Tagged: construction

Ken Simonson is on a road trip to lobby for an increase in government investment in infrastructure projects.

Tuesday morning he stood in front of equipment at Milton Caterpillar in Syracuse and said “It’s great to see all this magnificent construction equipment, but it would be even better to see it in action.”

Simonson is the chief economists for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), a trade group. He highlighted Syracuse as one of four metro areas that have struggled more than most to regain jobs in constructions.

Home weatherization is renewable energy’s less glamorous, low-tech, little sister. The government and green industry advocates also think it’s a way to create green jobs.

That's why the stimulus invested $5 billion in the government's retrofit program for low-income homes and why NYSERDA will be administering over $100 million through Green Jobs, Green NY. The program was rolled out this month to subsidize energy audits of households making below 200 percent of their area's median income, and to extend loans for making improvements.

But for the construction industry, which has one of the highest unemployment rates nationwide, green jobs offer a promise tempered by what can really only be called a harsh reality.