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Execs say not enough money for infrastructure
* Stimulus effect may be short-lived
CHICAGO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - If you listen to executives from the U.S. manufacturing and transportation sectors, the infrastructure component of the stimulus package recently signed into law is a missed opportunity.
While the package of spending on roads, waterways and other big ticket items marks a good start, the government could have devoted much more resources to infrastructure, helping create jobs and improve the U.S. economy's long-term prospects, executives told the Reuters Manufacturing Summit in Chicago.
"We would have definitely liked to have seen a much stronger play into hard infrastructure," said Ed Rapp, Caterpillar Inc
<CAT.N> group president. He cited a study that suggests $1 billion in infrastructure spending creates 50,000 jobs, and said building up U.S. infrastructure is key to the country's long-term competitiveness.
"At some point in time, people are going to open their eyes up to the fact that our basic infrastructure is in a state of disrepair," Rapp said.
Rapp, who also reiterated the company's 2009 sales and profit forecast, said while the stimulus package is important, key to helping the global economy will be the success of efforts to stabilize credit markets. [nN24437984]
"Without liquidity, it's going to be tough for the stimulus to have a lasting effect," said John Rice, a General Electric Co
<GE.N> vice chairman.
The executives' comments came as President Barack Obama prepared to reassure Americans about his efforts to heal the crippled economy [nN24394594] .
The $787 billion stimulus package, which was signed into law earlier this month, includes $80.5 billion to repair and improve roads, bridges, mass transit and waterways. It also offers up $30 billion to invest in upgrading U.S. energy transmission, distribution and production systems, and $22.2 billion for science facilities and research, and to expand broadband Internet access to rural areas.
GE's Rice said he saw opportunity from the stimulus in areas of energy infrastructure and healthcare technology such as electronic medical records, but he added:
"The question for all of us is how to translate stuff in stimulus into orders and jobs. That doesn't happen in a few weeks or a few months. I would hope, for the sake of the economy and the need to get beyond this tough period, that we begin to feel some effects in the latter part of this year, but I don't know."
Rice also said GE was confident in the profit targets it has set for its infrastructure units this year and said the company would take measured steps in evaluating its dividend policy.
[nN24423677]
'DRAMATICALLY BEHIND'
The United States has fallen "dramatically behind" in terms of transportation infrastructure, such as roads, ports and rails, with no substantial investment in half a century, said Gerry Wang, CEO of global shipping company Seaspan. [nN24430745]
"It's high time money (was) spent on these things," Wang said.
It was a point of view echoed by executives who appeared earlier at the Summit.
Ron DeFeo, who heads construction equipment maker Terex Corp
<TEX.N> , called the stimulus "a good start," while Dan Ustian, CEO of truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp <NAV.N> , said he hoped the package would help boost consumer confidence, which would in turn spur demand for cars, homes and the broader economy.
"I think we haven't seen enough of that really to get more confident that the stimulus package will generate that," he said."
Meanwhile, Norfolk Southern Corp <NSC.N> CEO Wick Moorman said he was "very, very disappointed" by the amount devoted to infrastructure, especially rails, where it would be easier to add capacity quickly, compared with building new highways.
"I just thought it was woefully inadequate," Moorman said.
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