Jones Trades Construction Job for D&D through Recovery Act Project

AIKEN, S.C. – Bobby Jones is thankful – and happy. He is one of the 798 Savannah River Site (SRS) employees whose position was retained through Recovery Act Project funding.

Had the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Department of Energy not directed $1.6 billion to SRS to stimulate the local economy through retaining or creating new jobs, Jones would have joined the ranks of the unemployed in South Carolina, where in his home county the unemployment rate is at a staggering 16.8 percent.

“If the Recovery Act had not come about, it would have probably meant a layoff for me,” said Jones, who has been at SRS for 27 years. Instead, the Recovery Act Project means Jones, who is a lifelong resident of Islandton, S.C., about 60 miles away in Hampton County, can live at home with his wife, son, and daughter and not look elsewhere for employment.

The Jones family would have had to make major and difficult changes to adapt if Jones’ job had not been retained. “I would have had to likely travel hundreds of miles away to find construction work,” he said. Other jobs before he came to SRS had taken him to Tennessee, North Carolina and all over South Carolina for six- to eight-month stretches of time.

Retained Position Allows Hampton County Man, Bobby Jones, to Continue Mission at SRS