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Lawmakers heard from industry groups during a hearing Wednesday to examine how small businesses view the infrastructure crisis.

The House Small Business Committee held the hearing with lawmakers looking to address severe issues facing the national infrastructure system. The hearing explored the challenges that small businesses are facing as a result, and how they could be addressed, with a specific focus on surface transportation and access to broadband.

There has been a growing concern over the crumbling roadways, bridge collapses, and failing pipes in our national infrastructure system. The problem impacts both families and businesses across the country, but there is hope with lawmakers looking to address it.

“Our nation faces an infrastructure investment deficit of $2 trillion over the next 10 years,” Marsia Geldert-Murphey, the chief operating officer at W. James Taylor, Inc., said during the hearing. “The investment gap has led to deficient roads and bridges, water main breaks, inadequate ports and inland waterways, late flights, and so much more. Failing to close this infrastructure investment gap brings serious economic uncertainty for small businesses.”

Geldert-Murphey testified on behalf of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The hearing included speakers from several industry groups which represent small businesses in construction, engineering, and other sectors needed to improve infrastructure. Kevin Beyer spoke on behalf of The Rural Broadband Association.

“There appears to be a widespread consensus that broadband is essential infrastructure, and critical to life in modern American,” Beyer, who also works as the general manager for Farmers Mutual Telephone Company, said. “The public policy question that remains is how to best ensure that the service is available, affordable, sufficient, and sustainable in high-cost rural areas that don’t attract private investments on their own.”

The American Society of Civil Engineers released a review of the national infrastructure system which rated it at a D+ for last year. The U.S. Department of Transportation found in a report Feb. 13 that there is a $90 billion backlog in transit repair needs. Geldert-Murphey adds that if the problems are not addressed the economy is projected to lose $4 trillion in growth by 2025.

“Our nation is at a crossroads,” Geldert-Murphey said. “Languishing infrastructure impedes our ability to compete in the global economy which provides meaningful opportunities for small businesses. We need to increase our federal investment to address the national infrastructure deficit, to achieve the economic conditions needed for the 21st century.”

President Donald Trump has proposed a $1.5 trillion project to update and fix the national infrastructure  and create jobs. The plan would involve $200 billion in federal funds alongside investments from the private-sector and local governments. The plan seeks to modernize and fix roads, bridges, tunnels, and airports, among other things.

“We applaud the administration for focusing on increased infrastructure investments,” Bill Schmitz, who spoke on behalf of the National Stone, Sand, and Gravel Association, said. “However, we need the funding from the federal government to be more robust, routine, and reliable if we are to truly fix our infrastructure woes. Infrastructure projects help to create jobs and allow for the movement of goods that are essential to the American way of life.”

The White House also sees the infrastructure plan as a potential jobs stimulus program. Construction and other workers will be needed for those projects which could help them to build their careers by gaining more experience and an improved skill set.

There have been several national stories in recent years which have highlighted severe infrastructure problems across the country. There have been train derailments, bridge collapses, and other issues that have been attracted national attention. Flint, Michigan, made headlines when its drinking water became contaminated with lead from aging pipes.

The public also supports funding infrastructure improvements. An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that 64 percent of people believe that funding infrastructure should be a priority for the president and lawmakers.

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Small business experts testified before a congressional hearing Thursday that the skills gap is among the most significant issues impacting smaller employers.

The labor market has improved significantly over the past two years following an unusually long economic recovery. But some issues have lingered since the recession a decade ago. The House Small Business Committee found during its hearing that the labor skills gap is one of the more significant issues small businesses are facing.

“Many businesses are struggling to find and hire qualified employees,” Virginia Rep. Dave Brat, a Republican, said during the hearing. “Last month, I heard this in person when I was traveling around my district, dozens of business leaders tell me all too often that they can’t find a qualified skilled workforce to fill job vacancies.”

Brat convened the hearing to explore labor market challenges facing small businesses. He also highlighted factors like welfare and immigration as posing potential challenges. Todos President Carlos Castro, for instance, focused on the regulatory burden during the hearing. He testified on behalf of the National Grocers Association.

The skills gap, however, remained the primary focus. The skills gap is especially a threat to small businesses who lack the resources to withstand or overcome it, which large corporations are often able to do. Some larger companies have turned to new forms of automation as high tech solutions to address the problem.

“The best way to address social problems from an economic perspective is to reduce the cost of the social value, or to increase the cost of the social problem,” Mercatus Center research fellow Michael Farren said during the hearing. “In the case of training, if we have a skills gap and job applicants applying to businesses, then we should reduce the cost, or find ways to reduce the cost, of acquiring new skills.”

Farren shared two possible policy solutions to address the skills gap issue. He suggests reforming the tax code to better support businesses that invest in training programs. He also suggests that lawmakers should do more to address fraud in the social safety net programs to get people who can work back into the labor market.

“Since the end of the last recession manufacturing companies have added over one million jobs,” Gardner Carrick, the vice president of strategic initiatives at The Manufacturing Institute, testified. “While times are good for manufacturing in the U.S., there is a present and growing challenge for manufacturing companies. They are unable to find people with the skills for their open positions.”

Carrick notes that many companies have already instituted programs to train people for the skills they actually need. Many act like apprenticeship programs so people can earn a wage while they learn. Some of the programs even try to expose kids to modern manufacturing to show what the industry is really like.

“Electrical contractors, like the rest of the construction industry, continue to struggle to find qualified candidates to fill openings,” Bruce Seilhammer, a group manager for the electrical and construction service SECCO, testified. “According to recent research from the Associated General Contractors among the trade electricians were at the second hardest position for their members to fill.”

Seilhammer adds that a major part of the problem is that young adults are often pushed to get a four-year college degree.  Careers that require a four-year college degree are often viewed as having a higher status in society. The reality is that careers in technical fields can often be better paid and more stable.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently reported that job openings had increased to six million. At the same time, new hires decreased. The BLS also found in a 2015 report that the country is projected to produce one million fewer technical workers than are needed over the next decade.

Economists have approached the problem in a number of ways. Some believe the skills gap is occurring because people are not being provided needed skills through school and training. Others assert the issue is the result of certain industries not paying adequate wages to attract skilled talent.

President Donald Trump has looked towards apprenticeships as a potential solution. He signed an executive order June 15 aimed at increasing the number of apprenticeship programs by making it easier to create them.  Trump has also received criticism for supposedly undercutting job training elsewhere.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) found in a 2011 report that the federal government spends about $18 billion annually on these programs. Former President Barack Obama, for instance, invested $90 million into a federal program focused exclusively on apprenticeships.

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