Tuesday, February 16
Vice President Joe Biden is spending the day in Saginaw, MI, visiting a local community college that is providing advanced technology job training for former auto workers through the Recovery Act, having lunch with local business leaders benefiting from the Recovery Act SBA loan program and touring a solar facility that is expanding its operations thanks to Recovery Act advanced energy manufacturing tax credits. SBA Administrator Mills is accompanying him on the trip.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is in Atlanta, GA where she will tour a local community medical center that has received funding through the Recovery Act.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is touring Transportation Security Administration (TSA) explosive detection technologies and canine program operations in Virginia and Texas-highlighting $576 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds devoted to securing the U.S. aviation system and creating jobs in local communities across the country.
DOD Deputy Comptroller Mike McCord and DOD Recovery Act Resources Coordinator Sandra Richardson are visiting Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX. They will tour the warrior transition unit, an ongoing construction project with Recovery Act funding.
Wednesday, February 17
President Obama will mark the one-year anniversary at the White House with an event involving people from across the country benefiting from the Recovery Act.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will be in the Seattle, WA area with Governor Gregoire to discuss all Interior Recovery projects in the state of Washington.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will be doing media conference calls in several states to discuss the impact the Recovery Act is having on job creation in rural communities.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will visit a construction project at the Labor's Community Service Agency in Phoenix, AZ. YouthBuild students are currently working on the construction site at LCSA. They will later receive green construction training (with Recovery Act funding), which will be used to install solar panels at LCSA.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will make a major Recovery Act announcement in Kansas City, MO. Secretary LaHood will also hold Recovery Act events in Tucson, AZ on Thursday and Los Angeles, CA on Friday. Additional Recovery Act announcements will be made by Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo in Birmingham, AL and Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez in Albuquerque, NM. Mendez will also break ground on the largest Recovery project to date in Dallas, TX.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan will visit Riverside Elementary School in Alexandria, VA. Most of the $239,000 Riverside received under the Recovery Act was used for the continuation of extended learning time (formerly called Project Excel) initiatives and the implementation of a series of parent workshops. Recovery Act funds enabled Riverside to augment all teachers' contracts to pay for the 2 additional hours of instruction every Monday (in Fairfax County most schools have a half day). Secretary Duncan will visit a class of kindergarten students and hold a roundtable discussion in the library.
Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki will hold an event in Chillicothe, OH at a VA Medical Center that has eight Recovery projects slated for completion. The total combined budget for all eight projects is $8.3 million. Construction contracts totaling $2,208,000 are currently underway for two of the projects. These two projects include repairing approximately 1,200 linear feet of steam and condensate lines, and renovating the Therapeutic Exercise Gym and adding air conditioning. These two projects employ up to 21 workers. These Recovery projects will help nearly 20,000 Veteran patients in the area served by the Chillicothe VA Medical Center and its five community-based outpatient clinics.
SBA Administrator Karen Mills will travel to an Arkansas small business that was able to grow and create jobs due to the Recovery Act. Nearly 250 Arkansas small businesses have benefited from the Recovery Act so far.
GSA Administrator Martha Johnson will visit workers at the Denver Federal Center in Lakewood, CO who are building a more efficient utilities infrastructure and 35 acres of solar panels, funded by the Recovery Act.
GSA's Senior Sustainability Officer Stephen Leeds will visit the Goodfellow Federal Center in St. Louis, MO, where local small business workers are converting buildings in the former World War II munitions plant into high-performance green buildings, funded by the Recovery Act.
DOD Deputy Comptroller Mike McCord and DOD Recovery Act Resources Coordinator Sandra Richardson will visit Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, CA to attend the ground breaking ceremony for the Child Development Center.
Thursday, February 18
Commerce Secretary Gary Locke will travel to Pittsburgh, PA and Wheeling, WV to make Recovery Act announcements.
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan will travel to Cincinnati, OH to visit an affordable housing project that is under construction as a result of $1 million in Recovery Act Tax Credit Assistance Program (TCAP) funding and $249,000 in Treasury Exchange funding. The project, called Forest Square, will produce 21 affordable apartments for seniors in the Avondale neighborhood of Cincinnati.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson will travel to Columbus, OH to announce more than $249 million in clean water and drinking water projects for the state. With this key Recovery Act infrastructure investment, Ohio will put people to work in cleaning up the region's water systems. EPA officials will also hold events in ten other communities across the country.
On Thursday and Friday, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan will highlight Recovery Act projects in New Mexico.
HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims will visit an elderly public housing complex in Tampa, FL that is receiving energy efficient upgrades, and creating green jobs, as a result of the Recovery Act.
Friday, February 19
Attorney General Eric Holder will be traveling to North Carolina for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department Commencement Ceremony where police officers hired through the COPS Hiring Recovery Program will be graduating.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu will tour a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Windsor, CO to underscore the importance clean and renewable energy is playing in putting more and more Americans back to work. The company has announced it plans to reinvest more than $1 billion in its facilities in Colorado thanks to provisions contained in the Recovery Act. Secretary Chu will also co-host with Rep. Betsy Markey a renewable energy forum, highlighting the success the Recovery Act has had in the state and across the country.
Treasury Assistant Secretary for Management and CFO Dan Tangherlini will travel to Maryville, TN to break ground on a school being financed with $20 million in Recovery Act Qualified School Construction Bonds.
