[2]During his weekly national address over the weekend, President Barack Obama announced two Colorado-based companies have been awarded nearly $2 billion in federal loan guarantees to help spur solar-energy growth. The move, on the heels of a report showing job creation will be slower than expected, is one of many government-backed initiatives meant to help speed up economic recovery by creating hundreds of jobs, according to The New York Times [3]. The infusion of cash includes a $400 million loan guarantee to Longmont-based Abound Solar Inc., a company that seeks to boost production of thin-film solar panels, which will require hiring 1,500 workers in Colorado and Indiana, points out The Denver Post [4]. In Longmont, the company will hire 300 people to double the workforce there and triple manufacturing capacity, says Mark Chen, Abound director of marketing. A $1.45 billion loan guarantee has also been made to Denver-based Abengoa Solar Inc., a part of Abengoa SA company in Spain, for construction of a large solar plant in Arizona.