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PA Construction Jobs Bridged by ARRA

It might just be a bridge to some people, but to others it means the chance to create several PA construction jobs.

Gov. Edward G. Rendell recently announced that $10 million is being invested to rehabilitate and preserve the Route 51 Beaver-Rochester Bridge in Beaver County. This is the first project in the region that is being funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

"We are here today because the federal Recovery Act is helping us restore our aging infrastructure and - just as importantly - putting Pennsylvanians to work," Rendell said in a press release. "This project simply would not have happened if stimulus funds were not available. As a bonus, 30 to 40 people will be working because of this bridge project.

"Right now, Beaver County needs this economic stimulus to get people to work and to rebuild its infrastructure in order to attract new residents and businesses," he continued. "Stories like this one are playing out across the state as more than $1 billion in federal transportation stimulus funds is supplementing the $1.8 billion in work Pennsylvania had already planned for this year."

Pennsylvania companies led by Mascaro Construction of Pittsburgh are rebuilding the bridge, including subcontractors Avalotis of Verona, Allegheny County; Strongstown B & K of Strongstown, Indiana County; and Callahan Paving Products of Horsham, Montgomery County.

The bridge, which spans the Beaver River between Beaver and Rochester, carries between 10,000 and 15,000 vehicles per day. The repair project includes preservation activities, full painting, expansion dam and rocker bearing replacements and steel and concrete repairs.

The Route 51 Beaver-Rochester Bridge is one of seven projects in the state's Department of Transportation three-county District 11 region being funded by ARRA. Statewide, Pennsylvania is receiving more than $1 billion for highway and bridge projects from the ARRA.

Pennsylvania will invest close to $3 billion for highway and bridge work, the most ever produced in a single year for that type of work in the state. Of that money, $643 million is being invested in southwestern Pennsylvania.

Rhode Island Teaching Jobs Get Funding

Many Rhode Island teaching jobs will soon be saved with the help of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The State of Rhode Island is slated to receive $111 million in federal stimulus money for education. Before receiving the funding, the state had to complete the first part of a stabilization application, which included assurances it would collect and analyze information about teachers and college readiness.

The Department of Education also requires Rhode Island to report the number of jobs saved through stimulus funding, the amount of state and local tax increases avoided and how funds are used, according to an article by The Associated Press.

The state's education officials say the money will help reform the education system and save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs that are in danger because of budget cuts.

Education officials say the money will help reform the education system and save hundreds of thousands of teaching jobs that are in danger because of budget cuts. Rhode Island has already received $43 million in education stimulus funds and will be eligible to apply for another $54 million this fall.

As of March, Rhode Island's education and health services industry employed 100,000 workers, according to the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is down from 100,400 workers during February and the same number of workers employed in the industry this time last year.

Job Losses to Hit Ohio

The State of Ohio will be losing more than 2,000 jobs in the near future.

According to an article by The Columbus Dispatch, seven companies that do business within the state have filed layoff notices. The companies will eliminate a total of 2,358 positions at plants in more than a dozen locations throughout the state by the middle of summer.

• Severstal Wheeling Inc. announced the biggest cut, as it plans to layoff more than 916 workers at plants in Steubenville, Mingo Junction, Yorkville and Martins Ferry.
• Colfor Manufacturing will layoff about 589 workers at plants in Salem, Minerva and Malvern.
• Sencorp will cut 300 positions in Cincinnati.
• Johnson Controls will eliminate 205 positions in Greenfield.
• Faurecia Exhaust Systems will cut 168 jobs in Troy.
• Shiloh Industries is planning to get rid of 111 jobs in Valley City.
• ArcelorMittal will see the loss of 69 jobs in Warren.

Not surprisingly, all of these companies serve the auto industry, which has been faced with mounting trouble as of late.

Concerns among the steel industry along the West Virginia border, where most of Severstal's losses will take place, are nothing new. At one point, Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel, the company's predecessor, had 15,000 employees in the county. However, there are currently only 2,000 employees and many of them will soon lose their jobs.

In March, Ohio had an unemployment rate of 9.7 percent, the highest since 1984. There are now 577,500 unemployed workers in Ohio, an increase of almost 200,000 from last year.

On the up side, Wildfire Motors in Steubenville currently employs 75 workers and plans to add 100 more positions. The difference - the company produces electric vehicles.