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S. HRG. 110–986 

MIDWEST JOBS PICTURE: STRATEGIES TO 

REBUILD COMMUNITIES (PART I) 

FIELD HEARING 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, 

LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

ON

EXAMINING THE MIDWEST JOBS PICTURE, FOCUSING ON STRATEGIES 

TO REBUILD COMMUNITIES (PART I) 

OCTOBER 8, 2008 (TOLEDO, OH) 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/senate 

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa 

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland 

JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

JACK REED, Rhode Island 

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, New York 

BARACK OBAMA, Illinois 

BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

WAYNE ALLARD, Colorado 

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma 

J. MICHAEL MYERS, Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

ILYSE SCHUMAN, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(II) 

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008 

Page 

Jacobs, Lloyd A., M.D., President, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH .......... 1 

Brown, Hon. Sherrod, a U.S. Senator from the State of Ohio, opening statement ...................................................................................................................... 2 

Goshe, Craig, Former Employee, American Standard, Tiffin, OH ...................... 4 

Price, Tieshetta, Worker, Toledo, OH .................................................................... 6 

Walker, Eric, Director, Lucas County Jobs Center, Toledo, OH .......................... 7 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 9 

Helper, Susan, Ph.D., Professor, Weatherhead School of Management, Case 

Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH ..................................................... 19 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21 

Kildee, Dan, Treasurer of Genessee County, Flint, MI ........................................ 23 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24 

Dmytryka, David, President, Dmytryka Jacobs Engineers, Inc., Toledo, OH .... 27 

Calzonetti, Frank, Ph.D., Vice President, Research & Development, University of Toledo Business Incubator, Toledo, OH .................................................. 28 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 31 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL 

Statements, articles, publications, letters, etc.: 

Enzi, Hon. Michael B., a U.S. Senator from the State of Wyoming, prepared statement ............................................................................................ 44 

Vaughn K. Buntain, Executive Vice President, IBC Solar, Inc. ................... 45 

(III) 

(1) 

MIDWEST JOBS PICTURE: STRATEGIES TO 

REBUILD COMMUNITIES (PART I) 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, Toledo, OH. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:08 a.m. at the 

Clean Energy Incubator at University of Toledo, 2600 Door Street, 

Toledo, OH, Hon. Sherrod Brown presiding. 

Present: Senator Brown. 

STATEMENT OF LLOYD A. JACOBS, M.D., PRESIDENT, 

UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO 

Dr. JACOBS. We would like to welcome all of our guests from 

Washington and elsewhere. We are delighted to see all of you this 

morning. 

The occasion to which you are welcomed so warmly, I hope, is the 

first-ever Senate hearing on the campus of the University of Toledo 

on subjects that are so terribly important today—rejuvenation of 

the economy, the economy in general, and particularly the strategy 

to rebuild our communities, led, of course, by Senator Sherrod 

Brown. We are delighted you are here. 

It is entirely fitting to me, that hearings of this nature take place 

on a university campus, a university that is engaged in our community and in our economy and in our world, as we aspire to be at 

the University of Toledo. We see work like this, the undertaking 

of the day, to be integral to what it is to be an engaged university. 

That is part of our mission. We are really pleased that all of you 

are here. 

It is, of course, my pleasure to extend a particularly warm welcome to Senator Sherrod Brown and to his staff. Having Sherrod 

Brown here again is an honor for us. 

Let me just read a couple of brief sentences from biographic material for Senator Brown. In Ohio and in Washington, Senator 

Sherrod Brown has earned a reputation as a public official who 

looks to the future. I think we would agree with that. 

Beginning with his opposition to the North American Free Trade 

Agreement in 1993 and to Most Favored Nation Status for the People’s Republic of China, to his book ‘‘Myths of Free Trade,’’ Sherrod 

is building a bipartisan coalition for a new trade policy to strengthen America’s middle class, to provide opportunities for American 

manufacturing, and to protect workers rights, the environment, 

and product and food safety. I think that those comments are integral to what it is that we are gathered here for today. 

2 

His amendments 5 years ago launched our Government’s effort 

to combat antibiotic resistance threat to our public health system, 

which effort earned Sherrod the National Public Health Legislator 

of the Year Award from the American Public Health Association in 

2003. He has worked to strengthen the Centers for Disease Control 

to guard against public health threats from terrorism, bird flu, tuberculosis, and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. 

Sherrod’s interest in making Ohio the ‘‘Silicon Valley of alternative energy’’—we share that interest, Senator. 

[Laughter.] 

Sherrod’s interest in making Ohio the ‘‘Silicon Valley of alternative energy’’ began when he wrote Ohio’s first solar energy law 

in 1977. As a U.S. Senator, Sherrod is working with the area’s universities, entrepreneurs, labor unions, and community leaders to 

help utilize this State’s natural resources—wind and solar power, 

corn for ethanol—and to develop an alternative energy industry in 

this State. 

We are delighted you are here. Thank you so very much for 

choosing this site. You are wonderfully welcome. Thanks for being 

here. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BROWN

Senator BROWN. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, President Jacobs, and I appreciate the attendance of 

all of you today in this, as he said, first-ever Senate hearing at the 

University of Toledo campus. I chose this campus as the first of two 

field hearings by the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. We will do one at Sinclair Community College in Dayton 

also. 

I just look at what this university has done in the last few years, 

and I am so appreciative of Dr. Jacobs’ work and Diane Miller and 

Bill McMillan for helping to arrange this today. 

I was in Perrysburg just the day before yesterday, and we were 

celebrating the groundbreaking, the expansion of First Solar. This 

university obviously has much to do with all of that, with alternative energy. I think since I have been in the Senate in the last 

20 months or so, this is, I don’t know, my seventh or eighth visit 

probably to this campus. There is always something going on here. 

We had one of our first roundtable discussions here. I have done 

about 120 of those around the State. Not hearings like this, but 

roundtables, where we will gather 15 or 20 people together and discuss a whole host of issues. We did one that really taught me a lot 

about and really helped to broadcast around Ohio the work that 

this campus has done, this university has done in wind turbine research and solar. 

Ohio, as you may know, Ohio is in the top five in investment 

both in solar and wind, and we are going to continue that. Dr. Jacobs’ comments about the Silicon Valley of alternative energy 

proves that we are on our way. 

Congress passed 2 weeks ago—10 days ago, I guess—the tax extender so that investors have a more predictable long-term tax policy, and hey are much more likely to invest in something as capital 

intensive as alternative energy and to get these industries going in 

3 

this country. The University of Toledo has played no small part in 

that. 

I would like to also recognize some of the local elected officials 

with us today. Commissioner Pete Gerken is here. Councilman 

Mark Sobczak and Senator Teresa Fedor are here. Thank you for 

joining us. 

I also want to thank Senator Kennedy, the Chairman of the 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. I am one of 

two freshmen he put on that committee back in December 2006. It 

is a terrific opportunity—this committee—to look at all kinds of 

workforce issues, education issues, health issues, pension issues, all 

the kind of things that matter perhaps more than any other committee in Congress in the daily lives of people here. 

Special thanks to Kelly Hastings of Senator Enzi’s staff. Thanks 

to Senator Enzi, in addition to Senator Kennedy. Senator Enzi has 

been very cooperative in this committee doing this field hearing. He 

is the Ranking Republican from Wyoming and is a very bipartisan, 

forward-looking guy. We don’t agree ultimately on a lot of issues, 

but we find ways to work together, and he is terrific at that. 

This is Kelly’s first trip to Toledo, thank you for being here. 

Thanks to the witnesses for coming. The first panel I will introduce in a moment, then the second panel. After the first panel’s 

comments and then questions, I will introduce the second panel. 

We will hear from both of these panels. I am asking each witness 

to keep their comments to about 5 minutes. I will then question 

each of you. We will do the same with the second panel. 

The hearing should take somewhere up to an hour and a half, 

2 hours, and we are not going to hurry through it. Certainly, we 

want the witnesses to say what they think that both I want to hear 

and need to hear, but this also is in the official record. That is why 

this is an official Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing. Your comments will be helpful to us as we figure 

out particularly what we do next year with the new President, 

which ever of the candidates wins and with some number of new 

members of the Senate. 

A strong middle class, as we know, is an essential foundation of 

prosperity and stability. Middle class families across the country 

are in a moment of great challenge and of great potential. Challenges that have been forced upon them by deregulation, unfair 

trade deals, and tax policies. Potential on account of our Nation’s 

ingenuity and work ethic. 

And indeed, this is perhaps the most crucial time for the middle 

class in the lifetimes of most of us here. This past Friday, the 

Labor Department reported for the 9th consecutive month the 

country has lost jobs. In September, 159,000 jobs were eliminated 

from payrolls, the highest number in 5 years. 

Ohio’s 7.4 percent unemployment figure hit a 15-year high this 

summer. Even prior to this steep downturn, Ohio still had hundreds of thousands fewer jobs than it had prior to the last recession. Across the country, some 9.5 million workers are unemployed 

and looking for work, more than 2 million more than a year ago, 

the highest figure recorded since December 1992. 

Two million people have been jobless for more than 6 months. 

Nearly 6.1 million people are working part-time because they can’t 

4 

find full-time work or because business conditions have led to fewer 

hours and, obviously, less pay. 

This week, it is estimated that more than 800,000 Americans will 

exhaust their unemployment insurance, including 22,000 people in 

our State. Last week, many of us in Congress fought to extend unemployment insurance for these workers. The House passed an extension overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 368–28. Unfortunately, 

Senate Republicans blocked a vote in the Senate. 

Because Congress couldn’t finish the bill, more than 800,000 unemployed people will stop getting their much-needed checks when 

their time runs out. That number will grow to more than a million 

by the end of the year. 

Whether the country is officially in a recession or not, we can say 

with certainty that Ohio’s middle class is in a recession. But Toledo 

and the Midwest is also ripe for survival, as evidenced by all the 

things going on here, what happened with First Solar recently, all 

the kinds of things that are happening. 

A strong workforce in Lucas County, northwest Ohio, its access 

to transportation lines, and location are all assets for new manufacturing and industries. This incubator is a symbol of the energy and 

hard work that can make Ohio a home to alternative energy manufacturers. 

How can Federal Government play a role to help reposition Ohio 

for a new era of prosperity? What role can rapid response networks 

play in getting workers and communities one step ahead of the 

curve? What skills and training can be enhanced to meet the demands of new industries? What investments in infrastructure and 

manufacturing could help communities rebuild? 

These are the questions that our witnesses are helping us answer today. I look forward to their remarks and to our discussion. 

Let me turn to the first panel. On the first panel, we will have 

Craig Goshe of Tiffin. Mr. Goshe worked at American Standard in 

Tiffin for some 31 years. He and I have worked together and talked 

several times over the last 18 months. I am very appreciative of 

what he has done. He worked there for 31 years until being laid 

off last year. 

On the first panel we will also have Tieshetta Price of Toledo. 

Ms. Price is a dislocated worker currently working on a degree in 

medical coding and billing at Mercy College. Ms. Price, welcome to 

you. Thank you for being here. 

Eric Walker of the Lucas County Workforce Development Agency—as Commissioner Gerken says, the best of the State—where he 

has been director for nearly 5 years, is a Toledo native of St. 

Francis High School, and has a B.A. in political science from 

Hampton University in Virginia. 

Thank you all for joining us. Mr. Goshe, we would love to hear 

your statement. Thank you. 

STATEMENT OF CRAIG GOSHE, FORMER EMPLOYEE, 

AMERICAN STANDARD, TIFFIN, OH 

Mr. GOSHE. Good morning. I would like to take a moment to 

thank Senator Brown for holding this hearing and inviting me to 

be a part of it. 

5 

My name is Craig Goshe from Tiffin, OH. I have been a resident 

of Tiffin and Seneca County all my life. I have been happily married for 28 years and have 3 children who all now have successful 

careers in different fields. 

Until the fall of 2007, I had planned to finish my career at American Standard, where I had been employed for 31 years. In 2000, 

I was elected to the executive board of GMP Local 7A, representing 

the workforce. 

American Standard provided a very good place to work for over 

750 people up until 2003. At that time, American Standard moved 

much of its operations to Mexico and overseas. The layoffs continued over the next several years until the workforce was at 165 

hourly employees, all of whom were ranged in age from 40 to 60 

years. This was a very senior workforce, all hard workers who had 

given all their adult life to American Standard. 

In the 2004 negotiations, realizing the competition with global 

markets, we gave concessions in wages and in healthcare. Early in 

2007, American Standard said it was trying to sell its bath and 

kitchen division, which we were a part of. During the 2007 negotiations, we were told that with our facility being one that American 

Standard was trying to sell that we needed to give the company relief to make us more attractive to a new buyer. 

Hearing this from a company that was rewarding its CEO with 

millions of dollars in stock options every year was not easy. But 

again, we gave concessions in wages, healthcare, and pension benefits. In September, the bath and kitchen division was sold to Bain 

Capital. In late October, Bain Capital sold us to Sun Capital. 

Then in November, myself, along with three other members of 

the executive committee, were called into a meeting with executives of Sun Capital to tell us that they were considering closing 

our facility due to excessive inventory, high labor costs, and a slow 

housing economy. 

The company presented us with a total labor and benefit in Mex- ico at $3.77 per hour, compared to Tiffin at $27 an hour. Even 

though we were the most productive and highest quality plant in 

all of the division, we knew we could not compete. 

Our local government got involved, offering the company $6 million in tax incentives over the next 10 years. Our committee asked, 

‘‘What will it take to keep the plant open?’’ Sun Capital never responded. 

On December 3rd, we were given the WARN notice, and the Sun 

Capital stated that they were prepared to enter into severance negotiations. During these so-called negotiations, the company refused to move on any of our proposals and only provided the employees what was only required under the WARN notice. 

For 165 hourly workers, along with almost 30 salaried employees, this closing was devastating. Workers were faced with many 

questions, such as where will we find a job in our area that already 

has lost over 1,000 manufacturing jobs over the last 15 years? How 

will I be able to provide healthcare for my family? Many of my 

workers have developed health issues because of the environment 

that we have worked in over the last 30 to 40 years. 

Immediately following the announcement of the plant closing, 

our Local 7A applied for trade adjustment relief. We contacted SenVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:09 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 035165 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\45062.TXT DENISE
6 

ator Brown, and with his assistance, the employees of American 

Standard were granted TAA and ATAA benefits. 

Of the 194 total employees that lost their jobs, 147 attended the 

informational meetings provided by the Job and Family Services. 

Sixteen employees enrolled in training, and 47 applied for the wage 

supplement. 

Approximately 50 percent of the workers were eligible to retire 

at a full pension or a slightly reduced pension. However, the other 

50 percent was left with finding a new job in an area that the unemployment rate is at 7.2 percent and trying to find affordable 

healthcare. Also, for these hourly employees, their pensions being 

frozen until age 65 or taking an early retirement at nearly 50 percent reduction. 

Good-paying jobs in Tiffin and the surrounding area are few and 

far between. The benefits that were provided through TAA were essential to many of my past co-workers, whether it was wage supplement for being forced to take a job at half the pay that you were 

accustomed to or extended unemployment and training to provide 

you an opportunity for a better job. 

A plant closing such as American Standard affects much more 

than just the workers and their families. It also affects the entire 

community, such as tax revenue. Our small town of Tiffin lost almost $150,000 per year in city tax alone. This affects many things 

from our schools to city projects and other programs. 

It affects retailers, charitable organizations, such as United Way, 

Hospice, American Red Cross, all of which our members of our local 

union were major contributors of. It affects local restaurants, taverns, and other manufacturers that supplied American Standard. 

I have been fortunate that I was able to find a position in management at a facility in Fostoria. However, this past week, I was 

forced to lay off 15 percent of my workforce due to the economic 

crisis that this country now faces. This was extremely difficult for 

me, considering I know what these workers must now face. 

In closing, I cannot express enough to our elected representatives 

the importance of continuing trade assistance for displaced workers. I also hope that our Government realizes that NAFTA must be 

changed to provide the American worker an even playing field in 

the future. 

Millions of jobs have been lost to Mexico, China, South America, 

and other countries. This trend must not continue. Over the past 

2 weeks, our Government has asked us that Main Street bail out 

Wall Street. Now our Government and Wall Street must provide 

the opportunity of employment to the workers of America. If Main 

Street is not working, it is not buying. 

Again, I would like to take this opportunity to say, I express the 

feelings of myself and many of my co-workers. 

Thank you, sir. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you, Mr. Goshe, very much for your comments. 

Ms. Price. 

STATEMENT OF TIESHETTA PRICE, WORKER, TOLEDO, OH 

Ms. PRICE. Thank you for holding this meeting, Senator Brown. 

7 

My name is Tieshetta Price, and I grew up in Toledo, and I graduated from Rogers High School. My mom and dad both live here 

in Toledo. I have one brother and one sister. 

I was terminated in February 2008 as a data entry clerk and receive unemployment, and it will end in October of this year. I have 

been seeking employment during this time, and I have had only 

one interview. Right now, it is pretty scary because I have bills, 

and I don’t know where I am going to find help in meeting my 

needs. 

The week that I lost my job, I had just purchased a car. So now 

I have a car note that is due. I have a disconnection notice from 

Columbia Gas and right now can’t afford car insurance. 

I am a single parent, and I have two sons. And I am not able 

to afford any additional school costs, such as school pictures. I use 

my car to get to school and search for jobs, and gas prices are very 

high. It is eating away at any extra money that I have. 

I am currently enrolled at Mercy College of northwest Ohio in 

medical billing and transcription. I found out about WIA because 

I attended an unemployment session at The Source and was informed about the WIA CAA program. I wanted to take this opportunity for more training, which I believe will lead to a career. 

It is very difficult to raise two teenage sons in this economy. I 

have to provide food, shelter, clothes, and other personal needs. 

And by not having a job, it is very hard. What the Federal Government can do is not limit funding to specific occupations and increase money for training and extend unemployment for at least a 

year. 

Thank you. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you, Ms. Price. Thank you for sharing 

your story. 

Mr. Walker. 

STATEMENT OF ERIC WALKER, DIRECTOR, LUCAS COUNTY 

JOBS CENTER, TOLEDO, OH 

Mr. WALKER. Thank you, Senator Brown, for this hearing and for 

taking the time to listen to everyday citizens from the city of Toledo, Lucas County in northwest Ohio. 

Second, I would like to thank the Board of County Commissioners—President Tina Skeldon Wozniak, Pete Gerken, and Ben 

Konop—for their commitment, innovation, and leadership on the 

issues of employment, jobs, and training. 

My name is Eric Walker, and I am the Lucas County workforce 

director at The Source. My job duties there are the distribution of 

$5 million to $7 million from the funds allocated from the Workforce Investment Act from the Department of Labor to educate, employ, and train youth, adults, and dislocated workers for the employers and businesses of Lucas County in northwest Ohio. 

In addition, I am the building operator of a 60,000-square foot facility with 20 various education, employment, and social service 

agencies and a staff of 120. I supervise 20 of those directly and 

work to provide outreach program services to all the citizens of the 

city of Toledo in Lucas County, northwest Ohio. 

Today’s dislocated workers face a much larger challenge to employment than their predecessors. High unemployment, continued 

8 

downsizing in the manufacturing sector, low levels of academic 

achievement, and other factors make returning to work a challenge 

for many people. While the numbers of available workers active in 

the workforce has stayed consistent over the past 10 years, employment figures have consistently declined. 

July’s preliminary figures show that there are currently 227,808 

workers in the current labor pool compared to 232,741 in July 

1998. Over the past 10 years, the number of unemployed workers 

has ballooned to 21,000, or more than 9.2 percent in Lucas County. 

Comparative figures for 1998 show that only 5.9 percent of individuals, or 13,487, were unemployed at that time. 

As a result, this means higher levels of competition for a shrinking pool of available positions. Manufacturing alone has shed almost 300,000 jobs between July 1998 and July 2008, with a drop 

of locally 20,000 workers here in Lucas County. For these workers, 

many who left for the workforce leaving high school, the challenges 

in technology make them less skilled to do their old jobs than 

younger, more educated counterparts. 

In the Toledo metropolitan area, where only 14 percent of those 

over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, significant 

barriers to unemployment arise for those facing unexpected job 

challenge. The level of education and training means that the 

workers will be unlikely to adapt to a high-tech environment in today’s newer manufacturing plants and that older plants plagued 

with lower productivity are more unable to compete in the global 

markets that face uncertain futures. 

Attracting new businesses is difficult as well when education levels are low. And in the Toledo area, with a population of postsecondary degrees, being able to compete with other Ohio cities such 

as Cincinnati with 17.1 percent of education in postsecondary; Columbus, 20.3 percent; and powerhouses like San Francisco at 26 

percent; Raleigh, NC, 26 percent; Charlotte, NC, 30 percent; and 

obviously, trying to compare Toledo with Silicon Valley, Research 

Triangle, and the financial heavyweight of Charlotte are very unfair. 

It is a clear indication of the challenges workers face here obviously in today’s economy. As you listened to Ms. Price’s testimony, 

we have obviously several other workers. We had over 8,000 people 

register in the last 3 months alone in Lucas County. Of those, 

2,500 are currently receiving unemployment benefits. 

We don’t know how many of those will be cut off and how soon 

they will be cut off. But obviously, without the additional unemployment insurance that was recently voted on by Congress, we 

will know that there is going to be difficulty in trying to pay for 

gas prices, food, healthcare costs, and other services. 

The staggering prices in basic necessities such as gas, food, and 

healthcare have placed an additional burden on today’s workers. 

The expected increase of food and gasoline outpace the estimated 

1.2 percent increase in the average wages for the region. 

Food prices are expected to climb between 5 and 6 percent in 

2008, according to Department of Agriculture data. The Bureau of 

Labor Statistics shows that healthcare costs have been growing at 

about 4 percent annually for the past 10 years, and gasoline prices 

9 

obviously have leaped a staggering 28.6 percent alone this year, via 

energy information. 

More people are finding themselves out of work or are now the 

working poor and at lower level paying jobs, often limited with no 

healthcare, much additional stress, and obviously pressures on 

their lifestyles. It is extremely important that unemployment insurance be available to these workers. 

Economic recovery is going to take time and a luxury that many 

in northwest Ohio are without. While the automotive industry, a 

major driver of the regional economy, regroups and repositions 

itself, workers are still required to pay their mortgages, put food 

on the table, gas in the car, and seek treatment for illnesses and 

injuries. 

While it is true that unemployment benefits are a temporary 

support for dislocated workers, in many cases this is the only support they have. If the primary source of unemployed or underemployed workers disappears, these individuals will find themselves in a downward spiral that cannot only impact themselves, 

but their families and the community as a whole. 

As we head into the winter months, heating costs alone are expected to rise 17 percent, along with facing additional burdens. 

Protecting the unemployment safety net that many of these workers rely upon will become even more important. Unemployment 

benefits are the only thing sometimes keeping workers in their 

warm houses and helping them to pay their mortgages or to feed 

their families. 

Last week, as we talked about the $700 billion bailout for Wall 

Street, there was a report just yesterday that AIG received or 

spent $440,000 for a week-long resort for its executives at a California retreat. That $440,000 in Lucas County, northwest Ohio, 

could have trained an additional 100 workers. This is staggering. 

And we want to thank you, Senator, for the time on the hearing, 

but when will Toledo, northwest Ohio, be bailed out as well? 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Walker follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ERIC WALKER

Thank you Senator Brown for this hearing and taking the time to listen to everyday citizens from the city of Toledo/Lucas County, northwest Ohio. Secondly, I’d like 

to thank the Board of County Commissioners, President Tina Skeldon Wozniak, 

Pete Gerken, and Ben Konop for their commitment, innovation, and leadership on 

the issues of employment, jobs, and training. 

My name is Eric Walker, I am the Lucas County Workforce Development Agency 

Director at The Source NOW, The Lucas County One-stop representing WIA funds 

for Area #9. My duties are the distribution of the $5–$7M in funds that are allocated from the Department of Labor through the State of Ohio to the Board of 

County Commissioners to educate, employ, and train adults, youth, and dislocated 

workers for the businesses and employers of Lucas County, northwest Ohio. In addition, I am a building operator of a 60,000 sq. ft. facility with 20 various education, 

employment, social service agencies with a staff of 120. I supervise 20 staff directly 

and work to provide outreach program and services to all the citizens of the city 

of Toledo, Lucas County, northwest Ohio. 

Today’s dislocated workers face much larger obstacles to employment than their 

predecessors. High unemployment, continued contraction in the manufacturing sector, low levels of academic achievement and other factors make returning to work 

a challenge for many people. 

While the number of available workers active in the workforce has stayed fairly 

constant over the past 10 years, employment figures have consistently declined. 

July’s preliminary figures show that there are currently 227,808 workers in the current labor pool compared to 232,741 in July 1998. Meanwhile, the number of unemVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:09 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 035165 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\45062.TXT DENISE
10 

ployed workers has ballooned to 21,061 or 9.2 percent. Comparative figures for 1998 

show that only 5.9 percent faced unemployment or 13,487 individuals. 

As a result, this means higher levels of competition for a shrinking pool of available positions. Manufacturing alone shed nearly 300,000 jobs between July 1998 

and July 2008 with a drop locally of nearly 20,000 workers. For these workers, 

many who have been in the workforce since leaving high school, the changes in technology make them less skilled to do their old jobs than their younger, more educated 

counterparts. 

In the Toledo metropolitan statistical area where only 14.4 percent of those over 

25 have a bachelor degree or higher, significant barriers to employment arise for 

those facing an unexpected job change. A lack of education and training means that 

workers will be unlikely to adapt to the high-tech environment in today’s newer 

manufacturing plants and that older plants, plagued with lower productivity, are 

unable to compete in the global markets and face uncertain futures. 

Attracting new businesses is difficult as well when education levels are low. How 

can the Toledo area, with only 14.4 percent of the population holding post-secondary 

degrees, ever hope to compete with other Ohio cities such as Cincinnati (17.1 percent) and Columbus (20.3 percent) much less with powerhouses like San Francisco 

(26 percent), Raleigh, NC (26.2 percent) or Charlotte, NC (30.5 percent). While comparing northwest Ohio to regions like Silicon Valley, Research Triangle Park and 

financial heavyweight Charlotte may seem unfair, it is a clear indication of the challenges workers face in today’s economy. 

Ms. Price testimony, recap/expand. 

• Lisa Mayberry, mother of two, DW: driver 2 years for 1st Transit, attending 

Trainco for Class A CDL utilizing a CAA. • Leslie Caputo, mother of three, DW: assembler 11 years for JAC Products, attending OCC for RN utilizing an ITA. 

The staggering rise in prices for basic necessities such as gas, food and healthcare 

place an added burden on today’s workers. The expected increase in the costs of food 

at home, gasoline and health care greatly outpace the estimated 1.2 percent increase 

in average wages for the region. Food prices are expected to climb between 5 and 

6 percent in 2008 according to Department of Agriculture data, the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics reports that Health Care costs have been growing at about 4 percent annually for the past 10 years and gasoline prices have leaped a staggering 28.6 percent this year alone according to data published by the Energy Information Administration. Meanwhile, more people are finding themselves out of work or working at 

lower paying jobs—often with limited or no healthcare benefits—adding to the stress 

and pressure felt by workers. 

Economic recovery will take time and time is a luxury many in northwest Ohio 

are without. While the automotive industry, a major driver of the regional economy, 

regroups and repositions itself, workers are still required to pay their mortgage, put 

food on the table, gas in the car and seek treatment for illnesses and injuries. While 

it is true that unemployment benefits are a temporary support for dislocated workers, in many cases it is the only support they have. If the primary source of unemployed or under-employed workers disappears, these individuals will find themselves in a downward spiral that will not only impact themselves but their families 

and the community as a whole as well. 

As we head into the winter months when heating costs are expected to climb 

along with everything else, dislocated workers will be facing an additional burden. 

Protecting the unemployment safety net that many of these workers rely upon becomes even more important. Unemployment benefits may be the only thing keeping 

workers in their warm homes this winter and not in the cold or on the streets. 

Last week the Senate approved a bailout for Wall Street of up to $700 billion and the Iraq War has been costing $10 billion a month. When will main street, Toledo, 

OH, Lucas County, northwest Ohio receive that same consideration for re-tooling 

our local area workforce! 

Thank you again for your consideration on these issues for all of us. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Walker. I heard 

that report, too, yesterday. That is just outrageous, and it is one 

of the reasons people obviously are so angry. 

Mr. Goshe, you said half of American Standard workers received 

full pensions. Where is the cutoff? What requirements are there? 

Mr. GOSHE. There were full pensions or slightly reduced. Any 

worker who had achieved the age, at the age of 55 was granted a 

full pension. Workers such as myself—— 

11 

Senator BROWN. Fifty-five with how many years of service necessary? Just 55, period? 

Mr. GOSHE. Well, everybody there had at least 20 years. 

Senator BROWN. Had at least 20, OK. 

Mr. GOSHE. They did—the age was the defining, or it was the 

factor of 55 years of age. The second group was what we called the 

‘‘80-point club,’’ which I fell into. Age and years of service totaling 

at least 80. 

Senator BROWN. So if somebody—you had 31 years, you could be 

49 and could still get it? 

Mr. GOSHE. Yes, 50 and 31. Right, yes. That provided a worker 

with a slightly reduced pension. 

Senator BROWN. OK. That group was both in the half that got 

decent pensions? 

Mr. GOSHE. Yes. 

Senator BROWN. OK, and what is the range of pensions that you 

or others in those two categories get? What kind of monthly pension do they get? 

Mr. GOSHE. Ranging probably, based on how much money you 

made during your career, I would say somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,200 to possibly $3,000 a month. It was a pretty broad 

range. It was based on your years of service and your income during your—— 

Senator BROWN. So the other half of employees were either under 

55, they were under 55 and their service plus time didn’t add up 

to 80? That was the other half? 

Mr. GOSHE. Right. And their pensions are vested, but they are 

not allowed to draw their pensions, full pension until age 65, or 

they can take a reduced pension starting at age 55. But it is going 

to be a 50 percent reduction, and that reduction will continue 

through their life. 

Senator BROWN. The rest of you get your pensions from the day 

you left? 

Mr. GOSHE. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWN. Those workers that wait until 65—if somebody 

was 54 years old and had 25 years of service, say they were just 

under 55 and their years didn’t add up to 80—they would get a 

pretty good pension, but it wouldn’t be for 11 more years, until 

they turned 65, or they discounted it half? 

Mr. GOSHE. No, if you are, say, at age 54, and you had enough 

years of service to achieve the 80—— 

Senator BROWN. I am saying if you didn’t achieve it. If you were 

54 and didn’t—— 

Mr. GOSHE. Oh, if you didn’t achieve the 80? You could draw the 

pension—— 

Senator BROWN. You would be vested? 

Mr. GOSHE. You are vested and you could draw it at age 55, but 

at almost a 50 percent reduction, and once you reach 65, it would 

not escalate. That is what your pension would be for your life. 

Senator BROWN. Considering the job situation in Tiffin and Fostoria and sort of all of Seneca County, that area, did you see a good 

many people take their pensions earlier, even though it was discounted by so much? Did you have a lot of co-workers that made 

that choice? 

12 

Mr. GOSHE. Oh, absolutely. I believe every employee that was eligible for pension right away took it, OK? Nobody waited because 

a lot of workers didn’t know—— 

Senator BROWN. Even though it was 50 percent discounted, they 

still took it? 

Mr. GOSHE. No, sir. 

Senator BROWN. OK. I am sorry. Could you explain that? 

Mr. GOSHE. Those employees that were not eligible have not 

drawn their pension as of yet. OK, the ones that are not eligible 

are not. They have got to wait until they are 55. Now, if they were 

55 and they didn’t have the 80 points or if they were age 54 and 

didn’t have enough points, I don’t know if any of them started 

drawing at age 55 or not yet. That I don’t know. 

Senator BROWN. OK. Did American Standard, then Bain Capital, 

then Sun Capital, have they lived up to their obligations? 

Mr. GOSHE. They lived up to their obligations as far as our pensions. They did not live—during preliminary talks, they told us 

that they realized their obligation to us workers over 30, 40 years 

of service, that they had an obligation for severance packages, 

which was somewhat hopeful. 

But when we went into severance negotiations, they told us basically, ‘‘We only owned you guys for the 2 months. How much do you 

think we owe you?’’ Discrediting our years of service with American 

Standard. 

Senator BROWN. The 2 months that Sun owned them? 

Mr. GOSHE. The 2 months that Sun Capital owned us, they told 

us in negotiation, ‘‘We only owned you guys for 2 months. How 

much do we owe you?’’ 

Senator BROWN. So someone that was at American Standard, 

then Bain, then Sun for 20 years and was, say, in his early 50s, 

late 40s, just got 2 months’ severance? 

Mr. GOSHE. All that they were allowed was what was due us 

through the WARN notice—60 days of pay and any vacation pay 

that they might have accrued through 2007 for 2008. So there 

might have been a month of vacation pay involved. 

They provided us healthcare coverage until February 29, until 

the end of February. That is because we were technically still during a vacation period there, if you took your vacation pay. So after 

February 29, you were done. There was no healthcare. There was 

no severance pay. Everybody was done. 

Senator BROWN. So tell me what, Mr. Goshe, most are not—and 

I hesitate to use this word—as fortunate as you in that you had 

a good pension and you have good employment now. People that 

fell short of the pension, that didn’t have the time or the age, what 

are—tell me some stories of what your co-workers are doing now? 

What are they doing for healthcare? What are they doing for 

work? Are they employed at significantly lower wages? Are they 

working at all? Have they moved out of Seneca County? Tell me 

what has happened. 

Mr. GOSHE. To my knowledge, none of us have moved out of Seneca County, simply because of the fact that most of the guys own 

homes, and to try to sell a home in Seneca County right now is 

pretty slim pickings. 

13 

A lot of them accepted jobs at neighboring little plants around 

the community that pay maybe $8 to $10 an hour. Probably the top 

industrial employer right now may be at $12.50 an hour. 

Senator BROWN. What company is that? 

Mr. GOSHE. Toledo Molding & Die. They are probably at around 

$12.50 an hour. But a lot of the workers ended up at Cooper Tire 

in Findlay, OH, where they went under a two-tier wage system. 

There is no pension there for them. They are working 12-hour 

shifts, every other weekend, if they are lucky—that was if they 

were fortunate enough to get in there. 

There were some employees that got into Toledo Molding & Die. 

There were some that got into the education that was being provided. But for the most part, I would say a lot of them accepted 

substantially lower-paying jobs throughout our community. 

Senator BROWN. And you say that the average, the age range is 

40 to 60. Not a lot of people went back to school, like Ms. Price is 

doing, did they? 

Mr. GOSHE. No. I believe 14 of our past members that pursued 

the trade assistance as far as education. 

Senator BROWN. OK. Thank you. Thank you for advocating for 

your fellow workers and congratulations on your new job now. 

Ms. Price, your unemployment runs out this month? 

Ms. PRICE. Yes. 

Senator BROWN. How much is your unemployment, if I could 

ask? 

Ms. PRICE. One hundred fifty-seven dollars a week. 

Senator BROWN. Tell me about the job you were laid off from and 

tell me about that company, if you would? 

Ms. PRICE. The name of the company is Pro Quo Books. I was 

a data entry clerk, and we just inputted the ISBN numbers off the 

back of the books for storage and sales in the warehouse. 

Senator BROWN. And they laid off a number of people? 

Ms. PRICE. I basically got fired because the place was like moldy 

and dirty. I kept getting sinus infections and medicine, and it just 

didn’t work out for me. But the way they fired me, that is how I 

ended up getting unemployment because it was unjust. So that is 

how I got unemployment. 

Senator BROWN. OK. You are in school now at Mercy College. 

Ms. PRICE. Yes. 

Senator BROWN. How much school have you had, and how much 

do you still need? 

Ms. PRICE. I just started school last month. So this is the third 

week. 

Senator BROWN. It is a 1-year program, 2-year program? 

Ms. PRICE. I think 6 months. I will be finished in February with 

the medical billing and coding. Then I am going back for medical 

transcription. 

Senator BROWN. OK. What do you hear from other students and 

your teachers about the job placement after you finish at Mercy? 

Ms. PRICE. There are lots of people in my class that are laid off, 

can’t find jobs. Just basically everybody is going through the same 

thing. 

14 

Senator BROWN. They are laid off from other jobs. My question 

is, your chances of finding a job after you finish your education? 

Those jobs are relatively plentiful? 

Ms. PRICE. Yes, they are in demand right now. 

Senator BROWN. So your teachers tell you that after you finish 

this course, your chances of getting a job are really good? 

Ms. PRICE. Yes. 

Senator BROWN. What do those pay typically? Do you know what 

the range is there? 

Ms. PRICE. I think between $45,000 and $50,000. 

Senator BROWN. OK. And you would work for, what, doctors, hospitals, various clinics, various kind of medical facilities? 

Ms. PRICE. Clinics, yes. 

Senator BROWN. And that would be—that is not the first training? That would be the second tier of training to get that $45,000 

job? 

Ms. PRICE. If I am not mistaken, I think the medical billing and 

coding may make between $30,000 and $40,000, and then the medical transcription, that—I am not sure how much that makes. I was 

going to do that on the side for extra money. 

Senator BROWN. OK. Medical transcription is working with medical records on—— 

Ms. PRICE. When the doctor dictates in the tape recorder, and 

then you type the paperwork up for the records, for the patient’s 

record. 

Senator BROWN. Are you getting help elsewhere besides unemployment, and what kinds of help can you expect or can we help 

you get after your unemployment expires? 

Ms. PRICE. Well, I currently receive child support. I have two 

sons, and my unemployment is going to run out this month. So I 

get a little bit of food stamps from the welfare office and medical 

for my kids and myself. But as far as cash— 

Senator BROWN. You get Medicaid? 

Ms. PRICE. Yes. As far as cash, all I receive is from child support. 

Senator BROWN. So child support, unemployment, and food 

stamps? 

Ms. PRICE. Yes. 

Senator BROWN. Anything else through the Ohio Benefit Bank? 

Do you know about that? 

Ms. PRICE. No. 

Senator BROWN. If there is anything there? OK. 

Mr. Walker, what do we do to help people like Ms. Price? She 

is obviously working hard and trying to do everything right. 

Mr. WALKER. With Ms. Price, we are going to be able to co-enroll 

her with the Workforce Investment Act supportive services. So, currently, the policy is there will be an additional $1,000 worth of benefits. She will have to bring in bills to us, and we will be able to 

reimburse her for some of her out-of-pocket costs—gasoline, transportation, as well as anything that she is faced with, uniforms and 

other supportive services. 

Senator BROWN. I was told that 8,000 people coming into your 

center in the last 3 months, fewer than half, about a third are receiving unemployment insurance. What happens to the other 5,000 

or so? 

15 

Mr. WALKER. The other 5,000, Senator, we can’t tell you with 

certainty. Many of those are dislocated workers as well that have 

already exhausted their unemployment benefits. Those are the 

ones that we are tracking because we know that they are currently 

receiving. 

Now, that is one of the problems, unfortunately, of the unemployment system. Once people fall off the system, we have no way of 

knowing, unless they tell us, that they are still dislocated, unemployed, or that they actually receive the unemployment insurance. 

Senator BROWN. Of the 8,000, 2,500 are receiving unemployment 

insurance? 

Mr. WALKER. Correct. 

Senator BROWN. The others all used to receive it? Almost all of 

the others at one point received unemployment? 

Mr. WALKER. It is very possible. As I said before, we don’t have 

a tracking system or mechanism unless they tell us that they are 

currently dislocated workers or they were receiving. We know that 

we have currently 8,000 people registered that are seeking jobs or 

looking for employment in the city or Lucas County at The Source. 

Senator BROWN. You have 8,000 people, many of whom had work 

and are looking for work. Are you able to estimate how many people are out there that don’t know about you that have exhausted 

their unemployment benefits and have sort of nowhere to turn? 

They haven’t found out about the Workforce Development Agency. 

Is that a significant number of people in Lucas County? 

Mr. WALKER. We hope not, but obviously, there is always a hidden population. You know, one of the things, unfortunately, that 

happens is that many tier one or, should I say, tier two or tier 

three auxiliary people fall off. 

Just like last year with Ford Maumee, there were 700 workers. 

When 92 percent of those were able to receive a full pension or, 

more importantly, a buyout offer, we had a worker that worked 

across the street in the union hall who was an auxiliary worker. 

She did not know about the rapid response. She did not know 

about the WARN Act. But yet she was an auxiliary or a secondtier worker. 

Many times people that work in small businesses that run lunch 

stands or run newspaper agencies or have carryout businesses, 

they are what we call the auxiliary or the second or third tier. Because once that primary employer, just like Mr. Goshe, has lost his 

job, the places where he used to go, the places that he shopped at, 

the places that he stopped at, those mom and pop businesses just 

simply dry up and go out of business because, all of a sudden, those 

400 or 500 or 600 people that used to stop there on a daily basis 

are no longer there. 

Many times, those are the ones that we never get to or that we 

never see because, unfortunately, they just simply go out of business literally overnight. 

Senator BROWN. And they aren’t eligible for unemployment? 

Mr. WALKER. It depends if they paid into the system or not. If 

they have—if they pay into the taxes for the State of Ohio, then 

they are eligible. Now that is an individual situation, on a case-bycase basis. 

16 

Senator BROWN. So when you say tier one and tier two, tier two 

is workers that often own their own businesses and are affected by 

the losses of the larger businesses of tier one? 

Mr. WALKER. Correct. 

Senator BROWN. Is that the term you use? 

Mr. WALKER. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWN. OK. Tell me more about the rapid response system and how it is working, where it is working, and where its 

shortcomings are. 

Mr. WALKER. We provide rapid response services to any business 

that we receive a WARN notice. So any business that has 50 or 

more employees that files a rapid response notice with the State 

of Ohio, we go out to provide rapid response services. 

What we try to do is to get inside of the business before it closes 

or before the employees are laid off so that they know, first, about 

unemployment benefits. Second, they know about education, employment, and training services that are offered in the local areas. 

And then, more importantly, any other services such as job and 

family services, which provides food stamps, cash benefits, or other 

insurance, especially if they have minor children. 

We try to meet with the employers or the management of each 

of those businesses and employers to let them know of those benefits. Second, what happens, obviously, is that we try to get those 

people pre-registered so that they understand that they can come 

to The Source or any one-stop in their local area and to become 

registered. 

We want to provide them with a resume ́ and let them know how 

we can provide hopefully adequate referrals to any available employment there might be and the transferable skills that they have 

with their current occupation. 

Senator BROWN. Senator Fedor and I have talked a lot about veterans benefits, and she has worked very hard on that in the State 

legislature. How do veterans benefit? 

If you have a laid off worker come to you that is or isn’t receiving 

unemployment insurance, and—I assume you ask if they are veterans—you guide them maybe to the veterans service organization. 

Or what do you do when people come in that are veterans? 

Mr. WALKER. Two things. We have the Ohio Veterans Programs 

Services inside of the one-stop. They are part of the rapid response 

team that goes out to do the orientation. We also have the Lucas 

County Veterans Commission, which is inside The Source, that provides cash benefits, medical assistance, and sometime vouchers for 

other services such as housing. So what we try to do there in those 

cases is to make the direct referral. 

Now one of the other questions that you asked me, what is the 

shortcoming in the system? Unfortunately, unemployment in Ohio 

is a call-in system. Once we go out to do the rapid response, and 

people then, the employee then calls in to the State of Ohio to give 

their Social Security number and place of employment, they are 

now eligible to receive unemployment benefits. 

The only problem with that is that they are no longer engaged 

actively in working or job seeking. Until they are called in or for 

UCRS, which is an Unemployment Re-employment Session or Service, they are sitting at home collecting a check. And many times, 

17 

that lures people into a false sense of security or it leaves them not 

engaged. 

Right now, it probably takes at least 6 months to find re-employment if people are able. And unfortunately, the system is not designed like back in the old days when we had unemployment offices, where people had to come in every 2 weeks to file their claims 

and see someone physically face-to-face. So many times now after 

the person has engaged or is receiving that check, they won’t reengage until all of a sudden the check is about to run out or, more 

importantly, the benefits are no longer there. 

So the first chance that we get hopefully to work with an employee or to get them to re-engage, as in Ms. Price’s case, the 

better off they are. Because the sooner that we can get them into 

retraining, which provides them with additional programs and 

services, the better off we are able to hopefully get them re-employed. 

Senator BROWN. Let me ask, in closing—and then I will bring the 

next panel up—one question, the same question of all three of you. 

What is the most important thing, the single most important thing 

or the most important couple of things that you would like to see 

the Federal Government do to answer some of the personal or professional or society problems that you bring out? 

And I will start, Mr. Goshe, with you. 

Mr. GOSHE. The two issues that Government has to address, No. 

1, is the NAFTA. The American worker is really at a disadvantage. 

As I said earlier, we can’t compete with $3.77 an hour in wages 

and benefits. The American worker cannot compete against that. 

And another important issue is extending the TRA and TAA benefits, continue that to allow workers a chance for retraining. I 

think those are the two major issues that we have to address, along 

with affordable healthcare. 

Senator BROWN. OK. Ms. Price, do you have one or two or three 

things specifically you think we should do? 

Ms. PRICE. I just feel that with the way unemployment and everything is going that with situations like this, unemployment 

should have some type of emergency funding to help people that 

are in school and trying to do the right thing. And just what do 

we do? That is all. 

Senator BROWN. That is more than all. That is a very good question. 

Mr. Walker. 

Mr. WALKER. Probably three things, Senator. No. 1, obviously, I 

would advocate for retraining and re-education for the American 

workforce and retooling. 

More importantly, more in additional funds either for the Workforce Investment Act, the one-stop centers that we currently work 

in, summer jobs for our youth. You know, 16 years ago, I used to 

run the PIC summer youth program. That year, there was $2 million alone. We were able to employ 2,000 youth in the summer to 

provide them with an education and, more importantly, work experience. This last year, we were able just barely to place 2,000 

adults back into re-employment. 

And obviously, the most important thing I would say is that we 

need to take care of America. Stop bailing out, unfortunately, a 

18 

nonpopular war that is leading us nowhere. We have to take care 

of the citizens here to rebuild a strong middle class obviously for 

the betterment of all of us. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. Mr. Walker, thank you. Ms. Price, 

thank you very much. Mr. Goshe, thanks for coming up here from 

Tiffin. 

Good to see you all. Thank you. All your comments will be part 

of the public record, and thanks for your contributions and all you 

are doing. 

And good luck in school, Ms. Price. 

Ms. PRICE. Thank you. 

Senator BROWN. We will take a couple of minutes break. 

[Recessed.] 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. 

Susan Helper is AT&T Professor of Economics at Weatherhead 

School of Management at Case Western Reserve University in 

Cleveland. She is a research associate of the National Bureau of 

Economic Research and the MIT International Motor Vehicle Program. She has her B.A. from Oberlin College just east of here and 

her Ph.D. from Harvard. 

Daniel Kildee has been Genessee County treasurer for the last 

12 years. Because some regions most exposed to foreclosure are 

also hardest to make attractive to employers, we asked him to 

come talk with us today. 

He founded the Genessee Land Bank, Michigan’s first land bank, 

something Ohio is looking seriously into. Kildee’s land bank program was named winner last year of the Harvard University 

Fannie Mae Foundation Innovations in American Government 

Award for Affordable Housing. 

Thank you for your contribution in all of this. 

Mr. KILDEE. Thank you. 

Senator BROWN. David Dmytryka is the president of Dmytryka 

Jacobs Engineers in Toledo. He is a member of the Toledo Chamber 

of Commerce, member of the Toledo Area Small Business Association, and also a member of the Lucas County Workforce Investment 

Board. 

Mr. Dmytryka, thank you. Did I say that right? Dmytryka? 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWN. And Frank Calzonetti, you come to Toledo—you 

really get names like Calzonetti and Dmytryka. Kildee is not from 

Toledo and Helper is not from Toledo, is it? 

[Laughter.] 

Dr. Calzonetti is a professor of geography and vice president for 

research and development at the University of Toledo. He is responsible for the promotion of research, technology transfer, and 

technology incubation at the University of Toledo. He got his B.A. 

from Wayne State University, an M.A. in geography from Wayne 

State, and a Ph.D. in geography from the University of Oklahoma. 

Thank you, all of you, for joining us. And Dr. Helper, why don’t 

you begin? 

19 

STATEMENT OF SUSAN HELPER, PH.D., PROFESSOR, 

WEATHERHEAD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, CASE WESTERN 

RESERVE UNIVERSITY, CLEVELAND, OH 

Ms. HELPER. Great. Well, thanks a lot for inviting me to testify 

on these really important issues. And I also have a supplemental 

document for the record. 

Today—— 

Senator BROWN. If I could interrupt you? Anyone that wants additional submissions for the record can do that. Just give them to 

Chris today or submit them—if you get them to us within a week 

or so, it will be in the official record. So anyone that is on one of 

the panels can certainly submit anything in addition. 

I apologize, Dr. Helper, continue. 

Ms. HELPER [continuing]. So, today, I would like to briefly discuss some solutions to the employment issue that also create community, improve competitiveness, and provide clean energy. So we 

have seen the short-term problems. I want to think kind of about 

the long-term and think about how soon can we get to the longterm, and what kind of jobs will be created? 

And recent trends don’t paint a positive picture. Over the last 7 years, the income of the median working age household fell $2,000. 

This is the first economic expansion in U.S. history in which the 

typical worker’s income actually fell. 

We could do a lot better than this. We could create good jobs 

while helping to achieve other national goals. In particular, both 

manufacturing and service firms can use a ‘‘high-road’’ production 

process that harnesses everyone’s knowledge—that of front-line 

workers as well as top executives and investors—to achieve innovation, quality, and quick responses to unexpected situations. 

This high-road model of production provides an alternative to the 

all too common low-road model, in which most employees are treated as disposable drones who merely follow orders from ‘‘stars’’ at 

the top, who need to go on luxury retreats to California. 

Here is an example of how the high road works. A firefighter in 

Solon, OH, had an idea based on his own experience—a compass 

to guide firefighters when they are inside burning buildings. You 

can get disoriented. I have brought an example of it. 

Much of the design for this was provided by a federally funded 

manufacturing extension program, and the tooling for the molding 

that makes this was built by Colonial Machine in Kent. Colonial 

Machine is actually successful because they made several investments at once. 

They adopted advanced information technology while also changing their production strategy so they could produce more customized products; their operations strategy, using some IT capabilities to reduce setup times; and they also changed their human resource strategy. So they employed workers with more problemsolving skills that use more training. But the success of changes in 

one area actually depended on investments in other areas. 

For example, customizing the products wouldn’t have been profitable without being able to change over more quickly. And the reduction in setup time was made possible both by this information 

technology, but also by the ability to use the information that the 

trained and empowered workers had. 

20 

So just training workers by itself, that is important, but just by 

itself it would have had little impact without re-designing their 

jobs so the workers could pool knowledge and have the power to 

recommend changes. 

The high road’s linked information flow is powerful because real 

production rarely takes place exactly according to plan. This is particularly true when firms are producing products that aren’t yet 

mature, like green products, or there is a big need to change production conditions, such as a desire to reduce a firm’s carbon footprint. 

And in these cases especially, the understanding that direct 

workers have is really crucial to running and improving the process. We can wait around for the managers and the engineers to 

issue directives, but that takes a lot longer and costs a lot more. 

So, thus, high-road practices increase competitiveness. 

High-road production also empowers workers by involving them 

integrally in designing and improving their own jobs. Workers 

interact more closely with their customers, suppliers, and co-workers, and that makes the jobs harder to offshore. So, thus, the highroad practices can help communities, providing fairly paid and stable jobs. 

These high-road practices aren’t new. But markets alone fail to 

provide the proper incentives for firms to adopt these policies. 

First, many of the benefits of the high road accrue to workers, suppliers, and communities in the form of higher wages and more stable employment. And so, firms usually invest too little in training 

because they worry that they are not going to get the full benefit 

of their training expenditures since the trained employees might be 

hired away by other firms. 

And second, the high road works only if a company adopts several practices at the same time, as I talked about in that Kent example. Thus, direct services to workers and firms are necessary to 

develop interdependent high-road capabilities. 

Because of these market failures, low-road options remain attractive to firms, even though they impose costs on society. So to pave 

the high road, we need more Government investment in education, 

training, research, and development. But we also need to block the 

low road by doing such things as protecting labor, environmental 

rights, and trade agreements, and strengthening safety regulations 

for both workers and consumers. 

But we still need more than that. Education alone won’t allow 

firms to overcome the market failures that block the adoption of efficient high-road practices. Nor will it re-invigorate income growth, 

which for the median college-educated man has risen only 0.5 percent annually since 1973. 

Increased R&D spending by itself won’t get innovative products 

to market. Even with fair trade agreements, American workers will 

still face foreign competition, and a key way to respond to this 

challenge is providing direct services to firms to build capabilities. 

The Federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is an 

important example of a program that helps firms move toward the 

high road by helping companies make complementary investments 

to develop new products, find new markets, and operate more effiVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:09 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 035165 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\45062.TXT DENISE
21 

1http://www.cbpp.org/8–29–06pov.htm. 

ciently. With the help of programs like MEP, U.S. manufacturing 

firms can compete with low-wage nations. 

A study by the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center suggests that most small manufacturers have costs within 20 percent 

of their Chinese competitors. And this is a gap that MEP programs 

can often eliminate. In fact, the MEP program pays for itself in increased tax revenue from the firms it helps. 

Yet the Bush administration wants to end the program, and instead, I would argue we should triple the program’s funding, and 

that would cost only $300 million a year. We should also extend 

this program to the service sector. 

An important adjunct to this technical assistance program is the 

Strengthening Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success, 

or the SECTORS Act that was recently introduced by you, Senator 

Brown, and Senator Snowe. This legislation provides for grants of 

up to $2.5 million each for cross-firm partnerships for planning and 

training within an industry cluster. 

High-road production can also help meet national goals, such as 

moving toward a clean energy economy. Green stimulus programs, 

such as that proposed by the Political Economy Research Institute, 

can create good jobs in the short-term while providing the foundation for a sustainable economy. So these public dollars can actually 

do double duty, both the short-term and the long-term. This institute proposes spending $100 billion over the next 2 

years to employ 2 million people in building a green energy infrastructure. These investments are really productive. Investments 

that are increasing residential energy efficiency can pay for themselves in 3 years. 

The programs can also be structured to create a career ladder, 

as the Green Energy Academy at Cuyahoga Community College is 

beginning to do. Workers can start with entry-level activities, such 

as demolition, and then move on to higher-skilled activities, like 

energy-efficient interior design. 

In conclusion, high-road practices offer a way of providing familysupporting employment while meeting the challenges of increasing 

competitiveness, community, and clean energy. Policies such as 

those discussed above would be a really useful start. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Helper follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SUSAN HELPER, PH.D. 

Senator Brown, thank you very much for inviting me to testify on these important 

issues. I will also submit a supplemental document for the record. 

Today I would like to briefly discuss some solutions to the employment issue that 

also create community, improve competitiveness, and provide clean energy. The current high levels of unemployment will eventually recede. But—how soon? What kind 

of jobs will be created? 

Recent trends don’t paint a positive picture. Over the last 7 years the income of 

the median working-age household fell $2,000—the first economic expansion in U.S. 

history in which the typical worker’s income decreased.1

We can do better than this. We can create good jobs while helping to achieve other 

national goals. In particular, both manufacturing and service firms can use a ‘‘highroad’’ production process that harnesses everyone’s knowledge—that of front-line 

workers as well as top executives and investors—to achieve innovation, quality and 

quick responses to unexpected situations. This high-road model of production provides an alternative to the all-too-common ‘‘low-road’’ model, in which most employVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:09 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 035165 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\45062.TXT DENISE
22 

ees are treated as disposable drones who merely follow orders from ‘‘stars’’ at the 

top. 

Here’s an example of how the high road works. A firefighter in Solon, OH had 

an idea, based on his own experience: a compass to guide firefighters when they are 

inside burning buildings. Much of the design was provided by the federally funded 

Manufacturing Extension Program, and the tooling for the plastic molding was built 

by Colonial Machine in Kent, OH. Colonial Machine is successful because the firm 

made several investments at once: they adopted advanced information technology, 

while also changing their product strategy (to produce more customized products), 

their operations strategy (using their new IT capability to reduce setup times), and 

human resource policies (employing workers with more problem-solving skills, and 

using more teamwork). The success of the changes in one area depended on investments in other areas. For example, customizing products would not have been profitable without the reduced time required to change over to making a new product; 

this reduction was made possible both by the improved information from the IT and 

the improved use of the information by the more-empowered workers. Just training 

workers by itself would have had little impact without re-designing their jobs so 

that workers could pool knowledge and have power to recommend changes. 

The high road’s linked information flow is powerful because real production rarely 

takes place exactly according to plan. This is particularly true when firms are producing products that aren’t yet mature (such as ‘‘green’’ products), or there is a 

major change in production conditions (such as a desire to reduce a firm’s carbon 

footprint). In these cases especially, the understanding that direct workers have is 

crucial to running and improving the process—waiting for managers and engineers 

to issue directives takes much longer and costs much more. Thus, high road practices increase competitiveness. 

High road production also empowers workers by involving them integrally in designing and improving their own jobs. Workers interact more closely with their customers, suppliers and co-workers, making jobs harder to offshore. Their increased 

value to their employer also enables them to be paid more. These practices can 

greatly help manufacturing, which has been hammered with the loss of 3.7 million 

jobs over the last 7 years—and these were good jobs that paid 20 percent more than 

the national average. They can also improve service jobs whose numbers have been 

growing—but many of which are low wage. Thus, high road practices help communities, by providing fairly paid, stable jobs. 

High-road practices are not new. But, markets alone fail to provide the proper incentives for firms to adopt high-road policies. First, many of the benefits of the high 

road accrue to workers, suppliers, and communities, in the form of higher wages and 

more stable employment. Thus, firms usually invest too little in training; they fear 

that they will not get the full benefit of their training expenditure since the trained 

employees might be hired away by other firms. Second, the high road works only 

if a company adopts several practices at the same time. Thus, direct services to 

workers and firms are necessary to develop interdependent high-road capabilities. 

Because of these market failures, low-road options remain attractive to firms, 

even though they impose costs on society. To ‘‘pave the high road,’’ we need more 

government investment in education, training, research, and development. But we 

also need to ‘‘block the low road,’’ by doing such things as protecting labor and environmental rights in trade agreements, and strengthening safety regulations for 

workplaces and consumer products. 

But more is needed. Education alone will not allow firms to overcome the market 

failures that block adoption of efficient, high-road practices. Nor will it re-invigorate 

income growth, which for the median college-educated man has risen only half a 

percent annually since 1973. Similarly, increased R&D spending by itself won’t get 

innovative products to market. Fortunately, high-road producers excel at overcoming 

the obstacles that have hampered American firms’ ability to move from lab to production. 

And, even with fair trade agreements, American workers will still face foreign 

competition. A key way to respond to this challenge is by providing direct services 

to firms to build capabilities. The Federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership is 

an important example of a program that helps firms move toward the high road by 

helping companies make complementary investments to develop new products, find 

new markets and operate more efficiently. With the help of programs like MEP, 

U.S. manufacturing firms can compete with low-wage nations. The Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center suggests that most small manufacturers have costs 

within 20 percent of their Chinese competitors’—a gap that MEP programs can 

often eliminate. In fact, the MEP pays for itself in increased tax revenue from the 

firms it helps. 

23 

2http://shop.cleveland.com/SS/Page.aspx?sstarg=&facing=false&secid=51643&artid=904229. 

Yet the Bush administration wants to end this program. Instead, we should triple 

the program’s funding—a step that would cost only $300 million per year. We 

should also extend the program to the service sector. 

An important adjunct to this technical assistance program is the ‘‘Strengthening 

Employment Clusters to Organize Regional Success (SECTORS) Act.’’ Recently introduced by Senators Brown and Snowe, this legislation provides for grants of up 

to $2.5 million each for cross-firm partnerships for planning and training within an 

industry cluster. 

High road production can also help meet important national goals, such as moving 

toward a clean energy economy. Green stimulus programs such as that proposed by 

the Political Economy Research Institute can create good jobs in the short term 

while providing the foundation for a sustainable economy. They propose spending 

$100 billion over the next 2 years to employ 2 million people in building a green 

energy infrastructure. These investments are quite productive; for example, investments in increasing residential energy efficiency pay for themselves in 3 years. 

These programs can also be structured to create a career ladder, as the Green Academy at Cuyahoga Community College is beginning to do. Workers can start with 

entry-level activities such as demolition, and then move on to higher-skilled tasks 

like energy-efficient interior design.2

In conclusion, high road production practices offer a way of providing family-supporting employment, while meeting the challenges of increasing competitiveness, 

community, and clean energy. Policies such as those discussed above would be a 

useful start. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. Thanks very much, Dr. Helper. 

Mr. Kildee. 

STATEMENT OF DANIEL T. KILDEE, TREASURER OF GENESSEE 

COUNTY, FLINT, MI 

Mr. KILDEE. Thank you, Senator, for inviting me to be here. 

It is good to be back in Ohio. I have spent a good deal of time 

here in Toledo, also in Youngstown, in Dayton, in Cleveland, Cincinnati, other places, working on urban land issues, which is my 

calling, I suppose. 

Obviously, a lot of what has been addressed is critical to restoring our economy. I want to focus on just one specific piece of that, 

and that has to do with the condition of America’s cities, particularly America’s older industrial cities. 

I am sitting here with a geographer, so I can probably defer to 

him on some of these subjects. But cities evolved, obviously, historically because they were efficient. Cities were an efficient way to 

manage the human condition, but also to support an economy. 

The problem that we have had is in places like Toledo, Flint, 

other places—certainly Toledo not to the extent of many communities. But I will take my own city of Flint, MI, as the example. 

Flint was one of those winners in the manufacturing era. We once 

had 79,000 people drawing a salary from the same company. Not 

just in the same industry, but in a city of 197,000, we had 79,000 

people working for General Motors Corporation. 

Well, things have changed a bit. We now have 8,000 people. In 

just 30 years, we have gone from 79,000 employees for one company to 8,000 working for that company. The population of the city 

of Flint has gone from 197,000 to under 120,000 during that same 

period. 

While our situation may be extreme, it is not unique at all. You 

see that happening all over the country. Youngstown, OH, is a very 

good example of a city that is shrinking. 

24 

What we have seen is that there are lots of negative elements 

that accrue to a city that has had this kind of loss of jobs and loss 

of population. One critical one, critical to this discussion is that 

those cities have a very difficult time competing for the knowledge 

economy jobs. 

There is a difference in terms of the way jobs go these days. 

Many jobs that are going to be important in the 21st century are 

jobs that are very mobile and can locate in places that are attractive. What we see now, places like Flint and other places around 

the country, is that we are simply not an attractive place for 

knowledge employers, knowledge workers. 

As we have lost all this population, we have left behind cities 

that have spent literally billions of dollars in developing public assets, public infrastructure, schools, parks, streets, water and sewer 

systems. We don’t have the population to support them. And we 

have huge abandonment of residential and commercial structures 

left behind. 

What we have been working on in Flint and in other places 

around the country is to try to rationalize the management of 

urban land to not engage and support a system of public investment that continues to increase the cost of government, which decreases our competitiveness, by building new schools, new infrastructure out on farm fields when we have developed significant 

public infrastructure in cities that have land that is available, but 

land that is not easily put into the market because of the governmental systems that essentially treat urban land as if it is a disposable commodity and that can be thrown away once used. We 

challenge that notion. 

My work has been at the local level to try to come up with a 

process of presenting vacant and abandoned, underutilized urban 

land to the real estate market in a way that the market can absorb 

as one contribution to making America’s cities and my own hometown of Flint a more competitive place, to reduce the cost of government, to increase the efficiency of the workplace. And particularly now, when we see fuel prices going where they are, cities— 

more than ever before in recent history, I think, cities are going to 

be important to our competitiveness. 

If we don’t rationalize the use of urban land and present urban 

land to the market in a way that the market can truly absorb, I 

think it is going to be very difficult, despite great workforce development efforts, hopefully increasing the access to post-secondary 

education—all the things that we have heard about—it is going to 

be very difficult for these older industrial cities to compete in the 

new economy unless we fix those cities and make them attractive 

places again. 

And that is the work that I am here to address. Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Kildee follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DANIEL T. KILDEE

For America’s older industrial cities, the last 30 years have been the most difficult 

time in their history. As the economy has shifted to one of global competition, and 

as manufacturing jobs have been either replaced by new technology, moved across 

our border, or been eliminated due to increased worldwide competition, our cities 

are in trouble. Many of the communities that led the way in the manufacturing era 

have been left behind in the new economy—with greater demand for public services 

25 

and the loss of population from the urban center. As the jobs left the cities, the people left with them, or at least those people who could afford to follow the work or 

find a new way of life. 

America’s oldest cities, at one time the economic engine of the economy, now 

struggle to manage the combined effects of dramatic population loss, a deteriorating 

landscape, aging infrastructure and a shrinking tax base. For the workers of the 

next generation of jobs, America’s older cities are not high on the list of desirable 

places to live. 

My hometown of Flint, Michigan is a typical case. 

Flint is the birthplace of General Motors. From the 1920’s to the later 1970’s, 

Flint was the center of the auto industry. The population of Flint grew fast during 

those decades, and by 1970 Flint’s population was just under 200,000. At one point 

79,000 people worked for GM in Flint alone—not just in the same industry, but for 

the same company. We exported cars and imported wages. It was not unusual for 

a young man to leave high school, walk over to one of a dozen factories and go to 

work that same day—working on the same assembly line with his father and grandfather. Flint was the place to be. Workers from all over the country made Flint their 

home. 

But things have changed. Many of those jobs have simply disappeared. Just over 

8,000 GM jobs are left in Flint. Flint’s future will not be built on a revived auto 

industry alone, even if the industry is able to regain stability. And while many 

agree that the next generation of jobs will require America to offer clean, vibrant, 

and attractive cities to the knowledge workers and creative entrepreneurs who will 

drive the new economy, those same cities will simply not be able to compete for 

those workers unless the landscape of the older industrial cities can be made attractive once again. To do that, this country need to adopt policies that recognize that 

if we fail to rebuild our cities, we will not be able to fully rebuild our economy. 

Neighborhoods that are in decline, littered with abandoned properties will not attract the workers nor attract those new employers that will be the foundation of a 

diversified economy. 

But for decades, cities across the Nation have struggled with the daunting problem of abandoned houses and vacant land. Particularly in Michigan, where the cities 

of Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, and others have experienced significant population loss, 

the problem has been exacerbated by the absence of a coherent governmental approach to urban land. 

As cities compete for the knowledge jobs of the 21st century, older cities have 

been hampered by the conditions of neighborhoods and downtown. For decades, people traveled to the cities where the jobs were plentiful. Companies made huge capital investments in factories and equipment, and the people followed. 

The new economy is different. To a great extent, jobs are more mobile in the information age, and employers locate the jobs where the creative, entrepreneurial workers live. Those workers want to live in vibrant and energized cities. 

So we have a disconnect: the abandoned cities—the ones that need the jobs 

most—have a difficult task attracting the workers that attract the jobs. 

For the most part, this legacy of abandonment is the result of years of decline 

associated with the migration of population from the city to suburban communities. 

Recently, however, the abandonment of the urban landscape has been magnified by 

the dramatic increase in mortgage-foreclosed homes flooding this already weakened 

real estate market. While this problem is already having an impact on my community, the fact that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 mortgage foreclosures pending 

in my community is a matter of great concern, particularly in light of the weak real 

estate market in Flint and the presence of thousands of previously abandoned 

homes already littering once thriving neighborhoods. 

Abandoned property is a source of blight, crime, and disease. Vacant urban land 

reduces the very resource available to address the problems it creates. Local property taxes are made less available due to devaluation of land values. For example, 

abandoned houses account for 75 to 90 percent of fires in the city of Flint, yet the 

city has reduced fire service due to a significant financial crisis. Given the enormous 

financial pressure for basic city services, it is clear that reform of urban land is fundamental to revitalization of our cities. 

Vacant land is both a cause and result of urban dis-investment. As cities have 

experienced population loss and housing market declines, the result is the decline 

of property values. Blight spreads as empty houses sit vacant, infecting adjacent 

properties and ruining entire neighborhoods in a matter of just a few years. An 

abandoned house is a ‘‘Typhoid Mary’’ to a neighborhood struggling to sustain itself. 

Sadly, for the past several decades, one of the governmental systems intended to 

address the problem actually contributed to the downward spiral of land values and 

neighborhood stability. Under the former system of tax foreclosure, abandoned propVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:09 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 035165 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\45062.TXT DENISE
26 

erties were either transferred to private speculators through tax lien sales or became State-owned property through foreclosure. Under either scenario, local leaders 

had little power to interrupt the incremental decline in the re-utilization of taxreverted land. In fact, the former system encouraged low-end reuse of tax reverted 

land due to the length of time between abandonment and reuse—often more than 

5 years. The lack of clear title to these properties under the tax lien system also 

made reinvestment almost impossible. 

The former system was decidedly non-strategic. 

The changes to Michigan’s tax foreclosure law are a significant step in the right 

direction. Since the passage of PA 123 of 1999, the State of Michigan and county 

governments have greater authority in gaining control of vacant abandoned land. 

PA 123 of 1999 accelerated the process of tax foreclosure, which previously took as 

long as 7 years to complete. The new system of county or State tax foreclosure is 

completed within a 2-year period, and abandoned property is taken after only 1 

year. 

While the new system is significantly more efficient, we need to go further in 

order to optimize the reuse of vacant urban land with long-term neighborhood stability in mind. Michigan needs a systemic approach to urban land that affords local 

government the tools necessary to manage the ‘‘downsizing’’ of cities more effectively. It is only through smart ‘‘downsizing’’ that cities can ultimately seek to grow 

again. For communities with significant numbers of abandoned property, a land reutilization plan that delivers tax-foreclosed property to its best and highest use is 

needed. 

Faster and more efficient demolition of existing structures is the earliest and most 

tangible benefit of such a system. Over time however, land assembly for development and long- and short-term green space development is made possible by ‘‘land 

banking’’ tax-reverted property, rather than simply selling land at public auction. 

Replacing one irresponsible landlord with another is no solution to the problems of 

sub-standard housing and neighborhood blight. Quickly auctioning tax-reverted 

property, while somewhat more desirable than the former system, does not provide 

urban communities the control of land essential to a coherent revitalization plan. 

Encouraging and supporting locally derived land re-utilization planning is essential 

to urban land reform. 

Adoption of legislation that authorizes a foreclosing county to create a ‘‘land bank’’ 

is one key step in any comprehensive urban land reform initiative. Such legislation 

was introduced in the previous session of the legislature. While there may be some 

changes needed to the previously introduced legislation, a land bank is an important 

component of Genesee County’s vision for revitalization of our urban center. 

Another policy initiative receiving serious State government attention involves the 

‘‘smart growth’’ concept, a popular phrase in current land use lexicon. A commitment to including urban land reform issues as a central subject of the ‘‘smart 

growth’’ discussion is essential to the development of meaningful policy. 

To fully realize the goal of preserving farmland, open green space, and undeveloped land for future generations, we must unlock the unrealized value that urban 

land presents. 

Such reform will benefit cities, suburbs, and rural communities as well. As we 

struggle to address two serious challenges—maintaining our precious natural resources and preserving and revitalizing our urban centers, we must create public 

policy which ensures urban land is not overlooked. Such an approach will allow us 

to support our cities and at the same time preserve the precious resources that have 

made Michigan such a beautiful place to live. 

In Flint, we have made tremendous progress in just a few years by re-engineering 

the tax foreclosure system. The overriding philosophy of our initiative is that the 

land itself has value that is far more important than the liquidated value of the 

property sold at a distressed sale. 

If there is not a similar approach to the disposition of mortgage-foreclosed properties, all the good work being done around the State of Michigan in reforming the 

tax foreclosure system will be overwhelmed with speculative purchasers mismanaging the real estate within our communities and driving down home prices—robbing responsible homeowners of their hard-earned equity. 

The remainder of my written testimony is a description of the work of the Genesee County Land Bank. I submit this report to provide additional background on 

our work and its potential application in restoring the urban landscape, and in particular to explain how a locally controlled land bank authority may be a viable 

mechanism for disposition of mortgage-foreclosed properties. 

Thank you for the opportunity to provide my thoughts to you and the committee 

as you deliberate this important and growing issue facing the Nation. 

27 

Senator BROWN. Thank you for your public service. 

Mr. Dmytryka. 

STATEMENT OF DAVID DMYTRYKA, PRESIDENT, DMYTRYKA 

JACOBS ENGINEERS, INC., TOLEDO, OH 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. Thank you, Senator, for allowing me to offer my 

opinions on the local workforce here in Toledo and how my company deals with finding and hiring quality engineers. 

As you have mentioned, I am president of Dmytryka Jacobs Engineers (DJE). We specialize in electrical and controls engineering 

and control system integration. The majority of our work is providing automation systems for municipal water and wastewater facilities. 

Our market area is Ohio, Michigan, including Genessee County, 

and Indiana. We are probably one of four or five companies in Ohio 

that provide these services in this particular industry. Based on 

our current workload and backlog, I believe we are the largest 

water and wastewater systems integrator in Ohio. 

My partner and I formed DJE in June 1994, some 141⁄2 years 

ago. It started as just the two of us. We came within about 3 weeks 

that first 6 months of closing the doors because of lack of work 

when, the last day of the year, we landed two large jobs, large by 

our standards at the time. That got us going for good. 

If I remember correctly, our first 6 months, we may have grossed 

$18,000 as a company, and at first full year, we were up to about 

$240,000. 

Today, we are 18 employees strong, 11 of them degreed engineers 

all from the University of Toledo. Six of those are registered professional engineers in the State of Ohio. 

Through our first 5 or 6 years, we hired about 8 new employees—mostly degreed engineers—to meet our needs. All of these 

hires were people we previously knew, either from having worked 

with them in past lives or through personal friendships. This method of recruiting is not uncommon among small businesses. 

I was at a meeting last night with five other small business owners discussing issues that we, as small business owners, face every 

day. When the issue of recruiting potential new hires came up, I 

was and wasn’t surprised in their method of recruiting. That being 

the same as ours—known acquaintances. 

Somewhere around 2001, we developed an informal relationship 

with the University of Toledo’s College of Engineering. I happen to 

have gone to high school, college, and did graduate work with one 

of the engineering technology department’s professors. When we 

needed some help, I would give him a call, let him know the kind 

of student we were looking to hire as an intern, and then he would 

talk to a couple of the professors and give our name out to the students. 

After a positive interview, we would make the student an offer 

and a duration commitment, with the understanding that the commitment could be extended if things continued to work in both favors. Our plan was to grow from within, training these students in 

the way we needed to use their skills and then continue to keep 

them as ongoing engineers. 

28 

Our plan has been successful. Six of the seven students we hired 

in this manner are still with us today, four as degreed engineers, 

two are due to graduate this December. The lone exception decided 

to switch from engineering to business. 

We have made offers to both of the soon-to-be graduates. One has 

accepted. The other is still considering his options. 

Our hiring of college students as interns has been made easier 

by the use of our Ohio’s Third Frontier Internship Program. This 

program reimburses us a portion of the salary we pay these college 

student interns. With our practice of keeping these students on 

staff as young engineers, the Third Frontier Internship Program 

has helped both us and the students. 

Three and a half years ago, we were at a crossroads. We had 

about 12 or 13 employees. And because of the type of business we 

are in, things were starting to get tough. We felt we either needed 

to expand, maybe up to about 20 employees, or contract to about 

8. My partner and I decided that we would expand. 

We began the process of finding a larger facility, bidding larger 

projects, and hiring more technical people. We built a new facility 

adjacent to UT’s health science campus, which we moved into a 

year ago April; bid projects more aggressively and received the 

work; and hired several more people, bringing our current total to 

the 18, as I mentioned before. 

Our plan for growth has succeeded maybe too well. We currently 

have an 18-month backlog of work and need to hire two or three 

engineers to help us with this load. Our supply of known acquaintances appears to be exhausted. 

[Laughter.] 

Can’t steal anymore. The interns, soon-to-be engineers will help, 

but we now need experienced people that can hit the floor running. 

My partner and I are currently discussing the options available to 

us, one of which includes the possible use of The Source, the Lucas 

County’s one-stop. 

From the news reports about the economy, we may appear to be 

an exception. However, several engineering friends of mine say 

they are also in the same position we are. Many people I mention 

this to say that what we are experiencing is a great problem to 

have. To me, it is still a problem. However, I am confident that 

with what we are doing, we will be able to get through it. 

Thank you. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you, Mr. Dmytryka. 

Dr. Calzonetti. 

STATEMENT OF FRANK J. CALZONETTI, PH.D., VICE PRESIDENT, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT, UNIVERSITY OF TOLEDO BUSINESS INCUBATOR, TOLEDO, OH 

Mr. CALZONETTI. Thank you, Senator Brown, for having the hearing here at the UT Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator. 

I would also like to thank the support that Jessie and Chris provided to us in smoothing out this, and also to Diane Miller, who 

did a lot of work here. I would also like to thank all of you elected 

officials and others who have come here to participate in this very 

important event. 

29 

Decades ago, Midwestern U.S. cities led the world in innovation 

and industrial might. Automobiles, steel, glass, and other manufactured goods were sold throughout the world, and our cities attracted new workers eager to join the growing middle class. 

This comparative advantage once held by these cities was largely 

lost as businesses moved or expanded operations first in the South 

and then overseas. Automation replaced some jobs, and new entrants into the marketplace, such as Asian automobile manufacturers, offered products in demand by American consumers. 

In recent decades, these Midwestern cities, along with their State 

governments, have been struggling to identify new pathways to rejuvenate their economies. For instance, according to the Milken Institute findings of top-performing cities of 2007, not one Midwestern city was among the top 25 ranked performing cities in the 

Nation. And according to the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan 

Policy Program 2007 study on the economic conditions of cities, 

only one Ohio city, Columbus, was ranked among the top 200. It 

was ranked 122. Toledo was ranked 261. 

Why can’t the economies of these cities be revitalized? It has 

been shown in studies that changing a development trajectory into 

a future economy is often a difficult task. The tendency for people 

in these communities is to focus on restoring the previous industry 

that brought jobs and prosperity in the past. 

But Toledo and other Midwestern cities are working to move in 

a different direction and to utilize the talents, skills, and infrastructure that built our earlier economy into a new economy that 

is directed to rapidly expanding industries that are steeped in 

science and technology and grounded by our research universities. 

Our view is not ‘‘rust to bust,’’ as some of you may have seen in 

Richard Longworth’s 2008 book on the U.S. Midwest, but rather 

‘‘rust to renewables’’ is a phrase coined by Solar Fields CEO Norm 

Johnston, who graduated from this Clean and Alternative Energy 

Incubator and now has his company located in nearby Perrysburg. 

Toledo is in the early stages of building a new advanced renewable energy economy that is extending in a new direction the economy of our recent past. Toledo is still known by many as the ‘‘glass 

city’’ that once led the world in innovations and manufacturing in 

glass. 

Driven by the energy of talented entrepreneurs and creative inventors, Toledo brought forth many new inventions that made Toledo glass companies world leaders. For instance, the automated 

glass bottling machine was invented here in Toledo by Michael 

Owens, and this has been called the most significant invention in 

glass for over 2,000 years. 

We have taken a good, hard look at what is driving new economies and are putting it into practice in Toledo. The driver is research and development, which is translated into innovations. Entrepreneurship, cluster development, and leading positions in growing markets are also of vital importance. 

We understand the important role of the universities in this 

process as a primary source of discoveries, talent, and opportunities 

that can support innovation-based economies. Our university has 

focused our attention in areas where it has particular faculty 

strengths that supplement regional assets that are also likely to 

30 

emerge as important in our global economy. Thus, we have focused 

resources on building world-class programs in advanced renewable 

energy and in the environment. In particular, we have focused on 

building pre-eminent programs in solar energy. 

Entrepreneurship is needed to transition discoveries into the 

marketplace, either through the establishment of new enterprises 

or through the development of new initiatives within existing 

firms. Toledo has a history of entrepreneurship in glass, which continues today in our contemporary solar energy entrepreneurs. 

Research does show that knowledge is still localized and grows 

through various mechanisms of knowledge transfer, despite the 

availability of information being transferred throughout the globe 

on the Internet. Thus, a clustering of sources of innovation—such 

as research university, Government labs, industry labs—along with 

entrepreneurs, existing business enterprises, supporting government organizations and agencies, providers of services help to provide a region with leadership in technological areas that drive competitive advantage and workforce development around clusters 

needs. 

Toledo has been well positioned to take leadership in solar energy. One of the first entrepreneurs to act upon the business opportunities in solar energy came from Toledo, Dr. Harold McMaster. 

In 1984, McMaster formed Glasstech Solar to produce solar cells by 

coating glass with thin layers of chemicals. This research led to 

thin films based upon cadmium telluride in Toledo as a new company, Solar Cells, Inc., was formed. 

In 1999, True North Partners renamed the company First Solar 

as they purchased the controlling interest, You were just at First 

Solar day before yesterday. 

The University of Toledo also took early steps to support the development of this new industry. As McMaster and his colleagues at 

Glasstech advanced their technology, they sought out the assistance from the University of Toledo. 

In 1987, the University of Toledo hired Dr. Al Compaan, back 

there in the third row, to come in and work on advancing this technology. Under his direction, the university, with McMaster’s company as collaborator, won State of Ohio grants and also some Federal grants to address processing issues in thin film solar cell development. In 2001, the university made a conscious decision to put 

major resources into building programs of excellence in solar energy. 

Also, in 2002, the university took a leadership position to develop 

a cluster around this technology with the help of the National 

Science Foundation’s Partnership for Innovation program. We 

called this the Northwest Ohio Partnership on Alternative Energy 

Systems. This project provided funding to northwest Ohio to become a leader in alternative research, manufacturing, and use. 

We determined that there would be tremendous growth in the renewable energy industry in the future, and we wanted to be out in 

front of this wave. Our choice turned out to be a good one, and 

solar energy is booming throughout the world. According to 

McKinsey & Company, just this past summer, global installed solar 

capacity is to be 20 to 40 times its current level in 2020. 

31 

The University of Toledo’s Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator was opened in January 2005, and this facility is now a focal 

point for linking university research to the formation of new companies, as well as providing a place for meetings and workshops in 

solar energy and other renewable energy technologies. 

Northwest Ohio has a strong foothold as a leader in solar energy. 

At UT, we won a State Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation 

and Commercialization award for $18.6 million, and we were just 

awarded another $8.5 million from the State of Ohio for the Ohio 

Research Scholars program to attract four new faculty members 

here. Both of those proposals were led by Professor Robert Collins. 

In addition, our local industry sector is rapidly expanding and diversifying. First Solar, the company that grew from Harold 

McMaster’s Solar Cells, Inc., and was actually developed in the laboratories at the University of Toledo, now has an employment of 

700, and it will be increased by about another 134 new jobs as this 

expansion takes place. 

Solar Fields, again, they came out of this incubator, formed a 

joint venture agreement with Q-Cells, the world’s largest solar cell 

manufacturer, to form Calypso USA. 

Xunlight, another company that graduated from our incubator— 

and the CEO, Xunming Den, is there in the third row—has more 

than 70 employees now at its Nebraska Avenue location right here 

in Toledo. 

So we are making progress in positioning Toledo as the place to 

go for advanced research and manufacturing on solar cells. We 

have more to do to build this economy. 

Our task ahead is to build a new workforce for this new economy. Toledo has much talent and expertise to offer, and we see opportunities for solar installers, solar cell manufacturing plant 

workers, technicians, scientists, engineers, and a host of other opportunities upstream and downstream in this industry. 

Toledo has faced problems as its economy is moving through this 

transition, but we are optimistic that we have the talented entrepreneurs, the research universities, the supporting infrastructure 

to make Toledo the national leader in solar and other advanced renewable technologies. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Calzonetti follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF FRANK J. CALZONETTI, PH.D. 

Decades ago, Midwestern U.S. cities led the world in innovation and industrial 

might. Automobiles, glass, steel, and other manufactured goods were sold throughout the world and the cities attracted new workers eager to join a growing middle 

class. The comparative advantage once held by these cities was largely lost as businesses moved or expanded operations in lower cost, or less unionized, locations first 

in the south then overseas. In addition, new entrants into the marketplace, such as 

Asian automotive companies, offered products in demand by American consumers, 

such as inexpensive and fuel efficient vehicles, resulting in a loss of market share 

and related employment. Job losses also occurred as manufacturing plants automated in order to increase efficiency and enhance quality. These factors, among others, mean that high paying, secure jobs in manufacturing could no longer be the primary pathway to support families in most Midwestern cities. This led people to 

abandon their Midwestern roots to follow jobs to lower cost positions in other States, 

resulting in a significant population decline across the Midwest. 

In recent decades, these cities, along with their State governments, have been 

struggling to identify new pathways to provide renewed job growth, firm formation, 

investment, and a reversal of population decline. For instance, in the Milken Institute’s listing of the top performing cities of 2007, not one Midwestern city was 

32 

among the top 25 ranked performing cities in the Nation. According to the Brooking 

Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program (2007) study of the economic conditions of 

302 U.S. cities, only one Ohio city, Columbus, was ranked among the top 200 (#122). 

Other Ohio cities were ranked in the following order: Akron (#217); Canton (#246); 

Cincinnati (#263); Dayton (#283); Mansfield (#257); Springfield (#262); Toledo 

(#261); Youngstown (#282); and Warren (#294). 

Despite efforts by State and city governments, most Midwest cities are still in a 

state of distress. Why can’t the economies of these cities be revitalized? It has been 

shown that changing a development trajectory into a future economy is a difficult 

task. The tendency is to work to restore and retain the previous industry that 

brought jobs and prosperity in the past. As noted by many students of this phenomenon (e.g., Boschma and Lambooy; Ashein and Isaken), leaders in ‘‘declining’’ 

manufacturing regions must redirect thinking away from the view that competing 

on the basis of low-cost manufacturing or attracting new manufacturing operations 

will return the area to previous greatness. Toledo and other Midwestern cities are 

working to move in a different direction to utilize the talents, skills, and infrastructure that built our earlier economy into a new economy that is directed to rapidly 

expanding industries that are steeped in science and technology grounded by our 

research universities. Our view is not ‘‘rust to bust,’’ as noted in Richard Longworth’s 2008 book on the U.S. Midwest Caught in the Middle, but rather ‘‘rust to 

renewables,’’ a phrase coined by Solar Fields CEO Norm Johnston, a Perrysburg 

Ohio company which graduated from the University of Toledo Clean and Alternative 

Energy Incubator. 

Toledo is in the early stages of building a new advanced renewable energy economy that is extending in a new direction the economy of our recent past. Toledo, 

still known by many as the ‘‘glass city,’’ once led the world in innovations and manufacturing in glass. Driven by the energy of talented entrepreneurs and creative inventors, Toledo brought forth many new inventions that made Toledo’s glass companies world leaders. For instance, the automated glass bottling machine, created in 

Toledo by Michael Owens, has been called the most significant invention in glass 

for over 2,000 years. 

We have taken a hard look at what is driving new economies and are putting it 

into practice in Toledo. The driver is research and development which is translated 

into innovations, entrepreneurship, cluster development, and leading positions in 

growing markets. First, innovation is driving many regional economies throughout 

the world. We understand the important role of university research as a primary 

source of discoveries, talent, and opportunities that can support innovation-based 

economies. The University of Toledo is still emerging as a major research university 

so it is unrealistic for a research budget of $60 million a year to transform a $24 

billion Toledo economy. The University has focused its attention in areas where it 

has particular faculty strengths that supplement regional assets that are also likely 

to emerge as important to our global economy. Thus, we have focused resources on 

building world-class programs in advanced renewable energy and the environment. 

In particular, we have focused on building preeminent programs in solar energy. 

Entrepreneurship is needed to transition discoveries into the marketplace either 

through the establishment of new enterprises or through the development of new 

initiatives within existing firms. Toledo has a history of entrepreneurship in glass 

which continues today with contemporary solar energy entrepreneurs. Although 

telecommunication technology provides a free flow of information throughout the 

globe, research shows that knowledge is still localized and grows through various 

mechanisms of knowledge transfer. Thus, a clustering of sources of innovation (e.g., 

research universities, governmental and industry R&D laboratories), along with entrepreneurs, existing business enterprises, supportive government organizations and 

agencies, service providers, and other supportive organizations help to provide a region with leadership in technological areas that drive competitive advantage and 

workforce development around the clusters’ needs. 

Toledo was well positioned for leadership in solar energy. Solar energy, particularly thin-film photovoltaics (light and electricity), builds upon Toledo’s glass industry and early entrepreneurial moves into solar energy made over 20 years ago. Photovoltaic (PV) cells, or solar cells are devices that are capable of generating electrical 

energy under exposure to light. It was not until the mid-twentieth century that the 

first solar cell was patented at Bell Labs in New Jersey and not long after, commercial activity began and solar cells found use in space applications. As PV became 

a critical source of power for satellites and other space craft, the first oil shock of 

the early 1970s spurred interest in the development of terrestrial applications of PV 

technology. One of the first entrepreneurs to identify and act upon this opportunity 

was Toledoan Dr. Harold McMaster. McMaster, with his partner Norman Nitschke 

(another prolific Toledo inventor) formed Glasstech, Inc. in the Toledo neighboring 

33 

city of Perrysburg. They constructed a new machine for ‘‘tempering’’ glass that increased its strength and crumbled instead of breaking into shards and Glasstech 

grew into a leader in the manufacture of furnaces for tempered glass. In 1984, 

McMaster formed Glasstech Solar, Inc to produce efficient solar cells by coating 

glass with thin layers of chemicals. Glasstech initially worked on thin film silicon 

technology at its Wheatridge, Colorado location. Their research led to thin films 

based on cadmium telluride in Toledo as the new company Solar Cells Inc. was 

formed. In 1999, True North Partners LLC, renamed the company First Solar after 

they purchased a controlling interest. 

The University of Toledo also took early steps for support of the development of 

this new industry. As McMaster and his colleagues at Glasstech advanced their 

technology, they sought out assistance from The University of Toledo. In 1987, The 

University of Toledo hired Dr. Alvin Compaan into the Department of Physics and 

Astronomy. Under Compaan’s direction, the University, with McMaster’s company 

as a collaborator, won two State of Ohio Edison awards to address processing issues 

in thin film solar cell development. These awards were the first of a long series of 

continuous funding from State and Federal agencies to support solar energy research and development in Toledo. In 2001, the University made a decision to place 

solar energy research as a top institutional priority by placing additional positions, 

supporting new laboratories, and seeking congressional assistance for projects in 

this area. 

The University, in 2002, took a leadership position to develop a cluster around 

this technology with the National Science Foundation funded ‘‘Northwest Ohio Partnership on Alternative Energy Systems.’’ This project provided support to seed new 

research projects, explored the opening of an alternative energy incubator, and established new partnerships with industry and other organizations to make northwest Ohio a leader in alternative energy research, manufacturing, and use. We determined that there would be a tremendous growth in the renewable energy industry in the future and we wanted to be in front of this wave. Our choice turned out 

to be a good one and solar energy is booming throughout the world, and according 

to McKinsey & Company (June 2008) global installed solar capacity is to be 20 to 

40 times its current level. The University of Toledo’s Clean and Alternative Energy 

Incubator was opened in January 2005, and this facility is now a focal point for linking university research to the formation of new companies, as well as providing a 

place for meetings and workshops on solar and other renewable energy technologies. 

Northwest Ohio has a strong foothold as a leader in solar energy. At UT, we have 

the $18.6 million Wright Center for Photovoltaics Innovation and Commercialization, we have just been awarded another $8.5 million from the State of Ohio (both 

proposals led by Professor Robert Collins) to hire four additional solar energy faculty members. In addition, our local industry sector is rapidly expanding and diversifying. First Solar, the company that grew from Harold McMaster’s Solar Cells Inc. 

and was developed in laboratories at The University of Toledo, is now the largest 

solar cell producing company in the United States with an output of 307 MW in 

2007 and employment of 700, which will be increased by another 134 new jobs with 

a new expansion at its Perrysburg location. Two additional solar cell companies recently graduated from the Clean and Alternative Energy Incubator. Solar Fields 

formed a joint venture agreement with Q-Cells, the world’s largest solar cell manufacturer, to form Calyxo USA; Xunlight, which only graduated from the incubator 

in August 2007, now has more than 70 employees at its new Toledo location. 

We are making progress positioning Toledo as the place to go for advanced research and manufacturing on solar cells. We have more to do to build our economy. 

One task ahead is to build a new workforce for our new economy. Toledo has much 

talent and expertise to offer and we see opportunities for solar installers, solar cell 

manufacturing plant workers, technicians, scientists, engineers, and a host of other 

opportunities in upstream and downstream industries. Toledo has faced problems as 

its economy is moving through this transition, but we are optimistic that we have 

the talented entrepreneurs, the research universities, the supporting infrastructure, 

and indeed the workforce to make Toledo the national leader in solar and other advanced renewable technologies. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you, Dr. Calzonetti. 

Thank you all for both your realism and your optimism and I appreciate that from all four of you in the challenges you bring. 

Dr. Helper, talk to us more about MEP, about the Manufacturing 

Extension Partnership. You talked about how that Government investment, which you would like to triple, how every year it is cut 

34 

and we restore the cuts but try to move forward on it, how it pays 

for itself. 

Ms. HELPER. For a typical MEP program, you come in and increase the program’s productivity by 20 percent. It can do that by 

maybe training some workers. In the case of this Colonial Machine, 

we were able to help it provide some work. There was some idle 

capacity. They were able to fill it with work. 

You can get programs where workers, these workers, for instance, at American Standard have 20 years of experience. Management typically today doesn’t tap into that, they are so busy trying to keep wages low that they don’t understand either what their 

workers are doing or what the workers can do to make things better. 

One of the things that the MEP has done a little bit and I think 

can do a lot more of is encouraging employee involvement, encouraging a kind of longer term perspective. Similarly, there are a lot 

of these big firms who have small suppliers. Increasingly, they are 

outsourcing to small suppliers. 

But the small suppliers don’t have the capability to think about, 

‘‘I need to be planning long-term for investments that will improve 

my quality, will get me into new lines of business, will help me develop new products.’’ 

All of these things can have a really important impact on the bottom line not just for the firms, but also for the workers. And so, 

by providing these firms, allowing them to continue in business 

and allowing their workers to continue to have jobs, they pay taxes 

more than paying for the MEP services. 

I think one of the things that people often say is, ‘‘well, we 

should just have tax breaks.’’ But one of the things that the MEP 

does or the theory behind the tax break is, OK, we are going to 

lower the price of getting manufacturing if they do something we 

want them to do. But in the case particularly of these small businesses, it is really tough to run a small business. You have got to 

do a lot of stuff. 

You are the R&D manager. You are the marketing manager. You 

are changing light bulbs, fixing toilets, all this kind of stuff. It 

could be really hard to keep up with what is the latest innovation 

in production techniques. It can be hard for you to even know what 

the improvement path is, what consultants to hire. 

MEP can—and the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center 

actually does a great job of this, of kind of laying out an improvement path for companies as for making the integrated changes that 

are necessary to really bring a company into this knowledge economy. 

Senator BROWN. Is there sort of an upper limit or a limit on the 

size of a company that MEP works with? If it is more than 200 or 

300 employees, MEP is much less likely to be involved? Are there 

any rules that way, or can anybody ask them to come in, any manufacturer in Cleveland or Toledo or Tiffin or anywhere? 

Ms. HELPER. It is interesting. And this, I think, is some of the 

problem with the program as currently structured. The mandate is 

to help small business. But because the subsidy has been cut so 

much, the small business often has trouble meeting, in some sense, 

the co-pays. And so, increasingly, the MEPs have been looking, proVerDate Nov 24 2008 17:09 Mar 03, 2010 Jkt 035165 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\45062.TXT DENISE
35 

viding training for large companies because they can actually keep 

the budget of the MEP balanced. 

The mission is supposedly to help the smaller companies, but in 

practice, to keep themselves afloat, they have been looking at larger companies as well. 

Senator BROWN. If MEP comes to a company that is looking for 

assistance on more energy efficiency in the production process or 

something with employee training, implicit in MEP coming in, the 

company will have to spend significant dollars to—even though it 

might save money—significant dollars to comply with that. 

Smaller companies are just less likely, less able to do that. Is 

that what you are talking about when you said the co-pay? 

Ms. HELPER. Yes. There are two issues with small companies 

using MEP as currently structured. The first one is that MEP basically gets a subsidy that covers their space and covers their marketing expenses. But the company that came up with this paid the 

actual hourly salary of the workers, the engineers at MEP that designed this thing. 

You have got to come up with the capital to actually pay for the 

expenses of delivering your product. So that is the first issue—just 

coming up with that money up front often. 

The second issue is figuring out what you need, and that one of 

the things in some of my research that I have seen and some of 

the MEPs, both the strength and the weakness of the MEP program is quite decentralized. And so, some of them have responded 

to the continuing uncertainty about the budget by scaling back and 

having shorter programs, more kind of 1-day things. 

But, it takes an overview of where you are going to be able to 

tap into that. A big company that knows, ‘‘We have some needs. 

Here is something that can train my workers in the latest C&CE’’ 

or ‘‘here is how you do a supplier development program.’’ They can 

tap into that more easily than a small business owner that is trying to figure out ‘‘how do I make my payroll tomorrow?’’ 

This is really, I think, an area where the MMTC excels in offering these 2-day kind of overview diagnostic that they subsidize, is 

my understanding. I think they scramble to find the money to fund 

it, but I think it is really important to be able to get small business 

to tap in. 

Senator BROWN. So it is your recommendation that MEP funding 

be tripled in order to obviate the need for the co-pay or to extend 

the reach of MEP into more businesses or both? 

Ms. HELPER. Both. I mean, I think some co-pay is important. You 

need to have some skin in the game, but I think the level of the 

co-pay now is a barrier. 

That is the first problem, and then it also means that MEP has 

trouble or many of the individual centers have trouble coming up 

with the ability to fund a kind of overview or diagnostic for the 

firm. But then the firm could figure out and could see, ‘‘These 

courses would actually be valuable to me.’’ 

It may seem like there is free training out there. Of course, it 

would be overprescribed. There are a lot of MEPs that have trouble 

actually finding firms that know how to take advantage of the services. So there is a kind of a market making that the MEP budget 

36 

and a kind of national attention to some of these issues can help 

with. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you, Dr. Helper. 

Mr. Kildee, you mentioned Youngstown. Not that I am more interested in Youngstown than I am Flint, but I am more interested 

in Youngstown than I am Flint, for many reasons. But we appreciate the work that you have done in a real challenging situation 

in Genessee County. 

In Youngstown’s population, you said Flint went from 197,000 to 

120,000. Youngstown only got up to 160,000, and it is down to half 

its size. It actually had a bigger population percentage drop, as Detroit has, as Cleveland has, than even Flint has. 

But Youngstown, there is an incubator project very different 

from this one. It is not aimed at alternative energy. It is not university based. But it is high-tech based. It is 4 or 5 years old. Do 

you guys know that? Not much older than that. 

They now have a whole bunch of different small businesses, 

about 250 employees. The average age is 28, and the average salary is $58,000. They just brought, and I bring that up partly to 

brag about them, but mostly to ask you a question about sort of 

where they may be going on this and where we might be able to 

go on this. 

They have just got a new business that is coming from San Francisco that they think has real potential job growth. The movement 

from San Francisco to Youngstown is mostly—they had an Ohio 

connection somehow. But the movement is not somebody coming 

back to be near family. It is nothing like that. It is because the 

time of commute and the cost of housing and the cost of living generally, but particularly housing is so starkly different, obviously, 

between Youngstown and San Francisco. 

Is that a model that we can pursue? I mean, in some sense, it 

sounds like a race to the bottom, but it really isn’t because it is still 

good wages here. It is just our homes cost less and property and 

all that. Is there a way to use that model in places like Flint and 

places like Toledo that we begin to bring businesses back here because of lifestyle, because of an easier place to live than many of 

these cities that have had explosive growth that Dr. Calzonetti 

talked about? 

Mr. KILDEE. I think it can be. Cities like Youngstown, Flint, 

other places that are similarly situated do have some natural advantages. The size, at least the historical efficiency of those cities 

is still in place. Those cities were built and worked very well for 

a long time. 

I think the challenge—as I mentioned earlier, in order to attract 

the kind of employers that you mentioned coming from the West 

or the South or new startups, in order to attract entrepreneurs, we 

really have to build the cities that people want to live in. They 

don’t have to be big cities. 

Flint, for example. We are now seeing a rebirth in the downtown 

of Flint because we are building a different kind of downtown, relying on the fact that we have a branch of the University of Michigan, which, by the way, is an actual university—— 

[Laughter.] 

37 

In Ohio, people sometimes challenge you about that. We have a 

branch of the University of Michigan right in our downtown. 

Youngstown has, of course, the University—— 

Senator BROWN. Does U of M have several branches? I didn’t 

know that. 

Mr. KILDEE. Three. 

Senator BROWN. Three. Where else? 

Mr. KILDEE. Ann Arbor, which we call the south campus—the 

University of Michigan-Flint, and Dearborn. 

Senator BROWN. Dearborn. 

Mr. KILDEE. Which is in—— 

Senator BROWN. That is really the south campus. 

Mr. KILDEE. Right, right. I think, to answer your question specifically, yes, there is great opportunity for medium-sized cities, but 

we have to rethink public investment in these cities. The Federal 

Government has a stake in this, and money that comes from the 

Federal Government to the States or from the States to the local 

communities ought not be neutral on the question of cities. 

We ought not treat public infrastructure development that expands the size, the footprint, and then the cost of government with 

a more rational use of public investment to rebuild streets or parking decks or rebuild historic structures in our downtowns, in our 

cities where we have already spent, like I said before, literally billions of dollars. Investment ought not be neutral. 

Interestingly enough, and I know it will probably never get to a 

point where public policy would support this, but the cost of developing new public infrastructure in a suburban or currently rural 

community, in order to attract jobs and to build an economy, is far 

greater than the cost that it would take to underwrite the operating loss for a short period of time for a pharmacy, a grocery store, 

and the little amenities that these downtowns need in order to 

complete their attractiveness to new, young, thoughtful, and not-soyoung, knowledge-oriented workers. 

The kind of public investment that requires us to build a multimillion dollar exchange in suburbia is actually costing us a lot of 

money because we have to maintain that. We have to also maintain 

the public infrastructure that we built 50 years ago and left behind. 

To me, it is not just a matter of better use or better stewardship 

of public dollars when we invest, but actually thinking about the 

implications for those investments. In order to make cities like 

Youngstown, Flint, Gary, IN, attractive again, we really do need to 

rethink our public investment strategy. And I think urban land is 

an opportunity that can’t be overlooked. 

Senator BROWN. In a sort of a macro-political sense, how do we 

do that? 

Mr. KILDEE. There is a lot of State policy that needs to be 

changed. That is what we did in Michigan, and I really didn’t get 

into the detail of this because if we start talking about tax collection systems, we will clear the room. 

[Laughter.] 

But we changed our tax collection system in Michigan based on 

our model. We re-engineered that system from a liquidation approach, which meant that when we had uncollected taxes, we 

38 

would just simply sell tax liens to private investors and auction 

urban property to people on the Internet. That liquidation model 

is what many mortgage lenders are using right now in clearing 

their books of foreclosed assets. I worry about that as well. 

We decided to approach urban land, particularly tax foreclosed 

urban land, with an investment strategy, treating this land as if 

it has real value. It is only by engaging that kind of a system and 

appreciating the property that we can get for very little money can 

actually be made valuable again if we treat it that way, that is 

going to require some State policy changes. 

Finally, for the first time ever, Federal law, since July, now actu- ally uses the term ‘‘land bank.’’ The $3.92 billion that is being distributed throughout the United States right now for communities 

to purchase mortgage-foreclosed properties supports the creation of 

land banks. And I have been working with your county treasurer, 

Wade Kapszukiewicz, right here in Lucas County to pursue the creation of a land bank right here. 

Toledo is in a much better condition than Flint. This is the time 

to do this. You might not feel like it is. But come to Flint, and I 

will show you. This is the time when a community really should 

embrace its urban land assets, not when you get to a point when 

you are in a Flint, MI, or a Youngstown condition, when you are 

really in the emergency room. 

It might not feel like it for some of you that are doing the hard 

work here in Toledo, but you are in a much, much better position 

to minimize any negative effects of what has been a failed American urban land strategy for the last 30 or 40 years, if you act now. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. 

Wade has been working with Cuyahoga County, Jim Rokakis, 

also on land bank. I spoke with him a few days ago, and the governor is starting to focus on this, too. I mean, I think there is a 

real movement in Ohio to in part mimic what you are doing, in 

part to strike up in some new directions, too. 

Mr. Dmytryka, thank you. You have obviously thought a lot 

about attracting people into science, technology, engineering, especially math. I am sure that you are focused on your own business, 

and your involvement with the chamber has given you and the 

Workforce Investment Agency generally has given you also a broader picture, too. 

What do we do in this country to attract particularly minority 

and women engineers, but just engineers generally? Where are we 

falling down? What can society do? What can the Federal Government do? What can State governments do to make it easier for 

your business to be able to find those engineers outside of people 

that you know who know people? 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. I think that planning for the future, our company is to the point where the people that we are looking for aren’t 

necessarily today the ones coming out of school. Yes, we are still 

taking them because we still want to grow from within. But our 

model of growth that we implemented back several years ago, we 

now need some of those middle and upper level people. 

To me, one of the things that I have been involved in, and I think 

anybody in my position could rather easily be involved in, is I go 

back to the grade school that my kids went to and do a project with 

39 

the 7th grade. And it takes me an hour once a week for the second 

semester, and it is a hands-on project offered by the Society of 

Automotive Engineers. 

One year, we will do gliders, and one year, we will do gears on 

a little electric model car. And we put them in teams of three or 

four. Because now I don’t know any of them—my boys, my youngest one has been out of that school for 6 years now. I still go back 

because I enjoy it, but I don’t know them. So we just put them in 

groups and make them work together, whether they like their partners or not. That doesn’t become my problem. It becomes their 

problem. 

But the idea of working together in a team environment, it is the 

first time they have probably ever done that, trying to learn something about a glider and why it flies. You know, doing some research, even if it is getting on the Internet and finding machines 

that fly or machines with gears and how one big gear is going to 

turn smaller than a little gear. But the one has more power than 

the other, trying to get them to that idea. 

That is something I think anybody can do to that point. Now I 

don’t know if it is necessarily anything that can come from Washington or Columbus or downtown Toledo. It is on the individual 

basis. And by giving that time back, I am hoping that out of 28 

kids, if one of them gets into engineering, then 30 years from now, 

somebody sitting in my position is going to have somebody who is 

going to be able to help them out. 

Senator BROWN. So are engineers around the country doing 

things like that in the schools? Electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, industrial engineers, do you know if that is going on 

much? 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. I can’t believe I am the only one, OK? I might 

be good, but I ain’t that good. 

[Laughter.] 

I can’t believe I am the only one. The program comes out from 

SAE, which is a national organization. 

Senator BROWN. So likely they are promoting that in other places 

in the country and the State? 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. Yes. Yes, sir. 

Senator BROWN. That is an interesting thought. Because I know 

that Chancellor Fingerhut and the governor are really tuned into 

what we do. And one of the things I mentioned earlier, I do these 

roundtables around the State where I have done probably 120 of 

them, sitting around with 15 or 20 people and asking questions 

about their communities. 

What has astounded me is how many business people, whether 

they are employers, whether their business is social service, hospitals, whatever, saying they can’t find enough employees that either can pass the drug test or qualify to—and sometimes it is engineering. Sometimes it is way less skilled than that, and it is sort 

of all across the board in a lot of ways. 

A lot of it is the building trades, that we don’t have enough people we are training in the building trades. And very good jobs with 

managing your own pension so they are going to have pensions 

when they retire and all that those middle class jobs mean. 

So thank you for your thoughts on that. 

40 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. Thank you, sir. 

Senator BROWN. Dr. Calzonetti, thank you for introducing two 

great entrepreneurs that are providing jobs in this community. It 

all started at University of Toledo. We particularly like that. 

This is a story that the governor and I were talking about in 

Perrysburg how we tell this story about Xunlight and First Solar 

and wind turbine research and solar, all the things that you are 

doing here. We are telling the story. He tells it around the State. 

I tell it around the country, and it is pretty exciting. 

As a geographer, what role do you think that the Great Lakes 

can play in—I am going to go a little far afield from alternative energy, which is your real focus, I understand. But what role can the 

Great Lakes play in the kind of resurgence of Michigan and Ohio 

and other States that have been so productive and built this country and could build this country again? 

Mr. CALZONETTI. Well, the Great Lakes obviously a tremendous 

resource, not just the largest fresh water source in the world, 

but—— 

Senator BROWN. I am not even a geographer, and I knew that. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. CALZONETTI. [continuing.] As a source of energy. You may 

have seen the article in yesterday’s Washington Post about the 

wind potential in the Great Lakes. I mean, as a source of energy 

from wind, it can be enormous. And so, there is the energy potential for producing wind energy. 

Senator BROWN. Someone at the University of Toledo told me 

that one of the advantages the Great Lakes has in wind is that the 

blades, the most efficient blades are now 250, 300 feet long and you 

can really only move them on water? 

Mr. CALZONETTI. That is right. 

Senator BROWN. That is another advantage we have. 

Mr. CALZONETTI. Exactly right. So, when you move to larger systems, obviously, offshore makes a lot of sense. Cleveland is making 

a big push, as you know, in moving forward with offshore wind development. 

If you look at the load centers, where the load centers are 

throughout the country, you will find that the load centers are 

mostly next to coastal areas. The Great Lakes have a lot of resource there. 

We, at the University of Toledo, have the Lake Erie Research 

Center. We are very interested in the health of the Great Lakes, 

what it means for drinking, bathing, and recreation and fishing, 

and concerned about the dead zone issues and other issues that affect the health of the Great Lakes. Of course, there is a lot of fresh 

water there that people are looking at throughout the country, and 

so it is good for us to protect that as well. 

But it is a key resource that also supports transportation. If you 

go back to the history of Toledo, it was really built around its 

transportation assets, and it was a place where people can come in 

from the Erie Canal, go across Lake Erie, and then they would 

have easy access to the West. And the lakes still are very important for transportation, as you mentioned, with the wind turbine 

blades, and also the potential to bring in freight from throughout 

the world and also taking advantage of multimodal opportunities. 

41 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. 

Let me ask a general question and any one of you can answer, 

you all don’t have to answer this. I am going to ask you the question that I asked the other panel. What one or two things can Government do? 

You heard the first panel, and you heard Ms. Price’s story and 

Mr. Goshe’s story. Any one of you have an opinion on what Government can do for people who walk into the Lucas County one-stop 

agency and what role Government can play to help people more immediately? 

Do you have any thoughts on that? It is not an easy question. 

Mr. Kildee. 

Mr. KILDEE. I can offer one thing. It doesn’t relate directly to 

what they are addressing when they walk in, but I deal with a 

whole lot of folks—I have a foreclosure prevention program, and it 

is the same population that I am sure that are concerned about 

their job, they are concerned about losing their house. 

I find one common theme, and this is a huge one. It is the fact 

that many people are being bankrupted by the lack of access to affordable healthcare. I have prevented 2,300 foreclosures in my 

county. And with very few exceptions, people that are coming in to 

see me have one of two conditions. First, they either do not have 

healthcare and that some awful condition has caused them to have 

to forego paying their mortgage or their taxes in order to take care 

of their health of their family, No. 1. 

Second, and this is sadly the case, that there is a level of illiteracy, functional illiteracy among a percentage of our population. 

The sad thing is, here, I am the county treasurer. I am the tax collector, looking to try to figure out a way to not foreclose on a family 

because they failed to pay their taxes, and in my view, the very 

government that is asking them for taxes failed to educate them 

properly in the first place and can’t make a priority of healthcare 

the way we have made the priority of other things in this country. 

It is a big answer to a very direct question. But it is pretty hard, 

for me anyway, to avoid that glaring failure that I see affecting so 

many families. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. 

What is the one or two things that you would recommend that 

I can do, my office can do, the Senate, the House and the White 

House can do, that you would like to see? Do you want to start, 

Dr. Helper? 

Ms. HELPER. I guess what I want to think about is a strategy 

that should underlie every Government policy and a couple questions to ask. One is, is it sustainable? Does it reduce the carbon 

footprint, or does it make things worse in terms of environment? 

The second thing is, is it going to promote operating or an economy that is based on cultivating the talents of all workers? So it 

would create a stable middle class that knows how to innovate, as 

opposed to competing on can we bribe rich people to bring their 

plant here at some great cost? 

So it seems like there are a bunch of policies that come under 

that, but for every bill that comes forward, think about those problems, those programs. Healthcare is obviously really important. I 

42 

keep coming back to the MEP. It is a tiny program, but what it 

does is it links together. 

I think one of the problems with a lot of the programs we have 

is if you know how to do it, there is all kinds of stuff you can access 

to. There is training. There is this. There is that. But MEP has the 

possibility of being kind of a one-stop for business, and unite all 

that, so workers can actually advance, contribute, et cetera. 

Senator BROWN. Mr. Kildee, anything you want to add? 

Mr. KILDEE. Just actually to reiterate an earlier point, and that 

is to rethink the Federal role in public investment. The devolution 

of authority to the States and local communities to determine how 

to use Federal dollars I think in some ways has allowed the Federal Government to abdicate its responsibility for having priorities 

for the use of its money. 

Cities really do matter. Cities ought to be a Federal responsibility to a much greater extent than they have been in the recent 

period. And so, when it comes to transportation dollars, when it 

comes to support for higher education, for example, or K–12 education, recognizing that cities, but especially America’s older, weak 

market cities have special challenges that ought to be recognized. 

And not out of the largess of the Federal Government should that 

become a priority, but in the self-interest of this Nation we have 

to reinvest in those cities. 

To prioritize Federal support in those old cities that built this 

country in the first place I think would be a step in the right direction. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. 

Mr. Dmytryka. 

Mr. DMYTRYKA. I would follow up on that. I think reading, writing, arithmetic, down at the bottom levels and working your way 

up. Definitely. Functional illiterates, they are there, and they don’t 

really—they get in the workforce, and I don’t know—in my industry, they wouldn’t help. 

The other thing is to the difference between someone with a 

high-tech background and someone who wants to work in high 

tech, which is a distinct difference because not everybody is going 

to go to college, get a bachelor’s, master’s, or Ph.D. But an awful 

lot more people could be trained to work in the high-tech industries 

with some knowledge, but they are not going to get that knowledge 

unless they know how to read, write, and do arithmetic. 

So it is going back to that. 

Senator BROWN. Dr. Calzonetti. 

Mr. CALZONETTI. Yes, I would say that the world is rushing into 

clean energy, tremendous opportunities. Countries throughout the 

world and companies in those countries are making investments 

supported by their governments. 

The United States has been a leader in the development of the 

technology. For instance, solar cells came out of Bell Labs in 1954 

first patented. Wind turbine technology, a lot of it was developed 

at NASA Glenn in the 1970s. 

Senator BROWN. And in Sandusky, too. 

Mr. CALZONETTI. And Sandusky, yes. At the Plum Brook facility. 

However, who picked up on this technology? We need to have a 

government that is going to make advanced energy a high priority, 

43 

invest in this, and to keep the companies that are growing very 

well here, here. 

I just returned from China. I went over there, talked to them 

about what we are doing here. I was invited back. They want us 

to come back. They have 10 companies that want to meet with us 

about our technology to set up facilities in China. We need a government that is going to take a full assessment of the full cost of 

energy systems, the environmental cost of energy systems, as well 

as the cost of energy security. 

If you go back to, for instance, President Carter days, that was 

the first time that it was acknowledged that maintaining the supply lines from the Persian Gulf was a matter of U.S. economic security, and there are enormous costs for doing that. We have a lot 

of potential that would build technology right here in this country, 

and we need to have a new commitment to develop that technology. 

Senator BROWN. Thank you. Thank you all. Dr. Calzonetti, Mr. 

Dmytryka, Mr. Kildee, and Dr. Helper, thank you. 

Anyone, including the first panel, that wants to submit any additional testimony, get it to us within 10 days. Thank you again. 

Thank you for being here, Ms. Hastings, and thank you again, 

Chris, very much for your work and, Jessie, for your work. 

John Ryan, my State director, is also here. Thank you, John, and 

all of you that joined us, thank you. Stay in touch with us. If you 

have thoughts or ideas that you want to share with us, certainly 

feel free to come forward and do that. 

The hearing is adjourned. I thank you very much for being here. 

[Additional material follows.] 

44 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SENATOR ENZI

Thank you Senator Brown for holding this important field hearing today to address the needs of American workers and the role 

job training can play in strengthening and rebuilding our communities. 

I believe job training is critical to the success of our communities 

and Nation. Job training is important both to provide a skilled 

workforce to avoid closings and to assist workers who have become 

dislocated. That is why I helped author the reauthorization of the 

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) which creates a streamlined job 

training and employment system for our employers and workers. 

Unfortunately, the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) is 5 years 

overdue for reauthorization. The Senate passed a bipartisan WIA 

reauthorization bill in both the 108th and 109th Congress by unanimous consent. However, in this Congress a Senate reauthorization 

bill was not even introduced. Such inaction is unacceptable. 

Congress must renew and improve the Workforce Investment Act 

by building on its successes so that all Americans have access to 

education and training opportunities. The structure is already in 

place, we just need to refine the system to prepare our workers for 

the new careers of the 21st century. The fact is that we don’t even 

know what the high wage, high demand, high skill careers will be 

in the next decade. The skills for today’s jobs are not the skills 

needed for tomorrow’s jobs—everyone must have the opportunity 

and access to training and education that will keep them successful 

in a rapidly changing work environment. 

We face many challenges today. Today, an estimated 85 percent 

of jobs are classified as ‘‘skilled’’ jobs, compared to only 15 percent 

of jobs classified as ‘‘skilled’’ jobs in 1950. From 2004 to 2014 the 

numbers of jobs in the U.S. economy is expected to grow by 13 percent, those jobs requiring at least some college will grow the fastest. By some estimates, nearly four out of every five new jobs being 

created will require some education or training beyond high school 

which is why it was critical that Congress passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act which we had been working on for 5 years! 

In order to meet these challenges head on, we must work with 

our businesses—big and small—to make sure they have the highly 

skilled workforce they need to be successful in the 21st century 

global economy. Additionally, our workers need more opportunities 

to grow their skills and our businesses deserve a high quality, 

highly skilled workforce. 

Over the past 4 years we have been able to reauthorize Head 

Start, career and technical education programs and higher education. We are working on high school reform to make sure that 

more of our students graduate on time with the knowledge and 

skills they need to be successful in college and the workforce without remediation. We need to get the reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act done so that everyone throughout life has access to the education and training opportunities they need to be 

successful. Once again I urge the Senate leadership to take up reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), it is past 

45 

time for the Senate to get serious about workforce development and 

job training and take action on this important legislation. 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF VAUGHN K. BUNTAIN, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, 

IBC SOLAR, INC. 

The State of Ohio can create jobs and an industry very easily: follow the example 

of Germany. The former eastern Germany was a devastated waste land of high unemployment, low productivity, and empty factories. To reintegrate those eastern 

States, Western Germany did two things: 

1. Created a new industrial base—in their case: renewable energy. 

2. Fueled that base with regulations to inspire companies to invest. 

Today, Germany is the leading country in the world for solar energy with 14 percent of their energy supplied by renewable energy and their goal is 20 percent by 

2020. Thousands of jobs, hundreds of new companies—most of them in the former 

east Germany. No other country comes close. 

This example demonstrates three things for Ohio: 

(A) Create tax incentives that pull companies to Ohio. Right now, in a recent 

report, Ohio ranks near the bottom of States with favorable tax climate (read how 

independent reports classify the State’s tax climate and don’t be side-tracked by programs that Ohio is offering . . . other States are also doing things—and they leave 

Ohio ranked near the bottom). 

(B) implement a 20 year feed-in tariff for solar energy—this will create thousands of jobs, pull dozens of companies to Ohio, enlarge the tax base and put Ohio 

on the leading edge of solar energy initiatives—far out in front of CA. The 20 year 

period is what pulls investors to the area . . . banks are willing to make loans for 

purchasing solar photovoltaic systems because they have a long window of opportunity . . . make it attractive for individuals and companies to invest in solar energy . . . if people can save money and make money, they will invest . . . unfortunately, few people in U.S. politics today understand that. Give the utilities the ability to recover feed-in tariffs using well-known, SBC mechanisms. I’m happy to provide details of Germany’s success with the feed-in tariff, if necessary. 

(C) Decouple utility earnings from revenues so that utilities can start promoting energy efficiency and solar adoption. A simple fact: As long as utilities earn 

more when their customer base uses more energy, they will never encourage energy 

conservation . . . give them the tools. 

Bottom line: Take the lead, show leadership—do what no other States are doing 

and you can make Ohio the leading State in the union for solar energy. There are 

plenty of people willing and able to assist, including IBC Solar, Inc. 

Thank you. 

[Whereupon, at 11:59 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

Æ