WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today Congressman David Wu submitted a report on the results of his recent community jobs forum to President Barack Obama as part of a larger effort to collect feedback from job forum events across the country.  The jobs forum was held on Friday, December 4, 2009, and attended by 25 leaders from large and small employers, labor unions, local business organizations, higher education institutions, Indian tribes, and workforce training organizations to discuss how best to create more jobs in Oregon.

Congressman Wu is committed to ensuring that federal policies directly benefit workers and companies in Oregon.  The feedback received during this community jobs forum will be integral in Congressman Wu's work on the upcoming jobs bill that Congress is developing and future legislation to help create jobs and long-term economic growth in our region and across the country.

The report follows.

SUBMITTED TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

What parts of your local economy are working or thriving? What businesses and sectors are expanding and hiring?

The deferred maintenance funding in the economic recovery bill was very effective in Oregon and had a significant impact on university infrastructure needs.  The stimulus also resulted in a substantial number of new highway projects that have been visible throughout the district.

In another successful effort, Oregon utility customers are receiving help paying for much-needed weatherization projects thanks to a collaboration between unions, the Energy Trust of Oregon, and Shore Bank that allows utility customers to pay off weatherization projects for their home over time through their energy bills.

Participants also said that the America COMPETES legislation has been successful in creating jobs and needs continued support.

One company representative cited the enormous success of internship programs with local universities and community colleges.  The participant felt that the federal government should encourage more collaborative relationships between education and private business to train our country’s future workforce.


What parts of your local economy are not working or thriving? What businesses and sectors have been hit the hardest? What are people struggling with the most?

Multiple participants commented that lack of access to capital for small, large, and mid-sized entities is the primary stumbling block to economic growth.  New ideas for businesses are out there, but entrepreneurs can’t get the funding to bring them to fruition.

Another participant said that we should improve the way that we communicate job-training opportunities to students.  He said that public schools need to do a better job of letting kids know that jobs are available in the manufacturing sector.  The participant explained that people mistakenly believe that such jobs have all been off-shored and that college is the only path to a job.

Construction workers have also been hit hard, and a participant suggested that the government needs to uncover shovel-ready jobs because people in construction are waiting for building to restart.

Lastly, a participant commented on the impact that the recession has had on the public sector, and shared the example that Oregon Health & Science University has had to lay off 300 workers.  


What are the opportunities for growth in your community? What businesses and sectors seem poised to rebound? What do you see as the “jobs of the future”?

There is opportunity locally in training young people in green jobs, including energy efficiency, green building retrofits, and green construction through community colleges and other job training programs.  A participant suggested that the federal government should focus its resources on green job training and consider basing a “green corps” program modeled after Portland regional government’s “Nature in your Neighborhoods” program.  A reference was also made to a successful partnership between a local clean energy company and a community college to train future workers.

Extending summer jobs program funds was also identified as a tool to create an immediate benefit not only to the kids in the program but also for the communities where they spend their earnings.

Participants commented that training programs for manufacturing and trade jobs are critical for building a competitive workforce in the United States.  Existing training and apprenticeship programs that focus on helping young people gain skills they need for well-paying jobs need federal support, as do programs guiding women into these nontraditional, highly skilled jobs.

Investing federal dollars in research and development was also cited as a mechanism to drive job growth in Oregon.  National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation grants create seven jobs on average and provide the foundation for future companies.  

Regarding participants’ comments that lack of access to capital is an obstacle, a participant suggested simply increasing funds to the capital systems already in place.  For example, her organization provides access to capital and works directly with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Economic Development Administration.  

Micro-loan programs were also identified as a tool to assist more people with business start-up costs.

Although the stimulus funds helped universities with their deferred maintenance projects, there continues to be a backlog that could be addressed in the jobs bill.  Support would also be welcome for ADA improvements and new research infrastructure.


What are the obstacles to job creation in your community? What could make local businesses more likely to start hiring?

One obstacle discussed by forum participants is that American companies don't have the advantage that they should in securing stimulus funding.  For example, solar energy products made in Oregon have no advantage over similar products made in China.  One participant from a renewable energy company recommended broadening buy American provisions to apply to all renewable energies, although another participant raised strong concerns about this approach.  

The same renewable energy business also recommended that the federal government make the R&D tax credit permanent and adopt a feed-in tariff mechanism to increase the use of renewable energy.  Another company recommended that the federal government pass the Fuel Cell Tax Parity Act (H.R. 3660), so that renewable energy companies can compete on a level playing field.

Another potential way that a participant suggested providing capital for small businesses is by establishing a $3000 phase 0 (zero) Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Tech Transfer program grant to provide very early support for innovative ideas.  The program could be modeled on a Florida pilot program that encourages entrepreneurs in a targeted growth sector that is critical to Oregon.  The participant also suggested establishing a one-to-one gap funding program to encourage entrepreneurs to commercialize products in emerging industries.

Another participant remarked on the significant investment that utilities are making in transmission infrastructure in the northwest United States, but said that current regulation does not encourage utilities to make multiple transmission upgrades at one time, thus capitalizing on the fact that the right-of-way is already disturbed.  With respect to buy American provisions and import tariffs, the guiding policy for energy utilities will always be "least cost," due to regulation.  The participant suggested that the federal government look at ways to upgrade as much of our utility infrastructure at once as possible so we don't have to go into the same areas twice.  

One obstacle to training more workers is the lack of funding for staff and teachers to handle the work load at community colleges and other job training programs.  Any future jobs legislation should include funding for trainees and trainers.


What other issues and ideas should the President consider?

A participant stated that federal assistance dollars should to go directly to job creation through projects under federal control, like highway repairs.

Another participant suggested that federal resources should go directly to community-based organizations and that local government should work more diligently to identify underserved groups.  It was also stated that we must not only train youth but also adults.


Describe your event:

Congressman David Wu hosted a roundtable discussion with 25 leaders from large and small employers, labor unions, local business organizations, higher education institutions, Indian tribes, and workforce training organizations to discuss how best to create more jobs in Oregon.  Congressman Wu kicked off the meeting with brief introductory remarks, moderated the discussion, and collected additional feedback after the event.

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