[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
GROWING JOBS THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENT
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON INNOVATION,
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
UNITED STATES
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
HEARING HELD
MAY 6, 2021
__________
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Small Business Committee Document Number 117-011
Available via the GPO Website: www.govinfo.gov
__________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
44-448 WASHINGTON : 2020
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOUSE COMMITTEE ON SMALL BUSINESS
NYDIA VELAZQUEZ, New York, Chairwoman
JARED GOLDEN, Maine
JASON CROW, Colorado
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland
DEAN PHILLIPS, Minnesota
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia
JUDY CHU, California
DWIGHT EVANS, Pennsylvania
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York
CHRISSY HOULAHAN, Pennsylvania
ANDY KIM, New Jersey
ANGIE CRAIG, Minnesota
BLAINE LUETKEMEYER, Missouri, Ranking Member
ROGER WILLIAMS, Texas
JIM HAGEDORN, Minnesota
PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
DAN MEUSER, Pennsylvania
CLAUDIA TENNEY, New York
ANDREW GARBARINO, New York
YOUNG KIM, California
BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
BYRON DONALDS, Florida
MARIA SALAZAR, Florida
SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
Melissa Jung, Majority Staff Director
Ellen Harrington, Majority Deputy Staff Director
David Planning, Staff Director
C O N T E N T S
OPENING STATEMENTS
Page
Hon. Jason Crow.................................................. 1
Hon. Young Kim................................................... 3
WITNESSES
Mr. Michael Tamasi, President and CEO, AccuRounds, Avon, MA...... 5
Dr. Annette Parker, President, South Central College, Mankato, MN 7
Mr. Eddie Bustamante, Political Director, Laborers' International
Union of North America Local 720, Denver, CO, testifying on
behalf of Construction Craft Laborers in Colorado.............. 9
Mr. Gus Bruner, President and Project Executive, Caliagua, Inc.,
Anaheim, CA, testifying on behalf of Associated General
Contractors of America......................................... 10
APPENDIX
Prepared Statements:
Mr. Michael Tamasi, President and CEO, AccuRounds, Avon, MA.. 29
Dr. Annette Parker, President, South Central College,
Mankato, MN................................................ 34
Mr. Eddie Bustamante, Political Director, Laborers'
International Union of North America Local 720, Denver, CO,
testifying on behalf of Construction Craft Laborers in
Colorado................................................... 42
Mr. Gus Bruner, President and Project Executive, Caliagua,
Inc., Anaheim, CA, testifying on behalf of Associated
General Contractors of America............................. 43
Questions for the Record:
None.
Answers for the Record:
None.
Additional Material for the Record:
Airports Council International--North America (ACI).......... 49
National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC).......... 54
National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA)............ 56
Revision Energy.............................................. 58
SBE Council.................................................. 62
Surety & Fidelity Association of America and the American
Property Casualty Insurance Association.................... 65
GROWING JOBS THROUGH INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT
----------
THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2021
House of Representatives,
Committee on Small Business,
Subcommittee on Innovation, Entrepreneurship,
and Workforce Development,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:01 p.m., via
Zoom, Hon. Jason Crow [chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Crow, Phillips, Newman, Bourdeaux,
Williams, Tenney, Garbarino and Young Kim.
Chairman CROW. Good morning. I call this hearing to order.
Without objection, the Chair is authorized to declare a
recess at any time.
I want to thank everyone, especially our witnesses today
for joining us today for this Committee's remote hearing. I
want to make sure that we start by noting a couple of important
requirements.
Let me begin by saying that the standing House and
Committee rules and practice will continue to apply during
remote proceedings and all members are reminded that they are
expected to adhere to these standing rules including decorum
when they are participating in any remote event.
With that said, the technology that we are utilizing today
requires us to make some small modifications to ensure that the
members can fully participate in these proceedings. House
regulations require members to be visible through a video
connection throughout the proceeding, so please keep your
cameras on. Also, if you participate in another proceeding,
please exit and log back in later.
In the event a member encounters technical issues that
prevent them from being recognized for their questioning, I
will move to the next available member of the same party. I
will recognize that member at the next appropriate time slot
provided they have returned to the proceeding.
Should a member's time be interrupted by technical issues,
I will recognize that member at the next appropriate spot for
the remainder of their time once their issues have been
resolved. In the event a witness loses connectivity during
testimony or questioning, I will preserve their time as the
staff address the technical issue. I also may need to recess
the proceedings to provide time for a witness to reconnect.
And finally, remember to remain muted until you are
recognized to minimize background noise.
In accordance with the rules established under H.Res. 965,
staff have been advised to mute participants only in the event
that there is inadvertent background noise. Should a member
wish to be recognized, they must unmute themselves and seek
recognition at the appropriate time.
All right. We have all the technical stuff out of the way
now.
So it is no secret that America's infrastructure has long
been in decline. The World Economic Forum ranked the United
States 13th in the world for infrastructure in 2019. Our
country earned a C- in a recent infrastructure report card
issued by the American Society of Civil Engineers, continuing a
streak of subpar marks from the organization.
Across the country, roads, bridges, and railways are
crumbling. In April, President Biden announced the American
Jobs Plan. The framework would invest nearly $2 trillion in the
national infrastructure over the next decade. The plan would
modernize 20,000 miles of highway, repair 10,000 bridges,
eliminate all lead water pipes and provide highspeed broadband
to all Americans.
In the process, America's infrastructure revitalization
would boost our Nation's small businesses. In multiple
nationwide surveys, over half of small business owners viewed
infrastructure spending as integral to their business's
success. Small firms rely on new bridges, new electrical
transmission lines, and accessible high-speed Internet to ship
their products, power their business and market their brands.
By investing in infrastructure, we can help entrepreneurs reach
new domestic and international markets, tap new suppliers, and
ultimately, expand their business. The American Jobs Plan
represents a generational investment in American
infrastructure. If enacted into law, President Biden's plan
will lead to a wave of job creation unprecedented in recent
memory.
However, it is not enough to create jobs. Our country needs
a pipeline of skilled workers to fill them. The infrastructure
workforce is staring down a deficit of qualified employees.
Infrastructure workers number 17.2 million nationally and more
than a quarter of them are projected to retire or permanently
leave their positions over the next decade.
A 2020 survey found 72 percent of construction firms
anticipated that labor shortages would be their biggest hurdle
in 2021. On top of that, many of those who permanently lost a
job due to COVID were concentrated in low-income sectors like
service and retail. These workers will need skills training to
fill the void in the infrastructure workforce.
If we are to successfully rejuvenate America's
infrastructure, we will need qualified workers to get the job
done. That is why the American Jobs Plan invests $100 billion
in workforce development programs. These funds will help
underserved groups like women and people of color, including a
$40 billion investment in a new dislocated workers program, and
a $48 billion investment in workforce development
infrastructure and worker protect.
With college tuition costs skyrocketing and little
guarantee that it will lead to a middle-class lifestyle,
apprenticeships are gaining popularity. Apprenticeships are
mutually beneficial for businesses and their employees. Workers
are compensated as they learn new skills and firms have the
opportunity to develop otherwise ineligible applicants into
valued members of their team.
The American Community College system also provides
students with the skills needed to get a good job after
graduation. These institutions are located all around the
country and are sometimes more accessible than 4-year
universities. They often work with the private sector to
determine workforce needs.
So I hope that today's hearing will allow us to explore
workforce development programs and discuss how Congress can
leverage them to train a new generation of workers.
I now yield to the Ranking Member, Ms. Kim, for her opening
statement.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you, Chairman.
As the country continues its recovery from the widespread
destruction caused by COVID-19, there are issues that existed
before the pandemic that must be addressed. Chief among those
is the state of America's infrastructure. Therefore, I think
our hearing on Growing Jobs through Infrastructure Investment
provides a timely discussion.
It is not hyperbole to state that infrastructure is one of
the driving forces behind America's economic, military, and
political strength. Every great civilization in times past
acknowledged the tremendous importance of a robust
infrastructure network and our country is no different. It is
one of the reasons for America's rapid expansion and rise, and
it is one of the reasons why this Nation has become globally
recognized as a world leader for nearly 2 centuries.
Unfortunately, our Nation's infrastructure is declining in
almost every sector. From delays caused by traffic congestion
on poorly maintained roads and highways, to overburdened and
aging airports, antiquated drinking and wastewater systems, an
ever-expanding backlog in rail and public transit maintenance,
the Nation's sprawling infrastructure network is long overdue
for an upgrade.
We ignore the seriousness and immediacy of this program at
our own peril. The more we allow our infrastructure to decay,
the more we will see economic activity wither.
Close to my home district in California's 39th District,
stalled traffic robbed the LA Metro area commuters an average
of 119 hours in 2017. So clearly, we must do more to decrease
commuting time in an increased savings through a better
infrastructure system. When infrastructure is a priority, it
produces well-paying construction and manufacturing jobs for
middle-class Americans. Given the large concentration of small
businesses in manufacturing and constructure, investing in
infrastructure can and will improve the lives of millions of
small business employers and their employees on a wide scale.
Additionally, investing in infrastructure causes an outward
rippled of prosperity, creating jobs in many industries through
a significant multiplier effect. In short, infrastructure means
wealth creation in struggling small businesses now more than
ever in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic need this boost.
While we can all agree on the importance of investing in
infrastructure, how we get there is a more delicate matter. The
term ``infrastructure'' can encompass many things, from roads,
highways, and bridges, to aviation, ports, water systems, and
even broadband. However, to maximize the public benefit of a
vigorous and healthy infrastructure network, we must start with
a focused, targeted approach to our core infrastructure
systems. Additionally, I believe small businesses operate best
when the government does not stand in their way. We need to cut
the red tape, reduce the bureaucracy, and eliminate burdensome
regulations and requirements that hold small businesses and our
economy back. Subjecting small businesses to inflexible labor
laws and increased taxes as we have seen proposed by some of my
colleagues across the aisle will undermine the hard-earned
recovery efforts undertaken by small businesses clawing their
way back from the break.
It is no secret that we have different views on many
issues. Yet, infrastructure is one issue that is too important
to be waylaid by partisan politics. We should build on our
common ground and bring this Nation's infrastructure back to
the shining example of modern development and success it used
to be.
I look forward to hearing the testimony of our witnesses
today, and I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Kim. The gentlewoman yields
back.
I would like to take a moment to explain how this hearing
will proceed. Each witness is going to have 5 minutes to
provide a statement, and each Committee member will have 5
minutes for questions. Please ensure that your microphone is on
when you begin speaking and that you return to mute when you
have finished.
With that, I would like to introduce our first witness.
Our first witness is Mr. Michael Tamasi, president and CEO
of AccuRounds, a manufacturing company in Avon, Massachusetts.
He is a second generation owner and has been working in the
family business since 1985. In 2014, he was named to the New
England Advisory Council for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
where he became Chair in 2018. He is also active in the
National Tooling and Machining Association as an audit team
leader and served on the Boston chapter's board for 15 years.
He currently sits on the advisory board for the Mechanical
Engineering Department at the University of New Hampshire where
he received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
before going on to earn an MBA from Babson College. Welcome,
Mr. Tamasi.
Our second witness is Dr. Annette Parker, president of
South Central College in Faribault, Minnesota. Dr. Parker has a
long history in the community college system having obtained an
education from Lansing Community College and serving in
leadership positions in the Kentucky Community and Technical
College System as the director of workplace education. Dr.
Parker was appointed to President Obama's Advanced
Manufacturing Partnership Steering Committee 2.0 and Co-Chaired
the Demand-driven Workforce Development Team. Among many other
roles, she has served on the board of directors of the American
Association of Community Colleges and on the MIT Work of the
Future Taskforce Advisory Board. Welcome, Dr. Parker.
Our third witness is Mr. Eddie Bustamante. Mr. Bustamante
is the political and legislative director of Laborers'
International Union of North American Local 720 in my home
district. He received a bachelor's degree in Political Science
from Metropolitan State University of Denver and has served on
the Workforce Work Group for the Energize Denver Taskforce to
create jobs while cleaning up the city's current and future
buildings. Welcome, Mr. Bustamante.
I will now yield to the Ranking Member to introduce our
final witness.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you very much.
I would like to welcome our final witness, who is from the
great state of California, Mr. Gustavo Bruner. Mr. Bruner is
the president and project executive of Caliagua, Inc. Under his
leadership, Caliagua earned a stellar reputation within the
Southern California community for delivering precise, detailed,
and successful outcomes on water and wastewater engineering and
construction projects. Mr. Bruner has a long and rich history
in this industry starting his career as early as high school
working in the field as a laborer with skilled pipefitters,
carpenters, laborers, and operating engineers to construct
water and wastewater facilities. He continued his education
with a pipeline and mechanical contractor as a project
engineer, cost accountant and estimator, and eventually
transferred to join the private sector as a controller for a
multinational industrial painting and coatings contractor. He
joined Caliagua in 1986. This is a family business started by
his father in 1987, and he has served in multiple roles from
mechanical and concrete field work to project manager, and now
the president and owner of this company. He is a native of
Anaheim, California, having grown up just blocks away from
Disneyland and is a proud graduate of California State
University Fullerton where he earned his B.A. in Business
Administration and Accounting. Today, he is testifying on
behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC),
which is the leading association in the construction industry
representing over 27,000 firms, many of whom are small
businesses. Mr. Bruner, thank you for your participation today
and we look forward to hearing your testimony. I yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
Mr. Tamasi, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENTS OF MICHAEL TAMASI, PRESIDENT AND CEO, ACCUROUNDS;
DR. ANNETTE PARKER, PRESIDENT, SOUTH CENTRAL COLLEGE; EDDIE
BUSTAMANTE, POLITICAL DIRECTOR, LABORERS' INTERNATIONAL UNION
OF NORTH AMERICA LOCAL 720; GUS BRUNER, PRESIDENT AND PROJECT
EXECUTIVE, CALIAGUA, INC.
STATEMENT OF MICHAEL TAMASI
Mr. TAMASI. Thank you, Representative Crow. And thank you
to the Committee on Small Business Subcommittee for the
opportunity to speak today. Thank you for all Congress has done
during the pandemic to keep small businesses afloat and people
employed.
My name is Michael Tamasi, a second generation family
business owner, president and CEO of AccuRounds, a mid-sized
precision machining company located in Avon, Massachusetts,
providing mechanical components. We make parts for Boeing,
Amazon Robotics, Walmart, and more. Our higher purpose today is
making shafts used in machines that manufacture vaccines. That
work has tripled in the past 12 months.
I have been involved in the workforce space for over 30
years, both locally and nationally, ensuring that the
manufacturing industry has strong workforce development, which
is extremely important to me, my team, and my community.
The shortage of skilled workers is not a new story. I have
an article in my office from 1975 featuring my father titled,
``Just give me a few good men.'' Forty-five years later, we
still have a skills gap. We need people with critical thinking
and problem-solving skills; and the desire to continuously
improve.
As our workplace becomes even more reliant on advanced
technology, we also face the need to upskill workers with
digital skills. Thirty-five percent of workers in our industry
need additional digital skills to be successful in jobs of the
21st Century. The pandemic has only exacerbated our ability to
hire and train skilled workers. We are turning away work due to
the lack of talent. We need investments in infrastructure,
manufacturing, and clean energy, which will intensify the
hiring challenge for small business, making the role of public
investment and policy that supports workforce development a
critical part of any infrastructure investment. Supply chain
resiliency is vital to the future of advanced manufacturing,
and more importantly, to our national security defense,
semiconductor, battery technology, biomanufacturing, and more.
AccuRounds has addressed this problem in many ways and I
will highlight three. Sector partnerships. The Massachusetts
Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative, which I Co-Chair with our
Secretary of Housing and Economic Development, is a sector
partnership that convenes public and private stakeholders to
develop and implement the Massachusetts Manufacturing Plan.
State funded regional consortium grants deliver job-driven,
short-term training programs through collaboration among
industry, education, and government. The Massachusetts
Emergency Response Team launched out of the AMC when COVID hit,
assisted Massachusetts companies to pivot their operations in
record time to produce much needed PPE for our medical
community. Highlighting the importance of a vibrant
manufacturing ecosystem and what can be accomplished with the
proper investments and resources.
Vocational School Partnerships. Voc-Tech schools are our
top pipeline for talent with a focus on recruiting and
advancing women, people of color, and people with disabilities
into our workforce. We currently have a female CNC machinist
co-op from a technical school who will join us full time when
she graduates. One team member of color who stated as a co-op
just over 10 years ago purchased a home recently. Multiple
training programs helped him advanced his skills and pay. I was
thrilled the day he shared that news with me. Manufacturing is
no longer dark, dirty, and dangerous. It is safe, smart, and
sustainable.
Finally, Incumbent Worker Training. AccuRounds supports and
invests heavily in on-the-job training which is a daily
activity. Incumbent worker training is essential for our
business and for our team to succeed and advance their career.
Through the AccuRounds Lifelong Learning University, we have
created a learning mindset utilizing state-funded technical
training, MEP soft skills training, custom internal programs,
online courses, and more. Manufacturing is very capital
intensive. CNC machines, quality tools, software programs,
thus, the need to constantly learn new technology, costly in
both dollars and training time.
How can Congress help? With these proven solutions there
are many ways Congress can continue to partner with the small
and mid-size businesses. The proposed American Jobs Plan has an
investment of $100 billion for workforce, a critical step, and
we will need this Congress to maintain robust investments in
workforce development as a foundation of any infrastructure and
job creation package. In addition to new funding, Congress
should ensure existing funding supports industry or sector
partnerships, like the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative
that drive job-specific training, changing students' lives,
supporting STEM careers, while bolstering American products and
industries. These investments should support costs on providing
incumbent worker training including developing digital skills.
3D printing, robotics, automation are here. At our doorstep is
artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and virtual
reality.
Finally, better aligning postsecondary policy with industry
demand and worker need would revolutionize our capacity to
upskill and reskill our workforce. If Congress expanded
financial aid to anyone seeking skills training, student in
high-quality, short-term training programs, not just those
seeking traditional college degrees, then small business, could
offer career progression for even more workers than we do
today.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to answering any
questions you may have.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Tamasi. I appreciate your
testimony.
Dr. Parker, you are now recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ANNETTE PARKER
Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Subcommittee Chair Crow and Ranking
Member Kim and distinguished members of the Subcommittee.
My name is Dr. Annette Parker and I serve as the President
of South Central College, with campuses in Faribault and North
Mankato, Minnesota. I testify before you on behalf of 30
community and technical colleges and 7 universities within the
Minnesota State system. My testimony also reflects perspectives
of over 1,000 community colleges.
South Central College has a campus in a small metropolitan
area and another in a rural community that are influenced by
agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare. We are surrounded
by many small towns and businesses and they rely on South
Central College to meet their workforce needs. They are
challenged by workforce shortages and skills gaps in which
community colleges are uniquely positioned to help.
South Central College has developed strong public-private
partnerships with our communities, organizations, and
businesses, to provide education that meets the needs of our
employers, supports the economic development of our
communities, and grows student employment.
In 2013, I served on President Obama's Advanced
Manufacturing Partnership 2.0 Steering Committee. Within the
Committee's report, public-private partnerships, work-based
learning opportunities, stackable credentials, and innovative
apprenticeship models were emphasized. As a result, South
Central College created the Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing
Partnership (MnAMP), a consortium of 12 Minnesota state
colleges and two Minnesota state centers of excellence. We have
created a work-based learning program using stackable
certifications and apprenticeships that were funded by a $15
million TAACCCT grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
The successes we achieved were also achieved by other
community colleges across the country thanks to TAACCCT.
Given the impacts of the pandemic, it is critical for the
Federal government to fund community college-led job training
programs to prepare the workforce needed for any major national
infrastructure initiative. Meeting the workforce needs of our
employers requires a strong infrastructure. This infrastructure
includes labs within community colleges that mirror the
workplace. With technology advancing rapidly, it is challenging
for community colleges to make the necessary investment. I was
also privileged to sit on the advisory board for the MIT Work
of the Future Taskforce. The taskforce found increased
technology will not significantly reduce the workforce but will
require skilled workers to augment their work using technology.
It suggests the need for more short-term credentials.
The increasing sophistication of technical education
requires continuous, large capital investments. While we are
thankful for the state support we receive, it falls short of
meeting our infrastructure needs. We appreciate our business
and industry partners with their financial support and
equipment donations in trying to address that need. But to
educate the workforce of the future, we need an infrastructure
that supports them.
For this reason, community colleges across the country are
enthusiastic and thankful for the Jobs Plan Community College
Infrastructure Investment. The President's Community College
Infrastructure Proposal is critical to our success. The
American Association of Community Colleges estimates a national
deferred maintenance and needed renovations and upgrades at $60
billion. For Minnesota state institutions alone, the deferred
maintenance is at $1.1 billion. Any Federal efforts should
ensure a broad infusion of funds including smaller community
colleges that serve small and rural businesses. Emphasis should
be given to facilities projects with a strong local economic
impact.
Finally, expanding Pell grants to include short-term
training is critically important. This allows students to
master a skill, start work, and return to the college later for
additional education. The Jobs Act supports low-income
students' access to job-ready programs that develop a skilled
workforce.
I thank you, and I appreciate the opportunity to testify
today on our college's experience in building a strong
workforce and I look forward to answering any questions you may
have. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Parker. I appreciate your
testimony very much.
Mr. Bustamante, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF EDDIE BUSTAMANTE
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you so much, Representative Crow and
members of the Subcommittee. Thank you so much for the
opportunity to speak today on behalf of this hearing titled
Growing Jobs through Infrastructure Investment.
I am Eddie Bustamante, a member of the Laborers
International Union of North America Local 720, and the
political director for my local, which is a Colorado Statewide
Local.
Our laborers work in many sectors within the construction
industry, such as heavy-highway construction, commercial
building, pipeline and tunneling, precast plants, traffic
control, clean energy infrastructure, and water infrastructure.
We take great pride in ensuring our members have access to high
quality training through our registered apprenticeship program
and a state-of-the-art training facility in Brighton, Colorado.
Our trade became an apprenticable trade in 1993 and we have
since worked to create a solid pipeline of workers into the
industry. Apprenticeship programs are an ``earn while you
learn'' model program meaning workers are employed by a
contractor while receiving on-the-job training and also
receiving in-class training to further their knowledge.
It is important to highlight that through our
apprenticeship program we train for industry and not just for
one job or one contractor.
Within our training, members have trained state and U.S.-
recognized and approved certifications such as OSHA 10, OSHA
30, all terrain forklift certifications, First AID and CPR,
hazardous waste, hoisting and rigging, work zone safety,
Colorado Department of Transportation certifications. These are
just a few among many other training courses available to our
members that extend from general construction training,
concrete safety training, et cetera.
We know that our country faces a shortage of workers and
the goal of the current administration is to create good union
jobs through this infrastructure investment. Therefore,
creating a pipeline of workers is incredibly important. A key
component to this is ensuring we set a high standard for
training as we talk about workforce development. For example,
our apprenticeship programs are approved and registered through
the U.S. Department of Labor, holding us to the highest
standard of training. These standards should be set across the
industry to help prevent shortcuts for contractors,
associations, temporary staffing agencies to create their own
apprenticeship programs without oversight from the U.S. DOL. A
solid workforce development plan begins with high training
standards.
Here on the ground, we have ongoing efforts to reach our
youth and our underserved communities to educate them on the
value of a career in the construction industry. We consistently
attend job fairs and career fairs in the community and in high
schools.
From a policy standpoint, we must also ensure high quality
and meaningful labor standards that promote family sustaining
wages, employer paid benefits, jobsite safety, local area
hiring, and apprenticeship utilization standards. The
communities in which this infrastructure is built deserve the
opportunity to work on these projects in an equitable fashion.
Our LIUNA Local 720 members earn great wages and employer
paid benefits, which include a healthcare plan classified as a
platinum plan under the Affordable Care Act, lifetime pension
benefit, education and training. We believe these things are
key to a solid career in construction. If these standards are
set across the industry, I believe there would be a natural
progression of workers, young and old, to want to start a
construction career thus helping us fill the voids of these
workers shortages.
I yield the rest of my time and I look forward to answering
any questions as well. Thank you so much.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Bustamante.
And Mr. Bruner, you now have 5 minutes. You are recognized
for your testimony. Thank you.
STATEMENT OF GUS BRUNER
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you very much, Chairman Crow, Ranking
Member Kim, and members of the Subcommittee on Innovation,
Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development. Thank you for
inviting me to testify on this vitally important topic.
My name is Gus Bruner. I am the president and project
executive of Caliagua based in Southern California. For more
than 43 years, Caliagua has been trusted and respected for our
engineering and contracting work in water and wastewater
pumping and treatment facilities. We are a small union
contractor specializing in the construction of potable water,
stormwater and sewage pumping plants and related water and
wastewater facilities. I am testifying on behalf of the
Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), the
association of the general construction industry which
represents more than 27,000 firms.
First, I want to thank the Committee for taking prompt and
bipartisan action during the pandemic, including the Payroll
Protection Program and ensuring that loans are fully
deductible. Federal investments in infrastructure can play an
essential role in rebuilding our economy and creating well-
paying jobs for the American people. It would enable the
industry to hire more workers and jumpstart our economic
recovery today while providing long-term capital investment
that will support our economy and communities for generations
to come.
Importantly, infrastructure yields high returns on
investment. The Department of Commerce estimates that for
spent on water infrastructure, about $2.6 is generated in
the private economy. And for every job added in the water
workforce, the BEA estimates 3.68 jobs are added to the
national economy.
The coronavirus and related economic lock downs led to
significant changes in the labor market compared to just a year
ago. For example, the construction industry cut nearly 1
million people from its payrolls between March and April 2020.
Today, the industry has 200,000 fewer workers than before the
pandemic. Meanwhile, there are 8 million fewer workers in the
broader economy today than before the pandemic.
This new labor dynamic has created a unique opportunity for
the construction industry to attract significant portions of
the recently unemployed into high-paying construction careers.
These are jobs that cannot be outsourced and provide enormous
opportunity for career advancement. Policies that ensure the
industry does not miss the current labor opportunities should
be encouraged while regulatory and labor policies that restrict
growth and economic recovery need to be rejected.
Today, few school districts offer what is now known as
Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs or provide
instruction in construction skills. This signals to many
students and their families that construction is not a career
worth considering, despite the fact that it pays more than 10
percent above the average job.
CTE programs are among the most valuable education programs
for exposing students to construction skills and lifelong
careers. However, CTE programs are expensive to administer and
fund, with cost-intensive classrooms and equipment, and quality
CTE instructors in short supply. The Federal Government could
do more in the areas of CTE apprenticeship programs.
There have been barriers, especially for small employers,
to tapping into other government programs like Workforce
Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), with its burdensome
reporting and compliance requirements, lack of flexibility, and
the fact that many employers are unaware of the myriad of
federally supported programs or how to get engaged.
While there are many policies that will support and spur
long-term infrastructure investment and create good paying
jobs, there are certain policies that restrict job growth and
the economic recovery that is desperately needed. I list these
in my written testimony and will briefly touch on them.
The misleadingly named ``Protecting the Right to Organize''
Act or PRO Act will dangerously alter the balance between an
employee's right to bargain collectively and an employer's
right to manage their business. Of note, an issue that does not
get enough attention is the PRO Act could actually harm
unionized employers and their employees. Unclear regulatory
permitting requirements result in a chaotic patchwork of
Federal mandates that create considerable economic hardship on
the construction industry, especially small businesses,
amounting to fewer construction projects built and fewer
construction jobs available.
Lastly, there is a concern that increases in corporate and
individual tax rates will hinder construction investment and
job growth by limiting the ability of many businesses to invest
in capital improvement that will provide additional career
opportunities for construction workers.
Thank you again for inviting AGC to testify before the
Committee today. I look forward to answering any of your
questions. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Bruner.
I will begin by recognizing myself for 5 minutes.
Mr. Bustamante, one of the things that I have learned
talking to businesses and particularly those in advanced
manufacturing and construction and the trades is the challenge
of getting young folks interested in this work, in these
careers, and I know that your union in particular does a lot of
work. You all spend a lot of time trying to make the case and
recruit young folks into the field. Can you just discuss for a
minute, what are the areas of reluctance you are hearing from
folks and what do you find the most effective in helping
promote careers and trades in construction?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you, Representative Crow.
I can give a little backstory of me personally, and a lot
of it has to do with the message that gets sent within grade
school, for example. Right? I did not know about apprenticeship
programs until after I graduated high school. So right now what
we try to do is we try to create relationships with counselors
or leadership within schools here locally, really all over the
state, wherever we can get in contact and connect with any
school leadership and really talk about the value of a career
in construction because like it was said earlier, there is
great value behind it and it is an above par job as long as the
standards are there. And that is part of it. You kind of mix in
the education part where these kids, you know, kids are just
not getting exposed to the value behind this type of training
and apprenticeship programs, you know, this earn while you
learn. Everything is so pushed for 4-year colleges which is
great but not all of us are headed that way. So we just need
the exposure. So that is what we try to do as a laborers union.
We just try to expose the value of our training and really,
like I said in my testimony, we train for industry. A lot of
people think that construction is a one time, you go to this
project and then you kind of drop off and it is hard to gain
work in another project or whatever it is. No. Our training is
meant to train for industry. Therefore, our workers bring value
to any contractor who is willing to bring on high-skilled craft
laborers, for example, and like you said Representative Crow,
we work extremely hard. We have a mobile training unit that we
can take anywhere into the state to bring the training to
students or to these underserved communities like I mentioned
earlier.
So there is a disconnect. There is a disconnect within
schools to not expose kids who might not be ready for a 4-year
college, to expose them to trade apprenticeship programs. So we
will continue to promote that.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Mr. Bustamante.
Dr. Parker and Mr. Tamasi, I am particularly interested in
the issue of the startup abilities for small and medium size
businesses to create apprenticeship programs. Often the startup
costs are prohibitive for many small growing businesses to
create these programs. Very briefly, if you could touch on what
would be the best way to reduce those startup costs and help
those businesses create these programs so we have a better
pipeline? Mr. Tamasi, maybe starting with you.
Mr. TAMASI. The best way to do that for small companies is
to work with regional consortiums. We cannot afford it. We are
a 75-person company. We cannot afford to develop our own
apprenticeship program. And we do not necessarily need a full
trained apprenticeship. We have very specific machines that are
specific to our company and they need specific training for
that. So the general portion of apprenticeships, we actually
had individuals through COVID do an online apprenticeship
program that was sponsored by one of our regional consortiums.
So that works quite well. It was tailored to our industry and
then we were able to take that individual, give him the
specific training on the equipment we have, and in 2 years, has
advanced his pay by about 50 percent which is a record in our
company. He has done tremendous. So with the proper training,
he continued to advance and have a higher earning power.
Chairman CROW. Thank you.
Dr. Parker?
Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Mr. Crow.
What we have done in Minnesota is through our collaborative
of 12 community colleges, we are working on apprenticeships and
we call it Work, Learn, and Earn. We bring all of the employers
together. Some of them have maybe one or two apprentices at a
time, but by bringing regional partnerships together we can
coordinate with the employers on the apprenticeship and make
sure that certain days of the week they are learning or certain
times in the week they are learning. The other times they are
earning. And through coordinating that regionally, it helps all
of the employers make that more affordable and more achievable
for them.
The other thing that we have done through our collaboration
through Minnesota State colleges and universities is we offer
something called Live Online where we can take the training
into a lunchroom at an employer's site, one or two employees at
a time, and we do that in partnership with all of the colleges
and universities so we can have one instructor that might be
reaching companies, small companies throughout the great state
of Minnesota.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Dr. Parker.
My time has now expired, so the Ranking Member, Ms. Kim, is
now recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you, Chairman.
Before I begin my line of questioning, I would like to make
an apology for the record. In my introduction of our witness,
Mr. Bruner, I incorrectly stated that his company, Caliagua,
was started in 1987 but it was actually 1978. So with my
apologies I would like to make that correction for the record.
And I would like to speak to all witnesses. I could not
agree more that investing in workforce development is critical
for the future of this Nation. However, I am a bit concerned
that the focus of the Democrats' infrastructure bill does not
seem to align with our shared priority. Large portions of the
$100 billion in spending allocated for workforce development
programs seem to be diverted to priorities unrelated to
manufacturing, construction, or traditional infrastructure.
So given that funding is a finite resource and sweeping
infrastructure bills coming out of Congress are rare, what are
your thoughts or reactions to this? Do you or do you not think
an infrastructure bill should focus its funding on actual
infrastructure? Your thoughts? Any or all witnesses, please.
Mr. BRUNER. Well, I would be happy to address that. I think
we have to spend money equally. I think it is very important to
spend it on the infrastructure projects, because without the
projects there is not a lot of learning that can happen in the
field. I think it starts with the projects, getting projects
that have already been designed and get them out to the field
or in contractors' hands to bid on and construct. If we can do
that then we can add more employees to our payrolls and we can
hire more apprentices and they can learn more. I belong to the
Agency of California. We are a union contract. We belong to
several of the union apprenticeship programs and the unions do
a very good job, the best they can in training the people that
we get from the unions. My experience as a small business is
the projects you want to bid on are small sometimes and there
is not enough room for a bunch of apprentices to work. We have
smaller crews and we need the opportunity to have more
apprentices on the project and yet because the projects are
small they do not provide for that. So we have got to figure
out a better way so that small businesses, as well as large
contractors, can get the opportunities for apprentices to work
on their projects because once you find a good worker, I can
tell you having 30 or 40 years in the business, they are an
asset that you know this person, this employee can make a lot
of money for you because he is such a good worker. He is just
like any other asset. You realize it very quickly and you want
to put him on the next job. And so the more opportunities we
have for larger projects where we can increase our manpower,
the better off we are going to be and the better off these
employees who can train on the job. So I hope that answers some
of your question.
Chairman CROW. Ms. Kim, you are muted.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Sorry about that.
In the interest of time, may I hear from the other
witnesses, just a quick yes or no to the question that I just
posed?
Mr. TAMASI. Yes, Rep. Kim, I think any investment in
infrastructure starts with physical investment, the training of
individuals to work.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you.
Mr. TAMASI. We are looking at a program called the Uniquely
Abled program. It started in California, by the way, and we
want to bring it to Massachusetts. We are trying all over the
state and there may be some Federal funds but we are trying to
figure that out. And we want to start a program in September,
and hopefully, there will be funds to start a program like
that, to put people on the spectrum through a machinist
training program and place them into jobs.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you.
Let me reclaim my time so I can ask another question to Mr.
Bruner.
I concur with your assessment that the government is
overloaded with massive overlapping regulations which is
particularly challenging for a small contractor. So if you
could waive a magic wand and strike your top three most
ineffective or burdensome regulations in the small business
space, which three would you choose and why?
Mr. BRUNER. That is a great question. I think in
California, in terms of regulations that are currently out
there, the California Air Resources Board. We are very
concerned with the regulations that are there being formulated
in the Federal Government and state government where they
challenge the equipment that we use to construct our projects
and placing burdensome regulations on the pollutants that might
come from this equipment. And as a small contractor, you are
constantly replacing your equipment.
Another one is the labor component of having local hiring
requirements on projects. Local hiring requirements do serve a
purpose but I think they are filled with a lot of regulatory
requirements that could be streamlined and allow the contractor
to be more competitive.
And finally, again, I think, I do not know, I think those
are the two most important ones. I cannot even think of a
third. Thank you.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you very much. I yield back my time.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
Next up is the gentlewoman, Ms. Bourdeaux, from Georgia.
You are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. BOURDEAUX. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Mr. Chairman.
And thank you all to the witnesses here.
I taught at Georgia State University and have been involved
in these kinds of issues for a long time and I probably share
some of your frustration. I think I have been talking about the
workforce development issues for decades and this mismatch
between our training and these good paying jobs out there.
So you all have addressed some of these issues but I will
just kind of circle back on some of them. And maybe start with
Mr. Bustamante. Why do we not have more of these programs in
high schools? In college, I teach an MPA program. It is public
administration. And all of our students, they have an
internship even as they are in school. So they go right out of
that program and they already have experience. They have worked
in the area where they want to develop themselves. And I
continue to be puzzled why we do not have more of these in our
high schools.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. That is a great question, Representative
Bourdeaux, and thank you for it. It is a question that even we
ask. It is a question that we ask when we make these
connections with leadership from schools, and we try our
absolute best within our building trades capacity here in
Colorado to partner with, we have actually a program here in
the city of Arvada where there is a partnership with the high
school and with a technical college as well where these kids
have the opportunity to do some in-class kind of training and
then after a certain amount of time of this kind of in-class
exposure to the trades they get to have a little fieldtrip to
go to one of our training facilities and then they also receive
some kind of hands-on training at the technical college. I do
not know if it is a matter of funding. I do not know if it is a
matter of just the openness of schools wanting to bring these
programs into their mix, into their curriculums, and you would
be surprised at how hard those conversations are to have
because there is a lot of steps you have to take. There are a
lot of people you have to talk to whether it is district
leadership, principals in schools, and there is always somebody
else that has to approve of some kind of curriculum. Right? So
it is a great question because it is something that even we
wonder where it is like you would think it would be a lot
easier, especially with the way the conversations go right now.
Apprenticeships are a hot topic and we are just as surprised as
you are that we do not have something more like that in more
schools. So we are still trying to figure that out to be
honest, Representative.
Ms. BOURDEAUX. Yeah. No. I keep having the conversation and
somehow wonder how much of this is related to just the will to
get it done to do it.
Dr. Parker, I bet you have some insight on that as well. So
people working in the community colleges. And I know you guys
have those kinds of programs and that is really what you are
describing. How do we move it to the high schools and so we
have that kind of continuum from the high school into the
community colleges?
Ms. PARKER. Well, Representative Bourdeaux, I would like to
provide an example of something that we just did here in one of
my communities in Faribault, Minnesota. We created a new
program. It is called H2C, High School to College to Career. We
started off with health science but we are starting now with
advanced manufacturing as well as construction trades. What we
did was work with the high school. Initially, they did not have
a 7th hour. And you think about all the general education
requirements. There was not enough time in the day for young
people in high schools to take a vocation that they have
interest in. So we worked through a referendum to the community
to add a 7th hour. We partnered with our local chamber of
commerce and the superintendent and hospitals and health
facilities throughout the region for the health facilities to
help us design the curriculum where high school kids will now
get 36 college credits before they leave high school from South
Central College. And then if they decide to go on and be a
nurse or a medical lab technician they will have one semester
or two additional semesters from the college and they will have
a degree. Now, that makes it more affordable for a high school
student when you think about student debt, and it also provides
the workforce of the future.
And one last thing I will say is that this community is
changing demographically, so it is very diverse. It has a lot
of Somali students, new Americans, and this now is creating
that diverse workforce for the community as well.
Ms. BOURDEAUX. I think I am out of time but I think we are
all interested in hearing about those innovative programs and
how we do more of those. So thanks so much.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
Next we have the gentlewoman, Ms. Tenney from New York is
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. TENNEY. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to say
thank you to all the witnesses.
I am a small business owner. We are celebrating our 75th
year. We are in an industry that is light manufacturing but we
do always have to adapt to technology. We started out with one
of the longest newspapers continuously operating in the United
States, a weekly newspaper, and the technology was very similar
75 years ago but now it is so much more advanced. And we are so
grateful for all the innovators in our community. We have a
wonderful community. Where we had an Air Force base, we now
have a company called Innovari, which is doing a lot of
innovation.
But I want to direct my first question to Mr. Bruner
because I know you had indicated in your testimony, and I just
took a look at it, you stated that the PRO Act would restrict
job growth and the economic recovery that is desperately
needed. Can you give me like maybe your top three reasons why
the PRO Act would do that and you know, why it would hurt small
business and innovation?
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you. That is an excellent question,
Representative Tenney.
The problem for small businesses especially and larger
businesses have a very good relationship with their employees
as it is. And I believe that the unions would be better served
spending their time instead of trying to separate. The problem
with the matter is we belong to the AGC of California and they
serve as our collective bargaining agent and we are a small
employer. If the PRO Act were to be initiated, it would prevent
the employer, our company, Caliagua, from being part of a joint
collective bargaining agreement with the AGC of California. We
would have to negotiate directly with the unions ourselves
rather than be a part of the association. The association does
a much better job because of their size and strength to
represent us with each union that we belong to as opposed to
just representing ourselves. And the cost of having a labor
manager for us and all the other benefits that come with the
AGC and their affiliations, every time we have an issue with
the union, which we do not have many of, they represent us much
better than we could probably represent ourselves and it would
cost us more to hire an attorney or a labor specialist to do
that. I think that is probably the most important for me is
wanting that strength of the association to represent us. They
have done an excellent job for the last 30 years and we do not
want to change that.
Ms. TENNEY. Yeah, my question, so as a small business owner
we do not have a union in our business but we do have a lot of
really good trade unions in our community that really do great
work and we have other unions in the private sector, public
sector of course, too, and you know, they do provide a lot of
strength and security and a lot of good things for their union
members.
My big concern is that in New York they are considering
doing through the PRO Act something that I think could be
really detrimental to innovation and that could be equating an
independent contractor and an employee as one. And there is no
distinction which actually quite honestly a lot of independent
employers or independent people that I know who work really do
not want this to happen. They want to maintain their
independence. How is that affecting California? I do not know
in action. I know how it is in New York. The gap is narrowing.
The PRO Act would basically make the rest of the country
California. Is that my correct read?
Mr. BRUNER. I could not answer that question, so I am
sorry.
Ms. TENNEY. So do you deal with independent contractors in
any way?
Mr. BRUNER. No. Well, we deal with subcontractors. We are
not allowed to work with independent contractors technically. I
mean, if they are an independent contractor they would have to
be an employee of us and then they would have to belong to the
union and a bunch of other problems that come with that. So we
do not generally use independent contractors in our business.
We hire small subcontractors that have to be union companies
which is great. I support the unions and all that in that
effort but we do not hire independent contractors.
Ms. TENNEY. So even independent contractors, some of them
are union. You know, like IBEW and others. But I just did not
know how that would affect, I mean, I know the PRO Act is
seeking to do that and that could be problematic for a lot of
industries as they are seeking innovation, independence. But I
appreciate your work as a small business owner.
I have a question for Mr. Parker, Dr. Parker. You mentioned
that your college had developed dual training partnerships
between businesses and educational providers and that these
partnerships----
Chairman CROW. We are going to have to, Ms. Tenney----
Ms. TENNEY. Oh, am I out of time?
Chairman CROW.--your time has expired, so we are going to--
we might have time for another round. So if you want to stick
around----
Ms. TENNEY. Oh, thank you. Sorry.
Chairman CROW.--you might be able to get your question----
Ms. TENNEY. Sorry. I do not have a clock here so I cannot
tell where my timing is. I apologize. Thank you though.
Chairman CROW. The gentlewoman yields back.
Next is the gentleman from Minnesota, Mr. Phillips. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. PHILLIPS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Greetings to my
colleagues and to our wonderful witnesses.
I am just going to jump right in and talk about upskilling
and public-private partnerships. And I have to direct my first
question to my fellow Minnesotan and a woman of whom I am a
great fan, Dr. Parker. And this might go along with my
colleague from New York, Ms. Tenney's question as well. I would
love for you to share with my colleagues some more about the
Minnesota Advanced Manufacturing Partnership. If you spoke of
it earlier, for give me, but I think it is a best practice, one
that we should be replicating around the country. And perhaps
you can just share some of the details and success of that with
my colleagues.
Ms. PARKER. Thank you, Representative Phillips.
Let me just say that it started in 2013. I mentioned in my
testimony that I was appointed to President Obama's Advanced
Manufacturing Steering Committee. That comes from my many
years, I am a native Michigander that started in the auto
industry and then went on to build a National Center of
Excellence with Toyota to support all the major automotive
companies throughout the Midwest and the Southeast. So in that
work we determined that it was best to develop apprenticeships
that were innovative. Some were registered. Others were
designed using a European model we call dual training. And once
I got on that Committee I realized that the next round of
TAACCCT grants would come out shortly thereafter and I wanted
to position the state of Minnesota to benefit from that work.
And so we came together as a state system, 12 of the community
and technical colleges, and our two manufacturing Centers of
Excellence at two of our universities to really look at how we
could support manufacturers throughout Minnesota through
industry-recognized credentials that were stackable, were
portable, and allowed students to get one semester, for
example, into welding, get certified through the American
Welding Society, and get into the workforce. That work, once it
was funded, then led to us helping testify for Senator Bonoff
at that time at Minnesota state legislature to fund the
Pipeline initiative through the Minnesota Department of
Employment and Economic Development that helps employers pay
for the journeymen, so to speak, at their site and helping
support the students when they come into their facilities for
training, as well as working with DOLI here in Minnesota, the
Department of Labor and Industry on registered apprenticeships.
So that work has continued and really the Federal initiative
gave Minnesota the kickstart to begin to do this work but there
is much more that needs to be done because we still have
challenges in having highly skilled workers and it is really
slowing growth with our employers. There are just not enough
bodies that have the skills for the demand.
Mr. PHILLIPS. Agreed. Well, thank you, Doctor. And we look
forward to sharing that success with others around the country.
Mr. Tamasi, I would like to direct my next question to you
relative to innovation. I believe the United States,
unfortunately, has seated leadership in innovation to other
countries around the world. The United States Congress is not
exactly a bastion of innovation itself, and yet we are
entrusted with advising policies to inspire. I would love your
comments quickly, if possible, as to what incentives, what
subsidies, what policies in your estimation would be most
effective in the near term to reignite innovation in the United
States.
Mr. TAMASI. I will point to a couple. Thank you,
Representative.
We have Green Town labs, which I believe is now called
Forge, that was started here as a startup, a place for startup
companies to go to, to be housed to develop their products.
Have some Federal or State funds. And I believe they just
opened in Texas. We have Mass Robotics here where companies
that have a concept can go and collaborate and learn. And that
is somewhat subsidized. And of course, Massachusetts is the
number one innovation state in the country but we also can make
stuff here which is not as well-known as our innovative
capacity.
What was the third one I was thinking of? I am sorry.
Mr. PHILLIPS. No, not to worry about it. You will probably
think of it----
Mr. TAMASI. Oh, the Manufacturing USA Institutes. So
Massachusetts is involved with six different institutes. I have
been to the ARM Institute in Pittsburgh that we worked with. We
wrote letters to support Stonehill College down the street from
here and doing work with the Photonics Institute. And they are
trying to reach out more to small business and their grant
programs to get some of these new technologies in the future,
wearables and fiber and all that started up. And I think that
is driven by the Federal Government. That is a great program
that needs to be pushed through more through the----
Chairman CROW. The gentleman's time is expired. I am going
to have to----
Mr. TAMASI. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. We may come back to you, Mr. Tamasi, but I
have to move to the next witness. Thank you.
Next up is the gentleman, Mr. Williams, from Texas. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Ranking Member.
Federal permitting processes are complex and cause
headaches for small businesses. We should be cutting red tape
to help small businesses grow, not enforcing them to navigate a
time-consuming and complicated web of bureaucracy. President
Biden has made several proposals to bolster environmental
reviews that will simply add years to completing some of these
necessary infrastructure investments. So because of this
bidding on federally funded projects, it will be less
attractive to small businesses.
Mr. Bruner, can you elaborate on how the permitting process
can stand in the way of your contracting firms and how we can
more efficiently expedite projects for communities in need of
new infrastructure?
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you, Mr. Williams. That is a great
question. I would say first and foremost because I am from
California, they should seek the advice of our representatives
and the CEO of AGC of California and ask them to pick their
brains and get some suggestions of how to work with the local
agencies that put out some of these projects like CEQA, who is
one of the main components of many construction projects here
in California where they have to go through vast amounts of
environmental reviews before the projects are ready to go. And
if an infrastructure project does come out and Congress, you
know, allocates millions of dollars to these projects, the
first hurdle is all the environmental reviews and lawsuits that
occur when these projects have to begin and they get delayed
for years and years. And I think we have to take the teeth out
of some of these laws and lawsuits that allow some of these
public interests that want to stop and not have any growth and
not allow these projects to continue for their own particular
reasons. And that is a tough ask is to change the law to
prevent these matters from happening. But if we could encourage
them to have some good discussions and eliminate these
lawsuits--that is the best thing we could give them.
Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you. Small businesses are finally
recovering from COVID and the last thing they need are the
taxes increased like is being proposed again in President
Biden's American Jobs Plan which quite frankly is a No Job Plan
when we raise these taxes. As a small business owner myself, I
am an auto dealer, I know firsthand how increasing taxes will
cause businesses to hire less people and invest less back into
their business. They will play defense. For small businesses
who are critical components of domestic companies, supply
chains that are competing around the globe, these tax rates
will also make us less competitive compared to international
companies.
So Mr. Tamasi, can you discuss how these proposed tax
increases would affect your business and how it could lead to
the domestic companies being less competitive?
Mr. TAMASI. Well, we do not want to pay more taxes if that
means less for our team and less for our investments. Plain and
simple. The more we can put back into our companies to invest
in the futures the better. And as I mentioned, we are very
capital intensive. We purchased five CNC machines this year.
That comes at a great cost. Fortunately, borrowing is less
expensive these days so we can afford to take money out of the
bank and take on some debt but at some point, you know, if we
are paying too much in taxes we are not going to be able to
invest in our workforce development or our technology
investments that we need.
Mr. WILLIAMS. No question. If you have to pay for taxes you
are going to reduce the size of your company.
Thirdly, Mr. Bruner, in your testimony you mentioned
several policies my colleagues on the left have introduced that
hurt long-term infrastructure investment and restrict job
growth. Specifically, you brought up the PRO Act, which we
talked about, which would prop up unions and prevent right to
work states like Texas, where I am from, from enforcing their
own labor laws.
So Mr. Bruner, can you go quickly on how forced
unionization would hurt small businesses and what
recommendations your association can give to promote good
paying and would help small businesses?
Mr. BRUNER. Okay. Thank you, Representative Williams.
Again, I think, especially for small business, we compete
with many nonunion contractors and they have no laws that they
have to follow. Fortunately, most of the work that we do is
prevailing wage work that requires prevailing wage, which is
equal to the union wages that most people pay. But in terms of
small businesses that are unionized, they are just putting more
power into the nonunion companies and that is the biggest
killer of all because we compete with them on all these
projects that we bid for and it is not a level playing field
anymore when these nonunion companies are allowed to do
whatever they want. They do not have the requirements that come
upon a union contractor like ourselves. And we fully support
the union but they need to turn around and give us the same
support and understanding, especially if they would just think
about the competition that we have to deal with in terms of
dealing with nonunion contractors, especially in a small union
company.
Mr. WILLIAMS. Thank you. I yield my time back, Mr.
Chairman.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
Next is the gentlewoman from Illinois, Ms. Newman. You are
recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. NEWMAN. Well, thank you so much, Chair. I am so
appreciative of all of our witnesses being in today and great
ideas all the way around.
Let me start by saying, putting something into the record
that I disagree wholeheartedly with some of the comments around
the PRO Act. I think it is the only way that we are going to
reignite the economy, particularly in the middle section, and
provide greater worker training and upskilling and reskilling
and creating coalitions. So for the record I disagree
wholeheartedly.
That said, I have a couple of questions. So in my district,
about 80 percent of the GDP are small businesses under $3
million in net revenue so we are very small business driven. I
am a former small business owner and management consultant, and
one of the things that I worry about are those parts of the
population that are perfect for some of these upskilling and
reskilling, like veterans, local talent to a specific area.
So I will give you an example. We have an incubator that
does small manufacturing companies and grows them and then
moves them out to other areas and it is enormously successful.
One of the reasons it is so successful is that it concentrates
on on-ramping veterans, high school students in the
manufacturing areas and training them through union
apprenticeship programs and union programs at high schools. And
because it is enormously successful, I am actually going to do
a white paper on it so that we can enter it into potentially
some funding opportunities at the Federal level.
My question given that great coalition of the entities,
unions, apprenticeship programs, community colleges that are
participating in this in my district to get this work done, I
am going to refer to Dr. Parker first. If you would, in your
coalition which sounds terrific, and bravo on all your work, by
the way, do you also have high school trade craft training as
part of your model?
Ms. PARKER. Yes, Representative Newman. We are in the
process now with this model and we designed it off of the IBM
P-TECH if you are familiar with the IBM P-TECH Model. So there
is heavy employer engagement but now we are starting with
advanced manufacturing as well as the building trades with our
high school partner. And so we started first with health
science because there was a huge demand. That partnership is
with Mayo Clinic and Allina Clinic and some others. The next
move is to work with the other sectors. But it was important
for us to make sure that we put the high school in a position
where they could offer the courses because when you think about
the general education requirements that the high schools have
to have, and as that has increased to an earlier question then
there is no time for the technical courses. So we worked with
our chamber. Our community got behind it with a referendum and
now we are leveraging that with our high school partnership.
Ms. NEWMAN. Are you doing some level of certification
programming so that when that individual comes out of some
manufacturing training or whatever it might be in high school
that they walk out the door with a certificate that puts them
into the workforce?
Ms. PARKER. They are stackable credentials so it allows
multiple----
Ms. NEWMAN. Okay. You spoke about that earlier.
Ms. PARKER.--entry and exit points. And so absolutely, we
are stacking all of the curriculum with industry recognized
credentials.
Ms. NEWMAN. Good. And then my second and very quick
question, I know I only have about a minute left, Mr.
Bustamante, first of all, thank you for your comments and all
of your great work. My LIUNA partners here in Illinois 3 are
amazing and we have done great programs with them.
You have an interesting perspective, right, is because
holistically looking at everything from construction to trade
and manufacturing with your members, do you have any innovative
ideas around bringing veterans in and bringing localized
talent? When there is a project, making sure that localized
talent is engaged within a 5 mile area, do you have anything
there that you would like to share with regard to those two
elements?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Of course. Thank you so much,
Representative Newman.
So locally, we have a huge project that started up a couple
years ago and LIUNA played a big part in the process of the
contracting behind it. And we actually attached part of an
ordinance I guess you can say----
Chairman CROW. I am sorry. The gentlewoman's time has
expired. So I am going to have to stop you there but we will go
into another round, Mr. Bustamante, because I want to hear
about your project.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentlewoman yields back.
The gentleman from New York, Mr. Garbarino, is now
recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. GARBARINO. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I
appreciate that. I appreciate everyone's testimony today.
My first question is for Mr. Bustamante. I worked with
LIUNA when I was in the state legislature in New York. I loved
the apprenticeship programs. I thought they were great. I
thought they were one of the best things that we could do
working with labor and small business working with labor. I
work very closely with LIUNA partners in New York.
Can you walk us through how a small business might approach
hiring an apprentice through a registered apprenticeship
program?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Of course. So our signatory contractors,
they have the ability to call out a laborer, whether it is a
journeyman or apprentice through our local hiring hall. We
assist in that part of it to where we have these people
trained. Our apprentices are ready to go when they are on our
hiring hall list. All our contractors have to do is call us and
say, hey, I am looking to get an apprentice out here. And we
call our apprentice and they are out there to work. It is a
super simple process because we already took care of their
training. Our contractors have that level of comfort to say
they called the union hall. They are getting a qualified
laborer. So it is a very simple process. Like I said, we do
serve as a hiring hall for our contractors.
Mr. GARBARINO. The difference between the apprentice
programs that you run through the hiring hole and some
companies try to start their own, you know, can you talk about
the difference and what the benefit is of going through the
hiring hall?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. So going through the hiring hall, I mean,
obviously, as I said in my testimony, there is a standard.
Right? There is this higher standard where, you know, approved
and registered by the U.S. Department of Labor and that in and
of itself provides the accountability for us to make sure that
we provide the properly trained laborers. And to add to that it
is a matter of making sure that these people have the
opportunity to get out there and actually earn a livable wage.
Our apprenticeship program also includes some college credit.
When you complete our apprenticeship program, let's say you do
it for 2 years and somebody decides that maybe construction is
not for them, we get them jumpstarted with some college credit.
We have a partnership with I believe a couple of community
colleges here. And we have efforts behind increasing that.
Talking to different community colleges while here locally to
accept our training as college credit as well.
Mr. GARBARINO. I appreciate that. I like the way you said
that, properly trained workers. Properly trained workers you
get properly done work so I like that. Thank you very much.
And I have a final question. Mr. Bruner, you did not get to
answer this question I know was asked of another witness but I
would like to hear your opinion on what the new proposed tax
increases incorporations would do to small businesses like
yours.
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you, Representative Garbarino. I echo Mr.
Tamasi's sentiments that any higher operator taxes would
definitely hurt most small businesses. We have to rely on our
own funding. There is cheaper money out there like he said
about farming for banks but that is limited. And we are a C
corp so we put our money back into our corporation. So every
dollar that we can save and keep in the company we can use to
grow the company and do larger projects and higher more people
and buy more equipment and make more investment in our company
and projects. So I think the corporate tax structure that is in
place right now is fair. I think everyone is looking for
something that is fair and for everyone. And as far as limiting
the loopholes I think would be fair but I do not think we need
to raise the tax rates any further than they already are.
Mr. GARBARINO. And I am sure that you can testify about
corporations, unlike a regular job where somebody gets a set
salary every year, corporations are not guaranteed the same
income every year. Sometimes they have losses and sometimes
they do very well. So just because a corporation does very well
one year does not mean it is doing well every year. So to hit
them harder on a year they are doing well, how would that, you
know, do you spread those good years amongst the bad ones? Is
that something that you do?
Mr. BRUNER. That is a great question and I had personal
experience with that for many years where in the crisis of
2008, for example, there were so many days that we lost money
and we were just trying to keep our heads above water. Does the
loss carry forward so we can reforward it and help us apply it
to more prosperous years in the future. And then when you
finally do make a good income you want to be able to retain
some of those earnings and put it back into the company. So I
think that is a great question and they only remember their
good years and not the bad years but I can tell you I
definitely remember the bad ones as much as the good ones.
Mr. GARBARINO. Thank you very much. I yield back, Mr.
Chairman. Thank you.
Chairman CROW. Thank you. The gentleman yields back.
So every member that we had in the queue has now asked a
question so I might just do a second round. And I do not see as
many folks on but I wanted to ask one other follow-up question.
And of course, if the Ranking Member or others wanted to do so
they would be able to do so as well.
So with that, let me just go to Mr. Bustamante. We have
talked a lot about workforce, and obviously, this is in the
name of the Subcommittee, Workforce Development, because we all
know that prosperity and innovation and the ability of
businesses to get the job done, and as Mr. Garbarino said, get
it done right is tied to your workforce and that a good worker
is an incredible component of a strong and successful business.
But part of that is also making sure that workers are safe.
That they are healthy. That they can live an entire life and
have a full career. Because if somebody gets injured or ever
gets sick early in their career, mid-career, or they end the
rest of their life on disability, that is not good for the
country. That is not good for their family. It is not good for
the worker. So with regard to the PRO Act and the role of
unions in ensuring that there are those protections in place so
that workers can be safe, they can be healthy, and they can be
productive and help our economy and businesses grow, I would
love your view on that.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Thank you, Representative Crow.
In regards to the PRO Act, it is something that is going to
bring extreme value to workers. Those worker protections must
be there. In regard to some of the comments that have been
said, when you have a high qualified contractor, a lot of this
comes back to--so union benefits and wages are usually above
par. Right? They are usually above standard wages and benefits
paid for by contractors. So it is important to bring the PRO
Act to light because we need an even playing field at the end
of the day is all we ask for. We need an even playing field.
When we have union contractors who have a hard time competing
with nonunion because they pay more, obviously, it is hard to
come in as low bidders when they are taking care of their
workers. They are investing in training. They are investing in
new careers to get started up in the construction industry.
When you bring things like the PRO Act, things like labor
standards such as local hire into the picture, you are creating
opportunity for people who would never be exposed to these big
projects and big infrastructure that is going on in their
communities. You are talking about bringing opportunity to
people who never saw it there through these apprenticeship
programs. And when you have the proper wages, when you have
them taken care of, especially we saw it in the last year
during a pandemic, when you have quality, quality benefits paid
for by contractors, these workers are happy. They are rested.
They are trained. They are safe. So it is definitely key to
bring something like this at a lower scale to even out that
playing field.
Chairman CROW. Is it safe to say you are trying to provide
a career, not just jobs, but you love to provide a career to
folks. Is that fair to say?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Yes, sir. And we have laborers who are
retiring with dignity in this stage of our time. We have a lot
of laborers who are getting ready to retire and they are
excited. They are excited that they have a union pension to
fall back on in addition to Social Security because we do not
know where that is going. So you have families sustained. Our
laborers, many of those who are getting close to retirement,
they have raised families and got them through school in many
cases or brought them onto their trades as well and they have
done this in a career as laborers. Sometimes they move forward
within companies, with contractors or whatever the case may be,
but that opportunity is there. When you have those high quality
standards you have the ability for workers to really create
this career and sustain a family and raise families off of
these careers.
Chairman CROW. And last question, Mr. Bustamante, the local
hire requirement, this is just a requirement that you find your
workers in the communities where you are doing the work. Why is
that important to your members and their families? Can you just
very briefly in the 40 seconds we have left, why is that
important?
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Far too often, Representative Crow, we have
kind of just underbidding contractors who come in from out of
state and they bring a large percentage of their workforce from
out of state. And our workers here locally, they have to drive
by these projects and see out of state license plates across
the board and they ask themselves, why am I not working on
that? Why do I not have that opportunity? So that is why it is
important to have those local hire standards to ensure that the
people in the communities do not feel like they are being left
behind when it comes to this infrastructure investment.
Chairman CROW. And obviously, I am a family man as are you
and other folks here. And it is nice to be able to do your hard
day's work for a good day's pay and actually go home to your
kids.
Mr. BUSTAMANTE. Exactly. And live where you work.
Chairman CROW. Yeah, thank you. My time has expired.
Ms. Kim, did you have a second round?
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Sure. Thank you.
I want to follow up on the line of workforce training
question that you started. And I want to pose this question to
Mr. Tamasi.
It sounds like your company AccuRounds as a midsize
business is more actively engaged in workforce training than
perhaps other businesses similarly sized or smaller than yours.
So for small businesses who do not have as many resources at
their disposal, what can they do to maintain their pipeline of
skilled workers?
Mr. TAMASI. Great question. Thank you, Representative Kim.
You are correct. We are very active, Moa 1:24:53 and myself
and many team members in our company because to me it is a
matter of survival and we have committed to many different
aspects in STEM and manufacturing. I encourage small businesses
to take advantage of programs in our state, we have workforce
training fund grants that will pay for a consultant to come in
or a trainer to come in to train and you match it with funds.
That is the simplest way to get involved and take advantage of
funding at a state level. Any involvement in our advanced
manufacturing collaborative through the regional consortiums is
another way, attend a meeting or even make a phone call. And I
have reached out to many local businesses and there are more
overall today than there used to be but still not to the level
we need them to be. To hear their voice, what are their
concerns, what are their needs so we can tailor programs
designed to the needs they have to train their workers or hire
new workers.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you very much.
There are other resources available through the local
chambers or partnership with SBAs or any SDICs. There are a lot
of resources available so I hope that we can make that
information available so other small businesses can take
advantage of.
But next question I would like to ask Mr. Bruner. In your
testimony, you mentioned the negative impacts tax increases may
have on the construction industry. Can you elaborate on what
impacts these might have, particularly on small contractors?
Mr. BRUNER. Thank you for the question, Representative Kim.
Again, as a small business, our volume capacity is limited
compared to other companies. And the tax rates I believe are
fair right now. I know the other side of the aisle is
encouraging to raise the taxes and I would suggest that some of
the loopholes be eliminated as opposed to changing the tax
rates. I want the incentives into investing in [inaudible]
equipment, maintain that. That is critically important for us.
Our cost of equipment compared to our cost of labor are almost
the same and so we are constantly investing in heavy equipment
and the depreciation laws allow us to invest and defer some
taxes due to investments in equipment are very helpful. So I
think that is the best I can tell you.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you so much.
You know, you also referenced budgetary and bureaucratic
processes causing delays for infrastructure projects. From a
small business perspective, what regulations or processes would
you flag as the most damaging?
Mr. BRUNER. Well, here in California I think the stormwater
quality problems that we have were on every project there is a
stormwater pollution plan that has to be implemented and all of
the requirements that go with that. For a larger contractor
with multi, you know, $100 million projects, they can afford to
hire people and manage something like that. But those same
requirements based upon the area of the project, it is not
based upon the dollar signs but it is based upon greater than 1
acre, if the project is larger than 1 acre we are suddenly
stuck with the same requirements that a $100 million project
would be. And I am a small contractor when competing with other
small contractors, it is difficult to put the cost of that into
the project and still be the low bidder. You can imagine you
are competing for a job and not everyone is putting the same
value or understands the same requirements. So if you are the
low bidder on a project like that it is generally probably
because you did not place enough emphasis or dollars to take
care of those requirements that the state will mandate.
Ms. YOUNG KIM. Thank you so much.
I also want to take this opportunity to plug in for a
couple of legislation that I am working in a bipartisan way.
There are SBA 504 loan programs helping small manufacturers to
access capital. And these legislations have already passed the
house and I hope once it is signed into law hopefully it will
be helpful to small manufacturers in that fashion.
So thank you very much. I know my time is up and I will
yield back.
Chairman CROW. Thank you, Ms. Kim. And I applaud you for
your work on that legislation as well which I support and it is
very good work.
I see Ms. Tenney is still logged in. Ms. Tenney, do you
have any additional questions?
Okay. We will take that as a no.
So that ends the question and testimony period right now.
So thank you again for all the witnesses.
This Committee has a long tradition and culture of being
pragmatic and being bipartisan and getting things done. And
frankly, I think this hearing was a perfect example of that. I
think we actually all share the same goals. We want to grow
jobs. We want to grow innovation. We want the United States to
be more competitive. We sometimes just disagree on the best way
to get there but there is also a lot of areas of common
agreement, a lot of areas where we can work together and I look
forward to working with all my colleagues to do that. And I
thank the witnesses for taking their time and lending their
expertise and their experience to the discussion because this
frankly is how government should work and how Congress should
work as we have a coming together and discuss challenging
issues and ideas and we try to find the best path forward. So
with that, I am again thanking the Ranking Member for her work.
I look forward to working with her on the things that we are
collaborating on.
I would ask unanimous consent that members have 5
legislative days to submit statements and supporting materials
for the record.
Without objection, so ordered.
And if there is no further business to come before the
Committee, we are adjourned. Thank you all.
[Whereupon, at 2:33 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
[all]