UPDATE: President Biden to deliver recorded message at the United For Infrastructure Kickoff Event!
In United for Infrastructure’s 9th year, we are asking our partners across America’s business, labor, civil society, and federal, state and local government to commit to Lead With Infrastructure. Now. This is our moment and stakeholders across the spectrum need to rally our lawmakers to seize it. As a new Administration and Congress debate a once-in-a-generation infrastructure package – on the heels of a global pandemic and a unique economic recession – what priorities matter most to America’s workers, businesses, and local communities? How should outcomes like resilience, safety, employment, and economic competitiveness guide federal policy? What does infrastructure mean for the jobs of the future, and how do we build the talent pipeline to build a new generation of middle-class jobs? What is the scope of the needs facing communities, and what federal policy interventions – from new funding and financing tools to modernizing our infrastructure permitting regime to leveraging research and development – can have the most impact? These – and many more – are the questions we and our affiliates will address throughout our annual week of education and advocacy – starting with our kickoff event.
Agenda
- Welcome Remarks: Zachary Schafer, CEO, United for Infrastructure
- Opening Conversation: United for Infrastructure – Business, Labor, and Shared Priorities
- Suzanne Clark, President and CEO, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- Richard Trumka, President, AFL-CIO
- Video Spotlight:
- Cities and Resilience: Mayor Sylvester Turner (D-Houston, TX)
- Cities and Transit Spotlight: Mayor David Holt (R-Oklahoma City, OK)
- Video Message from Joseph R. Biden, Jr., President of the United States
- Video Spotlight
- Counties and Wastewater: Larry Johnson, Commissioner (D-DeKalb County, GA) and 1st Vice President, National Association of Counties
- Counties and Broadband: Greg Puckett, Commissioner (R-Mercer County, WV)
- Panel: Building for the Next 50 Years
As policymakers in Washington debate a once-in-a-generation plan to modernize America’s infrastructure, it is crucial that our infrastructure doesn’t just bring our current infrastructure back to a state of good repair, but that it prepares our society for the needs and challenges of the next 50 years. What are the trends, outcomes, and priorities that should shape the debate in Washington? How should priorities be balanced across a variety of complimentary modes? This panel will discuss the breadth of needs, the urgency of federal policy and funding, and the 21st-century priorities that should guide those investments and policies.
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- Mami Hara, CEO and General Manager, Seattle Public Utilities, and Chair, U.S. Water Alliance
- Kristina Swallow, Director, Nevada Department of Transportation, and Chair, ASCE 2021 Report Card
- Barbara Humpton, President and CEO, Siemens USA
- Andrew Anagnost, President and CEO, Autodesk
- Moderator: Zachary Schafer, CEO, United for Infrastructure
- Video Spotlight:
- Resilience and Parks Spotlight: Mayor Jim Thornton (R-LaGrange, GA)
- Ports Spotlight: Cathie Vick, Chief Development Officer, The Port of Virginia
- Panel: Workforce, Competitiveness and the Infrastructure Economy
The impact of infrastructure on economic growth and job creation can be profound: up to $3.70 created for every $1 invested. And more than 13,000 jobs for every $1 billion invested. What types of projects have the most potential? How do we build the talent pipeline to ensure workers are prepared for the infrastructure jobs of the future – and that they are good, family-supporting jobs? What are the direct and indirect impacts across supply chains? This panel will address how to maximize the economic growth and job creation potential of investments across a range of infrastructure modes, from transportation to water, from construction to operations, and from urban to rural communities across the nation.
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- Jim Callahan, General President, International Union of Operating Engineers
- Dave Burritt, President and CEO, United States Steel
- Dan Faust, Chief Executive, America’s East, AECOM
- John Barton, Professional Services Chair, HNTB
- Moderator: Amy Liu, Vice President and Director, Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution
- Video Spotlight:
- Regional Competitiveness: Jill Meyer, President and CEO, Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber
- Airport Spotlight: Lance Lyttle, Managing Director, Sea-Tac International Airport
- Keynote Conversation: Administration Leadership and The Transportation Agenda
- The Honorable Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary of Transportation
- Moderator: Brendan Bechtel, Chairman and CEO, Bechtel Group, and Chair, Business Roundtable Infrastructure Committee
- Closing Remarks: Patrick Sabol, COO and Co-Founder, United for Infrastructure