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Lack of progress on infrastructure bill slows U.S. economic growth

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers says they’re disappointed that Congress has again punted on the proposed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Kip Eideberg, senior vice president of government and industry relations, is with AEM.  “The infrastructure bill would create up to 100,000 family-sustaining jobs in our industry,” he says.  “So, we obviously want it for those reasons, but we also need it because we can not function as a country and as an economy if we don’t have reliable state-of-the-art infrastructure.”

He tells Brownfield a lack of investment in infrastructure, like rural broadband, is a serious threat to workforce availability.  “Let’s say that you are a small equipment manufacturer in Iowa and you’re struggling to find people to work in your factory,” he says.  “You might start looking around the country to try and attract more people.  Well, they’re not going to uproot their families and move across the country because they depend, as we all do, on broadband to manage our day-to-day lives.”

Eideberg says the longer the bipartisan bill goes without being passed, the longer the U.S. goes without sustained long-term economic growth for all Americans.  A recent study from AEM shows new potential infrastructure investments made by Congress over the next several years could create more than 100,000 family-sustaining equipment manufacturing jobs.  The equipment manufacturing industry represents one out of every eight U.S. manufacturing jobs and contributes more than $288 billion each year to the U.S. economy.

AUDIO: Kip Eideberg, AEM

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