Representative Falzone's monthly Cable TV show, The Beacon, examines current issues which are of interest to those living in the district. You can watch the latest on your local Cable Access Television Station (click here for showtimes).

Jobs are the priority issue in these difficult economic times. Jobs give us the money to support our families, and jobs give our communities the resources for schools, public safety, roads, senior centers, libraries, and our water and sewer systems. As I met with thousands of our neighbors, we frequently spoke together about their fears and concerns to find jobs and to avoid being laid off, to pay for mortgages and rent and to avoid foreclosures, to afford healthcare and to pay for college, and to provide for a secure retirement which for so many of us seems to keep slipping away. Jobs are the very best social program we have. Jeff Crosby, an expert on jobs, was the recent guest on my cable TV show, “The Beacon.” He is a union leader whose mission in life is to support the creation of good jobs that provide for secure healthcare and retirement.

Jeff Crosby has been a recognized leader in organized labor for two decades, and he is respected locally and throughout Massachusetts for his thoughtful contributions and hard work on behalf of the working men and women of our community. Mr. Crosby has served 19 years as the president of the local union at GE where my father worked, IUE-CWA Local 201, and for 18 years has led the North Shore Labor Council, a coalition of local unions established to advance the labor movement in our region and work for good jobs at good wages with good benefits. On The Beacon we spoke about the E-TEAM Program which I supported in the Legislature.

The E-TEAM is a training program for new machinists and prepares people in our community for jobs in metal working. The program started from conversations between unions and local faith-based groups who recognized the need for jobs that could provide adequate family support. Their research showed that many local companies needed trained machinists and that such a skilled labor force would help them stay and expand in our community. With the assistance of state funding, the E-TEAM selectively recruited those who could benefit from the intensive, months-long training with expert instructors and cutting-edge equipment. The results have been tremendous. So far nearly 90% of the graduates from the program got jobs in metal working, companies in our region gratefully found workers whose skills they needed, and as one woman said, “I was unemployed with no prospects and now, through the E-TEAM, I have a future with a good job I can count on.” The E-TEAM has proven that a thoughtful jobs program given support by the state can be a great asset to our community and local economy.

Jobs have been my first priority, and I have supported a number of job-producing initiatives in the Legislature. I have worked successfully for job training and retraining programs, and helped reduce job-killing healthcare and other expenses for small businesses. My efforts have helped build up our infrastructure which creates construction jobs and makes our area more attractive to business, and I have also supported other targeted investments in job-producing sectors of our economy where we insist upon accountability, transparency, and results.

Jobs are my major focus locally, where I have been instrumental in initiating support for new commercial development along Route 1 and at Meadow Walk on the Wakefield-Lynnfield line. Through a financial partnership with the Massachusetts School Build Authority, an agency I helped to create, our local communities of Lynn, Lynnfield, Saugus and Wakefield all have school building projects supported with state funds, projects that provide local construction jobs and enhance local education. Local jobs were also created for the cleanup of Lake Quannapowitt and Sluice and Flax Ponds, and for the road construction work on the Lynn Fells Parkway and scheduled for Lynnfield Street. A major construction project producing many jobs will be the removal of the water pipes under Route 1, the funds for which I got through the Legislature and signed into law and which now only await release by the governor.

Jeff Crosby also mentioned the importance of investing in education for job creation. Whether K-12 or our system of community and state colleges and universities, education provides the skills needed for future employment and makes Massachusetts an exceptionally attractive place to do business. I have supported our schools at every level, twice reformed the Chapter 70 school aid formula to benefit us locally, and I have led the fight for the other education system, our libraries. As founder and chairman of the Legislative Library Caucus I successfully supported libraries because I know that they in turn support the enhancement of job skills, provide access to computers and databases that help job seekers and small businesses, provide research tools to help entrepreneurs get started, and assist those who have been laid off or are looking for their first job to produce high-quality resumes.

It’s all about jobs. In this difficult economy Jeff Crosby and I are both working full-time to deliver real results for job creation and job security.