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Illinois - Projects Lead to Thousands of New Jobs

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DejaVu
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« on: September 17, 2009, 09:49:24 am »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2009

CREATE Program Seeks $300 Million TIGER Grant
Projects Lead to Thousands of New Jobs, Economic & Environmental Benefits, Congestion Relief


CHICAGO –The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) today announced it is seeking $300 million in federal stimulus funds for a package of 16 projects that are part of the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program. CREATE is a first-of-its-kind partnership, bringing together Illinois DOT, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Illinois DOT is eligible for the funding under the federal Transportation Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program established in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. In addition to the $300 million being sought via the federal TIGER grant, CREATE partners also have committed to an additional 39 percent match in funding – $117.4 million in state and private monies – for the program of projects outlined in the application.

“The Illinois Department of Transportation has worked long and hard to preserve rail across the state of Illinois" said Governor Pat Quinn, "I believe the CREATE program is an essential element for economic development and job creation.  For that reason, I support the Illinois Department of Transportation's application for $300 million in TIGER Discretionary Grant funds.”

 “As the nation’s rail hub, the performance of Chicago’s rail network has a profound impact on rail movement nationwide. The efficient movement of goods is critical to our nation’s economy and the quality of life of our citizens and visitors,” said Mayor Richard M. Daley.

“These projects will greatly improve the efficiency and operability of moving both freight and people by rail through the region,” said AAR President and CEO Edward Hamberger.  “CREATE is a project of critical importance to the national freight and passenger rail network, and this public-private partnership is truly historic.”

The program outlined in the TIGER grant application - ranging in scope from rail line improvements to a grade separation to viaduct improvements– will have tremendous economic, livability, sustainability and safety benefits. With completion by 2012, this program will support roughly 4,500 job years. In addition, the application details the following benefits:

Economic Benefits:
•       17,684 hours in annual freight rail delay reductions
•       $265.0 million in annual logistics cost savings

Livability Benefits:
•       reduced annual passenger rail delays by 57,631 passenger hours and $1.4 million in costs
•       reduced annual motorist delays by 344,499 hours and $8.5 million in costs

Sustainability Benefits:
•       reduced diesel consumption by 2.9 million gallons each year
•       reduced emissions from locomotives and vehicles due to improved efficiency and delay reduction
•       $2.5 million annual costs savings associated with emissions reduction and reduced diesel consumption

Safety Benefits:
•       improved vehicle safety and crash prevention

As a project of regional and national significance, CREATE has received tremendous support from lawmakers, public and private organizations and trade unions from across the U.S.  For example, CREATE has received letters of support from as far away as Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. – vital U.S. port locations that often see originating shipments that travel through Chicago.

With significant passenger and freight rail movements located in his district, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) has long been a supporter of the CREATE project.

“CREATE is critically important to the Chicago region, the state, and the entire nation,” said Congressman Dan Lipinski, who is Northeastern Illinois' only member of the powerful House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.  “That is why I have continued to lead the effort in Washington and here at home to help fund CREATE, successfully securing $100 million in federal funding in 2005 as well as working with state leaders to allocate $300 million for the program in the recently passed state capital bill.  Moreover, I am already working with members of the Transportation Committee to secure additional funding for CREATE in the next highway and transit authorization bill.  This application for stimulus funds, if successful, will build on the important investment we have already made to reduce congestion while creating good paying local jobs and improving safety.”

The program outlined in the TIGER grant application, as well as the 62 additional projects in CREATE, bring with them thousands of critically needed jobs to the region.

EDITORS NOTE: The Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) program is a first-of-its-kind partnership, bringing together Illinois DOT, the City of Chicago Department of Transportation and the Association of American Railroads (AAR). CREATE comprises 78 critically needed rail and highway infrastructure improvements in Northeastern Illinois, aimed at improving the quality of life of Illinois residents, and increasing the efficiency of freight and passenger rail service throughout the region and across the U.S.

Source: http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=7845
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« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2009, 10:44:38 am »

Hey Gov. Quinn, how about sending some money down here to good old Danville ?  You seem to have no problem sending us your parolees and section 8 people from Chicago.  If you send us some money, maybe we could reduce our unemployment rate from 13.2% and avoid having to file for chapter 9 bankruptcy. 
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« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2009, 11:06:14 am »

Hey Gov. Quinn, how about sending some money down here to good old Danville ?  You seem to have no problem sending us your parolees and section 8 people from Chicago.  If you send us some money, maybe we could reduce our unemployment rate from 13.2% and avoid having to file for chapter 9 bankruptcy. 

Excellent point Terry. I was thinking with all those new jobs opening up in Chicago area maybe those down here can return home.
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« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2009, 12:22:54 pm »

That's an even better point DJ........................ Wink
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« Reply #4 on: September 19, 2009, 11:08:52 am »

You have to have people willing to work before you can offer jobs. There are too many sponges that are a drain on the system and hurting the ones that actually need it.
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"One of the very difficult parts of the decision I made on the financial crisis was to use hardworking people's money to help prevent there to be a crisis." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., Jan. 12, 2009
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« Reply #5 on: September 19, 2009, 07:51:26 pm »

Mr. Negativity here...allow me to rain on the parade...

Let's keep in mind that all of those 'thousands of New Jobs' are temporary.   When the projects are done those 'thousands of New Jobs-holders' will be unemployed.  The cost of their unemployment benefits will then be added to the cost of the Tiger grants.  Those grants are band-aids, just like the many federal programs that FDR initiated.  It took WWII to pull us out of the Great Depression.

When jobs are created that will last fifty years or more, then I'll give a whoop.  The root of the problem is that our nation's manufacturing base has been decimated.  For a nation's economy to be sustained, it must 'produce' something that will bring in revenue.  In a service economy, blue-collar Joe is using his money to give to the owner of a restaurant, who uses it to rent a movie from Mary, who spends it at a drycleaner,...the money just circulates.  Now when one of those in the circle buys something made anywhere but the US, then that money leaves our borders and goes to whatever country 'manufactured' that item.  Get it?

What are all those 'thousands of New Jobs-holders' going to spend their money (our taxes) on?
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« Reply #6 on: September 19, 2009, 08:47:03 pm »

Do you EVER have a positive thought?   Maybe when those projects are done the economy will have rebounded and they will have other jobs to do.....  Just maybe there is something positive around the next corner........... Roll Eyes 
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« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2009, 10:40:07 pm »

Do you EVER have a positive thought?

Yeah, I'm 'positive' that 'the love of money' has made our federal government the most corrupt collection of men and women that this world has ever seen.  You see, I don't look at the world through rose-colored glasses. 

The problem with 'your generation' is that you lived during America's heydey.  You've lived through the 'good times' and are living comfortably in your nest.  You may claim that you sympathize with the bazillion people who have no health insurance, through no fault of their own, but you've never actually been in there shoes.  Have you or your husband ever been unable to find a job that paid at least twice the minimum wage?

Am I being negative for pointing out the obvious?  I don't mean to mute that warm & fuzzy feeling of 'hope'...well,...

 Maybe when those projects are done the economy will have rebounded and they will have other jobs to do.....

'The root of the problem is that our nation's manufacturing base has been decimated.'  The biggest majority of those high-paying, middle-class-enabling jobs are never coming back.  Think 'globalism'...Thank Clinton and the corporate Congress for pushing NAFTA.  The American Empire, which 'your generation' enjoyed the fruits of, is in decline.

Just maybe there is something positive around the next corner........... Roll Eyes 

Maybe?  Maybe someday pigs will fly.
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« Reply #8 on: September 19, 2009, 11:17:27 pm »

Well excuse me Buzzy, but right now my husband and I are living on Social Security.  We have NO retirement and because I am my husbands caretaker, I cannot go to work,  and if you think we lived high on the hog when we operated the store, think again.  We worked sixteen hours a day, 7 days a week for 13 years and had no life because we couldn't find reliable help from your generation, whatever that is.   I went without health insurance for 15 years before I reached the age of 65 when I could draw Medicare......so now why don't you quit assuming you know what others have gone through, because you haven't a clue....... Roll Eyes  Oh, and dispite the fact that my husband is fading before my eyes and someday soon may not know me,  I intend to stay positive about life.   So quit trying to steal hope from people, it may be all they have!
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« Reply #9 on: September 20, 2009, 09:13:37 am »

My post was about 'your generation,' not necessarily about you personally.  The individuals of your generation that I am most familiar with do fit the profile that I mentioned above.  Of course, that is a 'general' description, and there are always exceptions, and the number of exceptions may seem large.  But 'generally-speaking,' I still believe that the majority of seniors have more than Social Security & Medicare to rely on.  Most have pensions, savings, or investments from their earlier productive years.

I would hope that you would agree that times were so much different fifty years ago.  My paternal grandparents were both salesclerks and managed to squirrel away enough money to buy a home with thirty acres in a rural area just outside of town, always have a decent 'affordable' car, live comfortably, and take annual cross-country two-week vacations.

My maternal grandfather worked at GM, his wife never worked, and they never lacked for anything.

Danville has a very large population of senior citizens.  Many have a fairly high standard-of-living and live in their own home, many have a somewhat lower standard-of-living but still are independently living in their own home, and many 'choose' to live in very modern condo/apartment complexes with all of the amenities of life provided for them.  Of course there are those who live in less quality environments also.

Probably the reason that most local seniors are living comfortably is due to the fact that, once again, Danville used to be a factory town with lots of good-paying union jobs, and there were many local businesses that thrived because of the relatively large segment of middle-class workers, besides the many who were suppliers of goods and services to all of those factories.

Which brings me back to earlier reference to the 'temporary' construction jobs, via the TIGER grants, as 'bandaids.'  Until and unless the US reverts back to a manufacturing-based economy, the 'disease' of unemployment, or under-unemployment, will remain.  This is called, 'logic,' and if it 'appears' to be 'negative,' so be it.  Facts are facts...and 'truth' is sometimes, if not often, 'ugly.'
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« Reply #10 on: September 20, 2009, 01:38:16 pm »

Maybe?  Maybe someday pigs will fly.

Psst, side note to Buz, you ARE aware that Pink Floyd's piggie DID fly decades ago, aren't you?  Cheesy

Quote
...a team was assembled to actually fly the [40-foot inflatable pig suspended above the Battersea Power Station outside London] by tethers above the power station in December 1976.
In the end, the photo shoot would take three days, with the pig breaking its tethers on day two, and drifting through London's Heathrow Airport's airspace, before it landed in a farmer's field in Kent.

http://www.floydianslip.com/pink-floyd/albums/album.php?id=11

Ok, back to serious arguing again now, please.  Optimists vs. Pessimists (anybody keeping score here?)  Wink
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« Reply #11 on: September 21, 2009, 03:47:20 pm »

Mr. Negativity here...allow me to rain on the parade...

Let's keep in mind that all of those 'thousands of New Jobs' are temporary.   When the projects are done those 'thousands of New Jobs-holders' will be unemployed.  The cost of their unemployment benefits will then be added to the cost of the Tiger grants.  Those grants are band-aids, just like the many federal programs that FDR initiated.  It took WWII to pull us out of the Great Depression.

When jobs are created that will last fifty years or more, then I'll give a whoop.  The root of the problem is that our nation's manufacturing base has been decimated.  For a nation's economy to be sustained, it must 'produce' something that will bring in revenue.  In a service economy, blue-collar Joe is using his money to give to the owner of a restaurant, who uses it to rent a movie from Mary, who spends it at a drycleaner,...the money just circulates.  Now when one of those in the circle buys something made anywhere but the US, then that money leaves our borders and goes to whatever country 'manufactured' that item.  Get it?

What are all those 'thousands of New Jobs-holders' going to spend their money (our taxes) on?

Manufacturing jobs are not coming back. There is no reason for them to. You really want kids that aren't even born yet planning their futures going to work in factories? Technology has been pushing people out of one job and into another since the beginning of history. Ummm...that's why there are no buggy makers or blacksmiths to speak of anymore.

We need new kinds of jobs and that is exactly what's in the works and why Obama is telling everyone....get more schooling....training....education, so workers will be prepared.

Quote
The top 20 fastest growing occupations....

   1. Home Health Aides
   2. Network Systems & Data Communications Analysts
   3. Medical Assistants
   4. Physician Assistants
   5. Computer Software Engineers, Applications
   6. Physical Therapist Assistants
   7. Dental Hygienists
   8. Computer Software Engineers, Systems Software
   9. Dental Assistants
  10. Personal and Home Care Aides
  11. Network and Computer Systems Administrators
  12. Database Administrators
  13. Physical Therapists
  14. Forensic Science Technicians
  15. Veterinary Technologists and Technicians
  16. Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
  17. Physical Therapist Aides
  18. Occupational Therapist Assistants
  19. Medical Scientists
  20. Occupational Therapists

And our infrastructure really is falling apart....so those jobs are still going to be around for awhile....at least until we get smart and start making everything out of Titanium.  Grin






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« Reply #12 on: September 21, 2009, 04:12:01 pm »

Did you note how many of those jobs are in the healthcare field.  The baby boomers are turning 65 so the majority of the population will be those with healthcare issues.   It will be a growing field in the next few years and those looking for a stable career would be wise to choose the healthcare field.
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« Reply #13 on: September 21, 2009, 05:06:58 pm »

Did you note how many of those jobs are in the healthcare field.  The baby boomers are turning 65 so the majority of the population will be those with healthcare issues.   It will be a growing field in the next few years and those looking for a stable career would be wise to choose the healthcare field.

Absolutely GA! I was driving around Danville the other day and I was wondering, just how many people do Provena and Carle and all the other health related services around town, employ now?
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« Reply #14 on: September 21, 2009, 06:40:05 pm »

Health Care is the biggest  employer in this area.......In a 50 mile radius there are thousands of nursing home beds, several clincs and hospitals, not to mention Dr's offices.  I used to have the statistics on it but I haven't kept up with them.
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