Fresh off the federal government’s first-year progress report on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and its creation of roughly 1.2 million jobs (recipient reported) through December 31, 2009, chip maker Intel announced a $3.5 billion initiative to support investment in U.S.-based growth-oriented industries.

Led by Intel and supported by several venture capital firms and corporations, the Invest in America Alliance aims to invest in technology innovation and job creation.

Intel Capital and 24 venture capital firms plan to invest $3.5 billion in U.S.-based technology companies over the next 2 years. The $200 million Intel Capital Invest in America Technology Fund will target innovation and growth segments such as clean technology, information technology and biotechnology.

Further investment in clean tech appears to be needed. According to analysis by Ernst & Young, using data from Dow Jones VentureSource, 2009 investment in the clean-tech sector hit $2.6 billion with 193 deals, a 50% plunge in dollar amount and a 16% slide in the number of deals compared to 2008.

The LA Times reports that the San Francisco Bay Area led the charge, with $1.2 billion in investments pouring in throughout the year; $295.6 million coming in during the fourth quarter. Southern California came in next, raising $329.5 million in 2009, with $30.5 million invested in the last quarter. New England brought in $283.7 million for the entire year, $38 million of it during the fourth quarter.

The Invest in America Alliance also includes commitments from 17 technology and other corporate leaders to increase their hiring of college graduates, some by as much as two times. Companies joining Intel included Accenture, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Autodesk, Broadcom Corporation, CDW LLC., Cisco, Dell, eBay, Inc., EMC Corporation, GE, Google, Inc., HP, Liberty Mutual Group, Marvell Semiconductor Inc., Microsoft Corporation, and Yahoo!.

The road to job recovery appears to be getting re-paved with dollars.