The Shovel-Ready Series: What Is ‘Shovel-Ready’ and Why Does It Matter?

"Shovel Ready” has become a risky political catchphrase. The president and Congress have used it to the point where <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/06/obama-jokes-about-shovel-ready-projects/1">Obama is even turning against it himself</a>. The term has become an inadvertent symbol of government bureaucracy and the inability to get projects off the ground – while in the infrastructure community, it remains a powerful phrase. Check out what Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority, had to say on the true meaning of “shovel-ready”