Obama to Appoint High-Level Task Force to Oversee Florida Job Transition

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

Bolden, Locke to lead jobs task force
Florida Today

President Barack Obama on Monday will appoint Cabinet secretaries and agency chiefs to lead a task force that will develop a $40 million job-creation plan for the Space Coast.

Obama will issue a memorandum naming Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as co-chairs of the team, which also will include 11 other high-level officials from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to the National Intelligence Director and head of the Small Business Administration, according to two senior administration officials.

“It is a long list, but I think it really does represent the seriousness of this administration’s commitment to working through these issues and building a stronger Space Coast,” a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of the president’s announcement.

The goal is to come up with a plan to help the region weather the loss of an estimated 8,000 space jobs after the shuttle fleet’s planned retirement later this year. The task force was ordered to report back to the president by Aug. 15.

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