U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner held an impromptu meeting with Phoenix civic officials and business and education leaders to discuss the country’s current economic state at the Downtown Phoenix campus Tuesday evening.
During the closed-door meeting, Geithner advocated the need for Congress to pass the American Jobs Act, which would create thousands of American jobs.
ASU President Michael Crow, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Congressman Ed Pastor were among those to attend the meeting, which took place in the fourth floor conference room of the Walter Cronkite School.
According to Crow, Geithner was “both giving a status report on how the country’s economy is doing and seeking advice.”
The discussion covered many areas of the current economic state of the nation, including employment, banking, housing, poverty, growing the economy and the American Jobs Act, Gordon said.
The White House website provides a state-by state interactive map to show how the American Jobs Act would impact the country.
According to the website, the act would create more than 2,500 adult jobs, devote funding to school and transit infrastructure, and put nearly 150,000 long-term unemployed Arizonans back to work.
“The secretary is very knowledgeable and very focused on making the economy work again, so it was a very productive discussion,” Crow said.
Crow maintained an optimistic outlook regarding the current state of the economy, saying, “Things are more positive than most people think.”
Earlier in the day, Geithner visited the Chandler construction site of Intel Corporation’s new manufacturing facility, according to a release by the Treasury Department.
The secretary has been traveling across the country to discuss domestic investment and the American Jobs Act. The next stop on Geithner’s tour will be Honolulu, Hawaii.
Contact the reporter at bkutzler@asu.edu
Salvador Rodriguez contributed to this report.
