Sean McGarvey, President of NABTU, and Jack Gerard, President & CEO of the American Petroleum Institute (API) teamed up for a joint Op-Ed in The Hill newspaper that touts the economic benefits of energy infrastructure.

Titled, “Infrastructure for Affordable Energy,” McGarvey and Gerard highlight the example of Mohawk Industries in Virginia:

“Mohawk Industries announced it was leaving Virginia in an effort to cut costs — a move county officials said ‘would have devastated the community by removing 154 direct jobs and more than $10 million in capital investment in a single swoop.’ Learning that the carpet manufacturer would stay if it could find a way to reduce its operational costs, local officials swung into action, working with the company to build a pipeline connecting it to natural gas. It worked. With access to affordable natural gas, Mohawk estimated it would save more than $110,000 per month, and 154 local residents are still employed.”

The piece also went on to highlight the important role the energy sector plays in helping to create jobs and career training opportunities in the building trades:

“Thirty-two percent of today’s construction industry workforce is employed on energy projects, amounting to more than 2 million workers. Construction-sector job growth is one of the most significant, if not always recognized, economic benefits of the American energy resurgence — including opportunities to provide career training to historically neglected communities via the building trade’s world-class apprenticeship education and training infrastructure.  And if we build the infrastructure necessary to keep pace with 21st-century production, there can be much more to come.”

READ THE FULL OP-ED HERE