A powerful new tool providing real-time updates about federal infrastructure investments will be key to IBEW’s efforts to win the billions of dollars in new work opportunities approved by recent laws.
The searchable database gives users the ability to find out about project announcements. This includes loans and grant money resulting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Inflation Reduction Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, which are disbursed through federal and state governments.
“We are always asked: how do I know what projects are coming to my community? What funding has been announced?” said IBEW Assistant to the International President Austin Keyser. “The only way this could be better is if it were a crystal ball.”
The Center for American Progress said it created the Biden Administration Investment Tracker, released on June 15 as a comprehensive resource:
The passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act—two of which received broad bipartisan support—unleashed an unprecedented level of public and private sector investments in America. These investments are rebuilding the country’s infrastructure, bolstering American manufacturing, and cementing U.S. leadership in critical new industries such as clean energy, electric vehicles, and much more. In total, these investments hold the promise of creating, supporting and reshoring millions of well-paying jobs.
Within moments of a project award, the database is updated, said Taylor Waites, IBEW Government Affairs specialist. “The value here for local unions who may not have a relationship with a particular general contractor or developer is they will find out about it the second the contractor gets a grant. It’s a way for locals to be proactive.”
The database information is sortable according to keyword, recipient, state, congressional district, and type of project.
IBEW Business Development Director Ray Kasmark said the tracker complements subscriber services like Dodge Construction Network and Industrial Information Resources, which provide news and analysis on construction and industrial market trends. “To have all of these resources in one spot and having it in real-time is really valuable,” Kasmark said, adding that it is one more way to “organize the work.”
The IBEW supported the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act for their focus on infrastructure and energy upgrades, domestic manufacturing, job creation, and labor standards. Passed by Congress in 2021 and 2022, they embody the Biden administration policy priorities that the IBEW had long been advocating.
The Government Affairs Department has circulated the database link to the Renewable Energy Government Affairs coordinators, who have been encouraged to forward it widely.
“It makes what is otherwise a daunting task of tracking how all of these investments are flowing into your communities much more manageable,” said Austin Keyser, assistant to the president for Government Affairs. “Every local in the country should have this tool bookmarked and check it frequently.”
