The Final State of the Union
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Summary:
A weekly look at recent and upcoming events in urban policy from the Office of Urban Affairs.
Each week, please look out for the White House Office of Urban Affairs Newsletter, which provides information related to the Administration’s urban policy initiatives, funding opportunities, featured articles and upcoming events.
Top News
Vice President Biden Announces 10,000 Recovery Act Transportation Projects Now Under Way (WhiteHouse.gov): As spring construction season begins, active transportation projects totaling $29.8 billion are creating jobs across the country. The Vice President made this announcement as part of a visit to North Carolina -- the state where the 10,000th project, the Sanford Bypass, will break ground.
Spurring Job Growth in the Private Sector (WhiteHouse.gov): President Obama signs the HIRE Act, a jobs bill that offers incentives for businesses to hire new workers, and invest in their companies and communities. The bill includes $20 billion for highway and transit programs.
US Department of Labor Releases Report on Youth Summer Jobs Initiative (Department of Labor): A report released recently by the U.S. Department of Labor found that the 2009 Recovery Act Summer Youth Employment Initiative was largely successful in connecting young workers with employment experiences. Overall, 317,000 young people took part in the initiative.
Task Force on Childhood Obesity (WhiteHouse.gov): Across our country, childhood obesity has reached epidemic rates and, as a result, our children may live shorter lives than their parents. That’s why President Obama has created a task force to develop an action plan for how federal, state, and local governments, along with the private and nonprofit sectors, can come together and take specific steps to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight.
Featured
WH Office of Urban Affairs Director Adolfo Carrión Speaks to the New Democratic Network (ndn.org): Director Adolfo Carrión offers remarks to the NDN community on the 2010 Census, housing, education and the effects of urban policy on Latino communities.
Federal Agencies Launch Website To Highlight U.S. Participation in the World Urban Forum (Department of Housing and Urban Development): Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun Donovan heads the U.S. Delegation to the World Urban Forum in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Joined by the State Department, and the White House Office of Urban Affairs, delegation principals spoke to the Foreign Press about our nation’s leadership on urban policy and sustainability.
WH Office of Urban Affairs Director Adolfo Carrión Speaks to the National League of Cities (nlctv.org): Director Adolfo Carrión recently delivered a keynote speech before a group of urban advocates at the NLC’s Congressional City Conference.
Funding Opportunities
New Announcement: Community-Based Job Training Grants (Department of Labor): The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration announced the availability of approximately $125 million in funds for Community-Based Job Training Grants. Community-Based Job Training Grants will be awarded through a competitive process to support workforce training for high-growth/high-demand industries through the national system of community, technical and tribal colleges.
New Announcement: $1.2 million in Recovery Act Funds to Assist Workers Impacted by Foreign Trade (Department of Labor): One to four projects will be funded to provide technical assistance and outreach to dislocated workers impacted by foreign trade. Funding awarded through this competition will support grantees that provide direct training or technical assistance to ensure that Trade Adjustment Assistance petitions are complete and accurate. It also will allow organizations to improve the delivery of Workforce Investment Act Rapid Response services to trade-affected workers.
Investing in Innovation (i3) Program: Deadline May 11th (Department of Education): The Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) Program will support local districts and nonprofit organizations—working in partnership with several districts and/or several schools—as they seek to implement educational innovations with promising or demonstrated effective outcomes for students.
Energy Efficient Building Systems Regional Innovation Cluster Initiative: Deadline May 6th (Department of Energy): This is the first pilot project of the Interagency Regional Innovation Clusters Taskforce (Taskforce). The Taskforce has been charged with developing a model for coordinated federal and regional efforts that foster and use regional innovation clusters to develop sustainable and efficient models for attaining national strategic objectives including creating good jobs, increasing regional gross domestic product and promoting innovation in science and technology.
Drug Free Communities Support Mentoring Program Grants: Deadline April 23rd (Office of National Drug Control Policy): An estimated 15 new mentoring grants will be awarded (up to $75,000 per grant, per year) to drug and alcohol prevention community coalitions from across the nation.
Upcoming Events
March 22 - 24
The Economic Development Administration will host the 2010 EDA Philadelphia Economic Development Regional Training Conference at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. This year’s event is themed "Building Strong Economies through Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness."
March 24th
Director Adolfo Carrión will participate in two plenary sessions at the World Urban Forum in Rio de Janiero on the theme: “Equal Access to Shelter & Basic Urban Services” and “Taking Forward the Housing Agenda.”
Urban Policy Director Derek Douglas will participate in the Networking session entitled, “Reimagining Older Industrial Cities: Perspectives From The US, Germany, and Italy.”
Urban Affairs Associate Director Alaina Beverly will speak at a networking event entitled: “Enhancing Sustainable Communities and Food Security through Urban/Peri-urban Agriculture and Strengthened Rural-Urban Linkages.”
