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Federal stimulus paying for local jobs and job training

By Barbara Grijalva - email

TUCSON, AZ (KOLD) - Arizona's share of $787 billion in federal stimulus money is starting to trickle in.

Tucson and Pima County are starting to see the money that is supposed to retain jobs and create new ones.

The bulk of Arizona's stimulus money is going to local governments.

So far, the City of Tucson's largest project is the Northwest Sun Tran Bus Storage and Maintenance facility.

A little more than $16 million of the $52 million dollars the city has been awarded so far will go to finish this bus yard.

The site is a good example of the type of jobs stimulus funds will create, as far as the city is concerned.

They are jobs that require certain skills...skills not everyone has.

Mark Bush is a laid off machinist.

"With the economy and everything, I got laid off last Wednesday," he says.

At 53, Bush is looking to change careers.

"I'll do anything I can to get re-employed. I just don't want to be sitting on my butt just waiting for something to come along," he says.

We talked with Bush on Monday at a Pima County One Stop Career Center.

He was there exploring training opportunities.

So far, Pima County has received $26 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The county will spend nearly a quarter of its money training about 1,500 jobless people.

Jim Mize is with Pima County Employer Outreach.

"We're training in all of the areas where we expect growth once it starts back. That includes in the solar industry, that includes the machinist operations, we're doing a lot of training in health care," he says.

Mize says people need to focus on their strengths right now.

Donna Ryan is a laid off construction worker who was at the One Stop Career Center.

"I've had experience in administration. I'm just looking to upgrade my skills," she says

Mize says 100 more laid off workers come in to the One Stop Center every week.

The City of Tucson will be using nearly every penny of its stimulus money on job retention and creation.

So far, it's a little more than $52 million to be used mostly in hard hit industries.

"Over half of our money is going to be used for construction jobs. So it's going to be putting people back to work," says Adriana Prieto, of the City of Tucson Intergovernmental Relations Department.  

Some contracts already have been signed, such as a roofing job at a south side public housing project.

And there are several other companies in many industries that will be able to bid on jobs created by the stimulus funds.

"It will create energy efficiency, public safety, clerical, construction, and educational jobs," Prieto says.

Prieto says, as more jobs are put out to bid, the city will get a better idea how many jobs are being created.

The city must submit its first report to the federal government on October 10.

It will detail the number of jobs created, what those jobs are, the amount of money spent, and the jobs on which it was spent.

In addition to the $52.1 million the City of Tucson already has been awarded, it hopes to get another $123 million.

The city has applied for that money and is waiting to hear whether it has been awarded.

Meanwhile, Prieto says the city continues to work on new applications for stimulus money.

In addition to the $26 million Pima County has received in stimulus funds so far, it is waiting to hear about another $40 million for which it has applied.  

Governments are not the only ones that have applied for stimulus funds.

The University of Arizona, several non-profits, and others also have been awarded money.

According to the federal government stimulus fund web site, $2,329,290,000 has been paid out in Arizona.

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