As Senate works on infrastructure legislation, Sen. Ossoff touted possible economic benefits for Augusta, Evans
Washington, D.C. — Today in a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff pushed for infrastructure investments to create jobs in the Central Savannah River Area, outlining how Augusta, Evans, and the CSRA region could benefit economically from major investments in transit and transportation infrastructure.
Sen. Ossoff continues to push for an ambitious bipartisan infrastructure plan in the U.S. Senate, and has been focused on infrastructure and economic development for the Augusta region.
He cited a 17 percent increase in employment in Evans between 2015 and 2020 and emphasized the importance of supporting infrastructure investments in growing cities.
Click here to watch Sen. Ossoff’s line of questioning:
Please find a transcript from the exchange here:
SEN. OSSOFF: “Mayor Andrus, like in Bozeman, a lot of the economic development and job growth we’re seeing in Georgia is taking place in smaller communities outside of the State Capitol. Evans, Georgia is the perfect illustration of such a town. Evans is located just outside Augusta where we have Fort Gordon, which hosts the U.S. Army Cyber Center for Excellence and from 2015 to 2020, Evans saw a 17% increase in its employed population. Growing cities and towns need to invest in infrastructure to build more roads, connect people with accessible transit, attract more jobs. How could a city like Evans, Georgia benefit from historic investments in infrastructure based upon your experiences leading Bozeman, please?”
MAYOR ANDRUS: “Well, I think that we have a capital improvement plan that we look at for five years out and we look at where we need to make those investments and what kinds of things are really going to help us open development and open up areas for new building in Montana. And I believe that some of those investments that some of the programs that I mentioned that the federal government offers through the CDBG and the HOME program. If you look at making them a little more flexible, we are not an entitlement community, as I’m sure, perhaps the community that you were mentioning is not either. So we have to compete for funding for some of our smaller communities in Montana. And if we were able to have a little more flexibility in that program, a little more funding in that program, I think it would help a lot to aid in the infrastructure decisions that we are making.”
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