Roughly half of the approximately $550 billion of new spending in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act ("the Act") is allocated to improving and expanding the nation’s passenger and freight transportation networks. The funding spans virtually all transportation infrastructures: roads, bridges, airports, rail, marine ports and public transport.
One third of the new spending is earmarked to modernize and make more resilient the country’s power grid, support renewable power, safeguard the nation’s water supply and distribution system and “climate-proof” critical infrastructure. The Act also includes money aimed at narrowing the digital divide by supporting expansion of connectivity to underserved parts of the country.
The legislation is aimed at strengthening national infrastructure, as the demand to harden infrastructure against climate-change events and cyber attacks escalates. Industries that rely on these networks, such as logistics firms, airlines, railroads, solar and wind power operators, and online commerce, should stand to benefit. Improvements in transportation networks and a more reliable power grid will likely benefit virtually all industries through the promotion of greater efficiencies in supply-chain networks. The efforts also include money to help decarbonize power and energy.
We took a closer look into how the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act impacts the following industries, where the money will go and the implications of passage.
This infrastructure push potentially supports wider and longer-term needs for numerous industries—and for the nation as a whole. Given that funds would be disbursed over several years, some companies could position themselves to become infrastructure-building participants in ways that could help drive top and bottom lines. In a larger sense, the legislation could increase productivity and efficiencies in production and through supplier networks. It could promote greater domestic production and long-term job creation, enhance worker safety and improve quality of life, attracting talent and economic revival to areas of the country that have languished.