Build stuff and jobs will come. That is what Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez hopes by implementing a $70 million “Hartford Now” project.
Tuesday, he announced the “shovel ready” jobs, something President-elect Barack Obama has asked political leaders throughout the country to do.
Perez hopes to create jobs to put money in people’s pockets to help jumpstart the economy.
“You can’t get much more ‘Main Street’ than sending a list from one of the poorest cities in America in one of the richest states in the country,” Perez said.
The program focuses on public safety, school construction, greening of schools and the municipal building, streetscapes and a jobs program.
Perez made the announcement at the Public Safety Complex, a program using federal dollars to build a centralized facility for police, fire and emergency personnel. The $85 million project could create more than 800 jobs and would be “shovel ready” in 90 days, according to Perez.
“I am proud to support the City of Hartford in their effort to prepare for possible federal funding in 2009 by establishing the ‘Hartford Now’ initiative. By establishing ‘Hartford Now,’ the City has prioritized their infrastructure needs in a plan that creates the jobs needed to stimulate our economy,” U.S. Rep. John Larson said.
City Hall and the two city buildings on Jennings Road are on the list to focus on energy management, heating and cooling systems and new windows. They would create about 500 jobs. Albany, Farmington, and Wethersfield Avenues are “shovel ready” projects that could create 800 additional jobs, Perez said.
“We’re also asking for $7 million to implement a new job training program for city residents,” Perez said. “This is not a holiday wish list. This is a package that preserves the progress we’ve made over the past seven years, including $2 billion dollars in economic development investments, retaining 4,400 jobs and creating 3,300 more. This is a recipe for future growth for our city, our region, and our state. I respectfully ask President-Elect Obama to consider ‘Hartford Now’ come January.”
