By Jared Shelly

– Ed Rendell had some harsh words for politicians that don’t want to invest in the nation’s infrastructure.

“We have politicians that just worry about their own survival,” the former Pennsylvania governor said during a panel discussion with the Atlantic’s Washington Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons at the National Constitution Center on Wednesday. “The frustrating thing is that we know what to do, we just don’t have the will to do it.”

Rendell, who has made infrastructure one of his main areas of focus since he left office in 2011, said the current political landscape doesn’t allow the country to make necessary repairs to roads and bridges.

“We’ve stopped investing because of this idea that when government spends money it’s bad,” said Rendell, who referred to notes on his iPad during the presentation. He argued that infrastructure investments mean people get jobs, and structures (like roads and bridges) get the critical repairs they need.

Sponsored by Seimens, the Atlantic magazine event “Building the Future” also focused on manufacturing, something Rendell touted as a burgeoning industry — and a great career path.

“There are still 600,000 manufacturing jobs going unfilled in the United States,” said Rendell, noting that many employers can’t seem to find workers with the right skill sets.

“Do you want a great job? Do you want to be in demand? Become a manufacturing engineer,” he said.

And for those that think manufacturing is done in a dirty, smoke-filled factory are simply misinformed. These days, manufacturing is highly-skilled work, often done in clean rooms and resulting in technically advanced products. (Rendell repeatedly touted a manufactured knee replacement as a good example.)

The stereotype of dark hands and black lungs is so 1940s.

“It’s not blue collar, it’s white collar or no collar,” he said.

Another stigma also needs to be removed: The idea that science is nerdy, uncool and not for a career for women.

“If you’re a young girl going into science, don’t worry about being called a nerd,” he said. “As Bill Gates said the nerds wind up running the world.”

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2014/07/18/ed-rendell-calls-out-politicians-for-not-investing.html