to solve these challenges and to everyone involved in this important conversation today, which i know will continue in the days, weeks and months and years ahead. thank you very much for your kind attention. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the director at united infrastructure. >> thanks to all the speakers so far. we are going to get you some food now so you can just step right over here, grab a boxed

lunch, we will get back to the program here in just a little bit. but feel free to say hi to each other now. that is what we are all here for and we will be back for the second half of the program in just a few minutes. thankil you all so much. ♪♪ ♪♪

please welcome to the stage luke macgowan the head of federal initiative the government innovation at bloomberg philanthropy. hi, everybody. thanks for having me. it's a privilege to come on after lunch, so at least you are not as cranky, though i guess if you falll asleep. theree we go. thank you to united infrastructure to accelerate on the u.s. chamber of commerce for hosting us all ator this importt moment. i was reflecting on today's

presentations and one of the things i'm struck by is big things get done by doing many small things. we learned that in infrastructure projects and grid projects. we learned that through partnerships in the public sector and the private sector working together on an apprenticeship program. we learned that from the federal government trying to do big implementation of big walls and trillions of dollars working through thousands of local governments on the ground. all of it relies on stacked innovations and that is part of the work of the bloomberg philanthropy's. i'm here representing bloomberg and again luke macgowan i should have introduced myself, with bloomberg philanthropy's. ..

i was just coming out of the white house were implementing some of these big laws. for those in local government in burlington vermont so many of us worked in and around his federal, local i've experienced the promise of the generational opportunity and funds. but also the challenge. that's with the local infrastructure hub is about. it's about helping us to meet that challenge. meet that moment. the local infrastructure hub, for those who are not familiar with it that local governments discover and access federal funds and when it grants to the

bipartisan infrastructure law and the inflation reduction act. it is unique philanthropy anchored by bloomberg philanthropy in our government innovation team. that brings together partners like the emerson collective, ford foundation, kresge foundation, the bomber group with the federal agencies implementing these programs with the specialist partners like accelerator for america. like the conference of mayors, results for america the national league of cities to relate design courses and information specifically for cities, for mayors and their teams to access these grant programs. part of what it does it's essentially a series of courses for cities that lack the capacity to go out and find these programs themselves. it teaches them every step of

the weight how to apply and when a federal grant? very importantly for cities, especially small and mid side municipalities this is a completely free resource. this is offered at no charge and helps essentially hold the hand of mayors and grant managers as they apply in an attempt to in these programs. so far, just a. few numbers to keep in t mind. it has been working 1300 cities from around the country have engaged with the program to date. there are thousands of local officials hundreds of them mayors whohave participated in t sessions which are all virtual. they have been able to win $2 billion in federal grant awards thus far. local infrastructure hub participants are winning these dollars. think of most interesting about this program is that it is

helping cities that are smaller, poorer, have less capacity than the national average. 77% of her cities help have fewer than 50000 people the poverty rate in those communities is higher than the national average. we are seeing major signs of success in recent programs. i think you heard a little bit earlier today from some federal partners. butt to call out a few the department of transportation and december announced over $8 million and safe streets awards. we ran a series of boot camps in sessions on this program and demonstrated that we could help boot camp participants when larger awards in smaller places. i think we know clarkston, georgia talk to mayor birx, a city of 14000 people that want 8 million-dollar grant award for road safety in her community six

it really notes the department of transportation for the charging and feeling info structure grant program. again we help cities that were smaller had lower capacity. just talk into it mayor patterson from athens, ohio whoe will hear from in a moment there charging application which originally was envisioned for the city of athens population of about 20000 people. by participating in the boot camp program they realize they would benefit from a regional approach rather than athens application this became a southern ohio t application. and as a result they were able to winin funding 10 times as lae as they would have one. their communities served a became 19 communities in that region. finally the department of transportation announced over $3 billion in awards for reconnecting communities program just a few months ago.

through participation in our local infrastructure hub program mayor reed and montgomery, alabama was able to win a 36 million-dollar grant to address disparities in his city that would not have been able tn be addressed in such a transformational way. but for the participation in the hub. now we are open for business. there five boot camp programs runninge today. hiwhich i hope you'll take a lok at your working in communities with local governments. they can register today for brownfield program, bridget programming reconnecting communities. infrastructure for recycling and real safety awards. all that is open today. again free program for mayors and cities to access federal funding. there's also a webinar at 2:00 p.m. on the program know we

should live the programming here but if you have a friend back home make sure they sign up at local infrastructure.org. so now i will close and turn it over to a video where you can you're from the mayors who are benefiting from these programs are much better spokespeople for this effort. thank you for having me. >> infrastructure reached all aspects of the city. we've got to rebuild our infrastructure. got to rebuild america. expectation were preparing our city for the future. ♪ >> of more opportunity for federal support of the city level right now than we have ever had through the country. >> we are limited with the staff we have that's of the local industry hub does it help cities of every size. we know where that money needs to be spent to assure high quality of life for our

constituents. has been transformational in cincinnati. we received about $500 billion in grants to reconnect this invested communities that were frankly destroyed by national infrastructure highway projects in the 50s and 60s it. >> we received the thriving communities grant to create more safe bike and pedestrian pathways roads are ripple to drive there. it beat economic development driver or transportation mobility solution barracks reinvested in order and sewer, electricity grid. more jobs for everyone to think the local infrastructure hub without us i don't think we would have the impact i know we are going to have.

help us navigate. >> welcome to the stage susan walter executive vice president for infrastructure. >> important conversations rebuilding our infrastructure. as we continue to literally build on that momentum from the

bipartisan infrastructure law and vest, permit, build. that is exactly what we did in partnership with mta long island railroad for the third track expansion project. i am susan walter i lead infrastructure business in north america. i have the privileges turn as the design manager for the expansion projects. two plus billion-dollar designec bill that was there was a partnership with the owner, long island railroad, the contractor, third track constructors included the engineer and many, many third-party stakeholders.

it is the busiest commuter or railroad in north america. originally built in the 1800s it consisted of two tracks saving 50000 people. today those two tracks carry approximate 300,000 customers per day. simply put, third track project improves safety and training operations for heavily traveled 10-mile segment. and facilitated long island railroads expansion into grand central sainted and midtown manhattan through eastside access. china third track along this corridor to accommodate the additional track greenhouse gas

emissions three grade crossings with railroad bridges, with vehicular traffic would those eliminated these crossings have been a safety challenge in the community they were the site of numerous over the years. team used innovative branch accelerated construction techniques to reduce the impact of the railroad and to the public. this allowed us to maintain community safety and minimize construction impact to commuters, revenue service, and the adjacent communities. the innovation use hydraulic jacking procedure for each new bridge to reduce interruption of train service at each crossing to just one weekend.

this project also concluded the of five replacement stations making them fully ada accessible and integrating them with their communities with new part parking facilities and landscaping on the road systems were upgraded to a current state-of-the-art standard. the nta envision this project to be a transformative project. a new approach to delivering capitol projects. from a design build team included numerous partners to the long island railroad, the owner comments they third-party stakeholders multiple reviews and approval to the extended community engagement efforts

this remarkable collaboration contributed to this project delivered on time and on budget. this project is a great example of invest permit collaborate and build. thank you. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen please welcome executive director aec unites. ♪ >> good morning everyone. i am the proud executive director of aec unites. very thankful to ross and the chamber team, the infrastructure team for providing this opportunity to share more about

aec unites for aec unites newly formed association found bike by toparchitecture engineering d construction ceos. but the mission to provide intentional opportunities black talents and empowered support black-owned businesses in the architectural engineering and construction space. this week, we sent at the crossroad of opportunity and responsibility. the infrastructure law the recent legislative advances like the chips act have open new avenues for investment andav innovation. these are not just economic measures. they are lifelines to communities that have been overlooked for far too long. they are opportunities for us to build t. not just roads and bridges but pathways to equity and inclusion. artwork is cut out for us,

absolutely. despite our progress black-owned businesses still face disproportionate challenges in gaining access to major projects in capitol. sort opportunity to change that narrative. by connecting these businesses with larger networks, but advocating for equitable policies, and by ensuring these voices are not just heard but are leading the conversation. we can begin to make a real impact. this is why aec unites was formed. i invite the leaders in infrastructure to stick around after the main program concludes for an executive roundtable. we have 25 top executives go into the ribbon have a deeper

conversation about inclusive infrastructure. we'll dive into strategies for embedding inclusivity of agricultural chorister and best practices on successful community focus ever. we immediately after the program and conference rooms three and four excluding -- including as many people as we can accommodate thank you for this opportunity. i encourage you to follow us on links in. are linked in page and our website aec unites.org. thank you so much for the opportunity. [applause]