some debt
but at some point, you know, if we are paying too much in taxes
we are not going to be able to invest in our workforce development
or our technology investments that we need.
Mr. WILLIAMS. No question. If you have to pay for taxes you
are going to reduce the size of your company.
Thirdly, Mr. Bruner, in your testimony you mentioned several
policies my colleagues on the left have introduced that hurt long-
term infrastructure investment and restrict job growth. Specifi-
cally, you brought up the PRO Act, which we talked about, which
would prop up unions and prevent right to work states like Texas,
where I am from, from enforcing their own labor laws.
So Mr. Bruner, can you go quickly on how forced unionization
would hurt small businesses and what recommendations your asso-
ciation can give to promote good paying and would help small busi-
nesses?
Mr. BRUNER. Okay. Thank you, Representative Williams.
Again, I think, especially for small business, we compete with
many nonunion contractors and they have no laws that they have
to follow. Fortunately, most of the work that we do is prevailing
wage work that requires prevailing wage, which is equal to the
union wages that most people pay. But in terms of small busi-
nesses that are unionized, they are just putting more power into
the nonunion companies and that is the biggest killer of all because
we compete with them on all these projects that we bid for and it
is not a level playing field anymore when these nonunion compa-
nies are allowed to do whatever they want. They do not have the
requirements that come upon a union contractor like ourselves.
And we fully support the union but they need to turn around and
give us the same support and understanding, especially if they
would just think about the competition that we have to deal with
in terms of dealing with nonunion contractors, especially in a small
union company.
Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you. I yield my time back, Mr. Chair-
man.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
Next is the gentlewoman from Illinois, Ms. Newman. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. NEWMAN. Well, thank you so much, Chair. I am so appre-
ciative of all of our witnesses being in today and great ideas all the
way around.
Let me start by saying, putting something into the record that
I disagree wholeheartedly with some of the comments around the
PRO Act. I think it is the only way that we are going to reignite
the economy, particularly in the middle section, and provide great-
er worker training and upskilling and reskilling and creating coali-
tions. So for the record I disagree wholeheartedly.
That said, I have a couple of questions. So in my district, about
80 percent of the GDP are small businesses under $3 million in net
revenue so we are very small business driven. I am a former small
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business owner and management consultant, and one of the things
that I worry about are those parts of the population that are per-
fect for some of these upskilling and reskilling, like veterans, local
talent to a specific area.
So I will give you an example. We have an incubator that does
small manufacturing companies and grows them and then moves
them out to other areas and it is enormously successful. One of the
reasons it is so successful is that it concentrates on on-ramping vet-
erans, high school students in the manufacturing areas and train-
ing them through union apprenticeship programs and union pro-
grams at high schools. And because it is enormously successful, I
am actually going to do a white paper on it so that we can enter
it into potentially some funding opportunities at the Federal level.
My question given that great coalition of the entities, unions, ap-
prenticeship programs, community colleges that are participating
in this in my district to get this work done, I am going to refer to
Dr. Parker first. If you would, in your coalition which sounds ter-
rific, and bravo on all your work, by the way, do you also have high
school trade craft training as part of your model?
Ms. PARKER. Yes, Representative Newman. We are in the proc-
ess now with this model and we designed it off of the IBM P-TECH
if you are familiar with the IBM P-TECH Model. So there is heavy
employer engagement but now we are starting with advanced man-
ufacturing as well as the building trades with our high school part-
ner. And so we started first with health science because there was
a huge demand. That partnership is with Mayo Clinic and Allina
Clinic and some others. The next move is to work with the other
sectors. But it was important for us to make sure that we put the
high school in a position where they could offer the courses because
when you think about the general education requirements that the
high schools have to have, and as that has increased to an earlier
question then there is no time for the technical courses. So we
worked with our chamber. Our community got behind it with a ref-
erendum and now we are leveraging that with our high school
partnership.
Ms. NEWMAN. Are you doing some level of certification pro-
gramming so that when that individual comes out of some manu-
facturing training or whatever it might be in high school that they
walk out the door with a certificate that puts them into the work-
force?
Ms. PARKER. They are stackable credentials so it allows mul-
tiple——
Ms. NEWMAN. Okay. You spoke about that earlier.
Ms. PARKER.—entry and exit points. And so absolutely, we are
stacking all of the curriculum with industry recognized credentials.
Ms. NEWMAN. Good. And then my second and very quick ques-
tion, I know I only have about a minute left, Mr. Bustamante, first
of all, thank you for your comments and all of your great work. My
LIUNA partners here in Illinois 3 are amazing and we have done
great programs with them.
You have an interesting perspective, right, is because holistically
looking at everything from construction to trade and manufac-
turing with your members, do you have any innovative ideas
around bringing veterans in and bringing localized talent? When
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there is a project, making sure that localized talent is engaged
within a 5 mile area, do you have anything there that you would
like to share with regard to those two elements?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Of course. Thank you so much, Representa-
tive Newman.
So locally, we have a huge project that started up a couple years
ago and LIUNA played a big part in the process of the contracting
behind it. And we actually attached part of an ordinance I guess
you can say——
Chairman CROW. I am sorry. The gentlewoman’s time has ex-
pired. So I am going to have to stop you there but we will go into
another round, Mr. Bustamante, because I want to hear about your
project.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
The gentleman from New York, Mr. Garbarino, is now recognized
for 5 minutes.
Mr. GARBARINO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I ap-
preciate that. I appreciate everyone’s testimony today.
My first question is for Mr. Bustamante. I worked with LIUNA
when I was in the state legislature in New York. I loved the ap-
prenticeship programs. I thought they were great. I thought they
were one of the best things that we could do working with labor
and small business working with labor. I work very closely with
LIUNA partners in New York.
Can you walk us through how a small business might approach
hiring an apprentice through a registered apprenticeship program?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Of course. So our signatory contractors,
they have the ability to call out a laborer, whether it is a journey-
man or apprentice through our local hiring hall. We assist in that
part of it to where we have these people trained. Our apprentices
are ready to go when they are on our hiring hall list. All our con-
tractors have to do is call us and say, hey, I am looking to get an
apprentice out here. And we call our apprentice and they are out
there to work. It is a super simple process because we already took
care of their training. Our contractors have that level of comfort to
say they called the union hall. They are getting a qualified laborer.
So it is a very simple process. Like I said, we do serve as a hiring
hall for our contractors.
Mr. GARBARINO. The difference between the apprentice pro-
grams that you run through the hiring hole and some companies
try to start their own, you know, can you talk about the difference
and what the benefit is of going through the hiring hall?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. So going through the hiring hall, I mean,
obviously, as I said in my testimony, there is a standard. Right?
There is this higher standard where, you know, approved and reg-
istered by the U.S. Department of Labor and that in and of itself
provides the accountability for us to make sure that we provide the
properly trained laborers. And to add to that it is a matter of mak-
ing sure that these people have the opportunity to get out there
and actually earn a livable wage. Our apprenticeship program also
includes some college credit. When you complete our apprenticeship
program, let’s say you do it for 2 years and somebody decides that
maybe construction is not for them, we get them jumpstarted with
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some college credit. We have a partnership with I believe a couple
of community colleges here. And we have efforts behind increasing
that. Talking to different community colleges while here locally to
accept our training as college credit as well.
Mr. GARBARINO. I appreciate that. I like the way you said that,
properly trained workers. Properly trained workers you get prop-
erly done work so I like that. Thank you very much.
And I have a final question. Mr. Bruner, you did not get to an-
swer this question I know was asked of another witness but I
would like to hear your opinion on what the new proposed tax in-
creases incorporations would do to small businesses like yours.
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you, Representative Garbarino. I echo Mr.
Tamasi’s sentiments that any higher operator taxes would defi-
nitely hurt most small businesses. We have to rely on our own
funding. There is cheaper money out there like he said about farm-
ing for banks but that is limited. And we are a C corp so we put
our money back into our corporation. So every dollar that we can
save and keep in the company we can use to grow the company and
do larger projects and higher more people and buy more equipment
and make more investment in our company and projects. So I think
the corporate tax structure that is in place right now is fair. I think
everyone is looking for something that is fair and for everyone. And
as far as limiting the loopholes I think would be fair but I do not
think we need to raise the tax rates any further than they already
are.
Mr. GARBARINO. And I am sure that you can testify about cor-
porations, unlike a regular job where somebody gets a set salary
every year, corporations are not guaranteed the same income every
year. Sometimes they have losses and sometimes they do very well.
So just because a corporation does very well one year does not
mean it is doing well every year. So to hit them harder on a year
they are doing well, how would that, you know, do you spread
those good years amongst the bad ones? Is that something that you
do?
Mr. BRUNER. That is a great question and I had personal expe-
rience with that for many years where in the crisis of 2008, for ex-
ample, there were so many days that we lost money and we were
just trying to keep our heads above water. Does the loss carry for-
ward so we can reforward it and help us apply it to more pros-
perous years in the future. And then when you finally do make a
good income you want to be able to retain some of those earnings
and put it back into the company. So I think that is a great ques-
tion and they only remember their good years and not the bad
years but I can tell you I definitely remember the bad ones as
much as the good ones.
Mr. GARBARINO. Thank you very much. I yield back, Mr.
Chairman. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
So every member that we had in the queue has now asked a
question so I might just do a second round. And I do not see as
many folks on but I wanted to ask one other follow-up question.
And of course, if the Ranking Member or others wanted to do so
they would be able to do so as well.
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So with that, let me just go to Mr. Bustamante. We have talked
a lot about workforce, and obviously, this is in the name of the
Subcommittee, Workforce Development, because we all know that
prosperity and innovation and the ability of businesses to get the
job done, and as Mr. Garbarino said, get it done right is tied to
your workforce and that a good worker is an incredible component
of a strong and successful business. But part of that is also making
sure that workers are safe. That they are healthy. That they can
live an entire life and have a full career. Because if somebody gets
injured or ever gets sick early in their career, mid-career, or they
end the rest of their life on disability, that is not good for the coun-
try. That is not good for their family. It is not good for the worker.
So with regard to the PRO Act and the role of unions in ensuring
that there are those protections in place so that workers can be
safe, they can be healthy, and they can be productive and help our
economy and businesses grow, I would love your view on that.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you, Representative Crow.
In regards to the PRO Act, it is something that is going to bring
extreme value to workers. Those worker protections must be there.
In regard to some of the comments that have been said, when you
have a high qualified contractor, a lot of this comes back to—so
union benefits and wages are usually above par. Right? They are
usually above standard wages and benefits paid for by contractors.
So it is important to bring the PRO Act to light because we need
an even playing field at the end of the day is all we ask for. We
need an even playing field. When we have union contractors who
have a hard time competing with nonunion because they pay more,
obviously, it is hard to come in as low bidders when they are taking
care of their workers. They are investing in training. They are in-
vesting in new careers to get started up in the construction indus-
try. When you bring things like the PRO Act, things like labor
standards such as local hire into the picture, you are creating op-
portunity for people who would never be exposed to these big
projects and big infrastructure that is going on in their commu-
nities. You are talking about bringing opportunity to people who
never saw it there through these apprenticeship programs. And
when you have the proper wages, when you have them taken care
of, especially we saw it in the last year during a pandemic, when
you have quality, quality benefits paid for by contractors, these
workers are happy. They are rested. They are trained. They are
safe. So it is definitely key to bring something like this at a lower
scale to even out that playing field.
Chairman CROW. Is it safe to say you are trying to provide a
career, not just jobs, but you love to provide a career to folks. Is
that fair to say?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Yes, sir. And we have laborers who are re-
tiring with dignity in this stage of our time. We have a lot of labor-
ers who are getting ready to retire and they are excited. They are
excited that they have a union pension to fall back on in addition
to Social Security because we do not know where that is going. So
you have families sustained. Our laborers, many of those who are
getting close to retirement, they have raised families and got them
through school in many cases or brought them onto their trades as
well and they have done this in a career as laborers. Sometimes
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they move forward within companies, with contractors or whatever
the case may be, but that opportunity is there. When you have
those high quality standards you have the ability for workers to
really create this career and sustain a family and raise families off
of these careers.
Chairman CROW. And last question, Mr. Bustamante, the local
hire requirement, this is just a requirement that you find your
workers in the communities where you are doing the work. Why is
that important to your members and their families? Can you just
very briefly in the 40 seconds we have left, why is that important?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Far too often, Representative Crow, we
have kind of just underbidding contractors who come in from out
of state and they bring a large percentage of their workforce from
out of state. And our workers here locally, they have to drive by
these projects and see out of state license plates across the board
and they ask themselves, why am I not working on that? Why do
I not have that opportunity? So that is why it is important to have
those local hire standards to ensure that the people in the commu-
nities do not feel like they are being left behind when it comes to
this infrastructure investment.
Chairman CROW. And obviously, I am a family man as are you
and other folks here. And it is nice to be able to do your hard day’s
work for a good day’s pay and actually go home to your kids.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Exactly. And live where you work.
Chairman CROW. Yeah, thank you. My time has expired.
Ms. Kim, did you have a second round?
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Sure. Thank you.
I want to follow up on the line of workforce training question
that you started. And I want to pose this question to Mr. Tamasi.
It sounds like your company AccuRounds as a midsize business
is more actively engaged in workforce training than perhaps other
businesses similarly sized or smaller than yours. So for small busi-
nesses who do not have as many resources at their disposal, what
can they do to maintain their pipeline of skilled workers?
Mr. TAMASI. Great question. Thank you, Representative Kim.
You are correct. We are very active, Moa 1:24:53 and myself and
many team members in our company because to me it is a matter
of survival and we have committed to many different aspects in
STEM and manufacturing. I encourage small businesses to take
advantage of programs in our state, we have workforce training
fund grants that will pay for a consultant to come in or a trainer
to come in to train and you match it with funds. That is the sim-
plest way to get involved and take advantage of funding at a state
level. Any involvement in our advanced manufacturing collabo-
rative through the regional consortiums is another way, attend a
meeting or even make a phone call. And I have reached out to
many local businesses and there are more overall today than there
used to be but still not to the level we need them to be. To hear
their voice, what are their concerns, what are their needs so we can
tailor programs designed to the needs they have to train their
workers or hire new workers.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you very much.
There are other resources available through the local chambers
or partnership with SBAs or any SDICs. There are a lot of re-
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sources available so I hope that we can make that information
available so other small businesses can take advantage of.
But next question I would like to ask Mr. Bruner. In your testi-
mony, you mentioned the negative impacts tax increases may have
on the construction industry. Can you elaborate on what impacts
these might have, particularly on small contractors?
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you for the question, Representative Kim.
Again, as a small business, our volume capacity is limited com-
pared to other companies. And the tax rates I believe are fair right
now. I know the other side of the aisle is encouraging to raise the
taxes and I would suggest that some of the loopholes be eliminated
as opposed to changing the tax rates. I want the incentives into in-
vesting in [inaudible] equipment, maintain that. That is critically
important for us. Our cost of equipment compared to our cost of
labor are almost the same and so we are constantly investing in
heavy equipment and the depreciation laws allow us to invest and
defer some taxes due to investments in equipment are very helpful.
So I think that is the best I can tell you.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you so much.
You know, you also referenced budgetary and bureaucratic proc-
esses causing delays for infrastructure projects. From a small busi-
ness perspective, what regulations or processes would you flag as
the most damaging?
Mr. BRUNER. Well, here in California I think the stormwater
quality problems that we have were on every project there is a
stormwater pollution plan that has to be implemented and all of
the requirements that go with that. For a larger contractor with
multi, you know, $100 million projects, they can afford to hire peo-
ple and manage something like that. But those same requirements
based upon the area of the project, it is not based upon the dollar
signs but it is based upon greater than 1 acre, if the project is larg-
er than 1 acre we are suddenly stuck with the same requirements
that a $100 million project would be. And I am a small contractor
when competing with other small contractors, it is difficult to put
the cost of that into the project and still be the low bidder. You can
imagine you are competing for a job and not everyone is putting
the same value or understands the same requirements. So if you
are the low bidder on a project like that it is generally probably be-
cause you did not place enough emphasis or dollars to take care of
those requirements that the state will mandate.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you so much.
I also want to take this opportunity to plug in for a couple of leg-
islation that I am working in a bipartisan way. There are SBA 504
loan programs helping small manufacturers to access capital. And
these legislations have already passed the house and I hope once
it is signed into law hopefully it will be helpful to small manufac-
turers in that fashion.
So thank you very much. I know my time is up and I will yield
back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Kim. And I applaud you for
your work on that legislation as well which I support and it is very
good work.
I see Ms. Tenney is still logged in. Ms. Tenney, do you have any
additional questions?
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Okay. We will take that as a no.
So that ends the question and testimony period right now. So
thank you again for all the witnesses.
This Committee has a long tradition and culture of being prag-
matic and being bipartisan and getting things done. And frankly,
I think this hearing was a perfect example of that. I think we actu-
ally all share the same goals. We want to grow jobs. We want to
grow innovation. We want the United States to be more competi-
tive. We sometimes just disagree on the best way to get there but
there is also a lot of areas of common agreement, a lot of areas
where we can work together and I look forward to working with all
my colleagues to do that. And I thank the witnesses for taking
their time and lending their expertise and their experience to the
discussion because this frankly is how government should work
and how Congress should work as we have a coming together and
discuss challenging issues and ideas and we try to find the best
path forward. So with that, I am again thanking the Ranking
Member for her work. I look forward to working with her on the
things that we are collaborating on.
I would ask unanimous consent that members have 5 legislative
days to submit statements and supporting materials for the record.
Without objection, so ordered.
And if there is no further business to come before the Committee,
we are adjourned. Thank you all.
[Whereupon, at 2:33 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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APPENDIX
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Æ
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File and source
- File
- CHRG-117hhrg44448.pdf
- Size
- 35,266,821 bytes
- SHA-256
- 93eddc096eef8c50c4719ac58579b5d70ad8606652de87330405173a8ea1085c
- Our copy
- CHRG-117hhrg44448.pdf
- Original
- www.govinfo.gov