SPRINGFIELD - The more than $2.7 billion worth of development projects either ongoing or recently completed in the city of Springfield account for 8,410 new jobs, retained existing jobs or construction jobs, according to a report issued by this city this morning.
There are 520 retained existing jobs on the list. The city also expects 4,692 new jobs - a number mostly made up of 3,000 expected jobs at the MGM Springfield casino.
Construction work, both recently completed and on the drawing boards and set to begin, totals 3,198 construction jobs. Of those 3,198 construction jobs, 2,000 of them are expected to be at the casino as well.
Preliminary site preparation work has begun on the $800-million MGM casino project which is expected to cover 14.5 acres on Springfield's South End.
The rundown of projects and jobs is meant to give observers a wider view of what's going on around the city, said Kevin Kennedy, Springfield's chief development officer. That overview can sometimes be lost when the discussion focuses on one specific projects or businesses.
"The keys to addressing poverty and public safety issues in any urban environment are education and jobs," Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said in a prepared statement. "We will continue to focus our attention not only on public safety but on creating new employment opportunities for our residents."
Kennedy and his staff have made a series of announcements called "City on the Rise" outlining development projects.
The list released Wednesday includes both private and public projects. The list runs from the massive to the tiny.
The federally and state-funded $88 million reconstruction of Union Station represents 300 jobs: 60 jobs retained, 140 new ones and 100 construction jobs.
Some storefront improvement grants result in saving two jobs and creating two short-term construction jobs.
This list doesn't break down jobs by category. It doesn't list, for example, how many heavy-equipment operators versus how many electricians it will take to build the CNR Changchun Railway Vehicles factory at the old Westinghouse site.
CNR is building a $65 million 220,000-square-foot railroad car factory at the former Westinghouse site on Page Boulevard where it will manufacture subway cars for the MBTA.
According to the list, that factory will need 100 construction workers to build starting in 2016 and employ 150 workers when production begins, probably in December 2018.