Building in a Pandemic

A people-centered infrastructure package could create jobs and fix the damn roads

Katie Spiker contributed to this story.

It can be hard to remember what it took to grab a headline prior to COVID-19’s arrival, but our nation’s crumbling infrastructure had been finding its way above the fold with greater regularity and urgency.

Before she gained notoriety as “that woman from Michigan,” Governor Gretchen Whitmer was known for coining the most successful campaign slogan of the 2018 election cycle: “Fix the damn roads.” Last April, President Trump and Democratic leaders agreed to spend trillions on infrastructure over the next decade, but a bill never moved. And over the course of ten months, on eleven extremely un-socially distanced debate stages, Democratic presidential contenders fought over the best plan to build a new clean energy infrastructure that would create jobs and slow climate change.

And then the pandemic hit.

One of the most pervasive, non-clinical characteristics of COVID-19 is its unflagging ability to put existing challenges in sharp relief — challenges like our crumbling infrastructure and its impact on safety and equity.

Transporting personal protective equipment and medical supplies via a surface infrastructure that boasts a D+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers suddenly took on even greater potential consequence. The overnight shift to e-learning for millions of students and workers made our nation’s lack of widespread, reliable internet access and broadband an even starker driver of inequality. And as we face down the worst monthly job numbers our nation has seen since the Great Depression, the consequence of another year without a massive, comprehensive federal infrastructure bill — one that would have created millions of good, pandemic-proof jobs — is heartbreaking.

More than Bricks and Mortar

Fortunately, as Congress considers future stimulus efforts, infrastructure may be back on the table with the potential for trillions in investment to rebuild our roads and bridges, spur capital construction, expand broadband, and grow our clean energy infrastructure. This kind of investment could mean millions of jobs created for millions of people displaced by the pandemic — but only if it includes an investment in training people for these jobs.

Prior to the pandemic, businesses in infrastructure were facing acute workforce challenges due to impending retirements, a lack of racial and gender inclusion, and a shortage of training opportunities for local workers. The U.S. already needs to increase its infrastructure workforce by 4.6 million workers by 2022 just to keep pace with current and projected hiring needs. That demand for skilled workers will only get larger with trillions of dollars in new investment.

On a recent episode of Skilled America Podcast, Congressman Steven Horsford (NV-4) talked about why people need to be at the center of any successful infrastructure proposal.

“We need to go much bigger than just a typical infrastructure bill. A lot of times people think of that as just roads and bridges,” Rep. Horsford said. “It needs to be about human infrastructure and what we’re doing to ensure that people have the skills that they need for the types of jobs and career and opportunities that will come in the future.”

Mark Kessenich, President & CEO of the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership (WRTP), who joined Rep. Horsford on the podcast agreed. “It’s not just about bricks and mortar. It’s about people and that’s what we’re really investing in when we invest in the public infrastructure.”

Building in Inclusion

But building an infrastructure package that addresses the job loss caused by COVID-19 means focusing on more than just people — it requires a focus on inclusion.

Black and Latino communities have been disproportionately impacted by the economic impacts of COVID-19 due to decades of policies that promote and perpetuate racial inequities as well as occupational segregation in jobs that have been hit hardest by the pandemic.

Without a significant investment in skills training as part of a federal infrastructure bill, a huge swath of job seekers gets left behind said Horsford: “A large number of women. People of color, those who quite honestly have been a lot of the essential workers right now or those who were displaced because they were working on the front lines and at the entry level positions…of a lot of our service sector, hospitality and retail jobs.”

But both Rep. Horsford and Kessenich are quick to note that skills training alone is not enough. There are a set of strategies that they know are essential for gender and racial inclusion based on their experience running successful training programs. For over a decade, Rep. Horsford led the Culinary Training Academy, the largest job training program in Nevada, placing over 80 percent of graduates into good paying jobs. Kessenich’s organization has likewise placed thousands of Milwaukee residents into good paying construction and manufacturing jobs.

According to Kessenich, a federal infrastructure package must include investments in support services like boots, tools, transportation, and childcare. He also wants to see support for pre-employment training as well as support for individuals during their first year on the job. And most of all, dedicated resources for the capacity required to build strong partnerships with industry.

“It’s really important to have all of the employers and all of those trade partners engaged fully in the opportunity because what career choice someone makes, which employer they end up with makes a big difference in terms of someone’s success,” said Kessenich.

Based on his experience, Rep. Horsford also wants to see investments in support services and partnerships.

“The reason I like joint labor management partnerships is that it’s labor working with the private sector and the community to meet a need and it’s very balanced in that the goals of the training are not just for the employer, they’re also about making sure that the worker gets skills and workforce protections,” he said.

A People-Centered Infrastructure Plan

Unfortunately, Congress is unlikely to take up infrastructure in the most immediate stimulus effort to come. But the April job numbers will undoubtedly send a very clear message that we cannot wait any longer to make a massive, coordinated investment. But in order to successfully rebuild our infrastructure and address the economic impacts and job loss of COVID-19, that investment must be people-centered.

A people-centered infrastructure plan would include a workforce training component that addresses immediate workforce shortages, supports training partnerships with industry, provides apprenticeship options and support services to newly trained workers for those sectors, and ensures that the investments are available to local workers who have been previously excluded from those sectors due race or gender.

“If we’re going to move into this next century successfully and competitively, making those investments is critical, said Kessenich. “And the best part is it creates a lot of really good paying jobs and it creates a lot of opportunity for folks who either need to step up in their career or need their first opportunity.”

It’s time to invest in America’s people. And fix the damn roads.