Web video highlights SRS funds

A video focusing on stimulus funds used toward in the Department of Energy highlights the Savannah River Site.

The video, featured on the White House's website, www.whitehouse.gov, tells the story of several individuals who were struggling to find work before opportunities arose through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) work.

Five people are highlighted in the five-minute clip that allows them to express how a down economy had impacted their lives and how jobs at SRS have helped them and their families get back on track.

Some of those featured in "Faces of the Recovery Act: Jobs at Savannah River Site" include a single-mother of three, two fathers who had lost their jobs after long careers and a wife and mother proud to be back at work.

A radiological control inspector and mother describes her pride saying, "I keep people safe."

A father and logistics expediter becomes emotional and sheds tears on screen. After a few years of very lean times, he explains how his job has allowed his family to catch up on house payments.

Another father expresses his pride at being able to work again, after a period of unemployment and being able to and keep his son in college.

"At the sites where this country was developing its weapons, we were not responsible in how we handled those materials," Skila Harris, ARRA adviser, said in the introduction of the video. "The recovery act has allowed us to accelerate the cleanup and hire a lot of people so that we can get these sites back they way that they were, and benefit the community at the same time by creating jobs."

The video repeatedly focuses on signs and graphics displaying the numbers of individuals ARRA funds have employed or retained - standing at 2,295 as of Oct. 30.

In March, the announcement was made that SRS would receive $1.615 billion in stimulus funds to accelerate decommissioning work and create 3,000 jobs. Since then, $200 million has been moved to the Liquid Waste site for infrastructure upgrades.

The video can be view at www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/savannah-river-site-recovery-act-video or www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fkPDQYJnio.

Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com.