Remarks by President Biden on American Rescue Plan Investments | Eastern North Carolina Now

    That's good if we're going to compete in the world, but also is scary as hell for somebody who - like, we were talking on the way over to this building about how there's hundreds of small companies supplying small parts to internal combustion engines. And you were - you were giving me an example, Madam Secretary, of a bolt -

    SECRETARY RAIMONDO: A bolt.

    THE PRESIDENT: - one company provides that is not going to be useful in a - in an electric vehicle. And so, what we're going to do is train that - that company and the ownership of that company what parts they can contribute to to make that vehicle.

    I'll give you a concrete example. Remember, when we were having the great difficulty - we still have some difficulty in the supply chain of items coming from Asia - and the shipping, the vast majority of it comes through the ports in San Diego and - and Los Angeles and those ports. And the ports were asking for help all across the country for new technologies, new cranes, new movements, more robotics.

    I said, "Okay, we'll do it on one condition - that the people you have on the job now at the port are the people you train. You give them the opportunity to man the new machinery." Not a joke.

    And one of the things I think this is - was so important about what we're all talking about - all of you are talking about is - think of all the people who've been breaking their neck and doing well, doing things that really matter, who are going to become - what they're doing is become - is going to become obsolete because of how things are changing, whether it's a transition in the climate environment or whether it's cla- - manufacturing or medicine, whatever it is.

    And so, when you say you're going to provide - we're going to provide in-depth assessment - assessment and assistance to 65 firms through a supply chain transformation center, that can sound pretty abstract to a lot of people. Give me an example of what you really mean - what this will really mean for a company and its workers in this supply chain trans- - transformation center. What are you talking about?

    MS. KRAUSS: Absolutely, Mr. President, as you know, in our region, because you were very important here a few years ago in helping us make a transformation, we need to do it again. We have a terrific, talented workforce and supply chain. But we need to give them the skills that they need and the tools that they need.

    So, one example is a company in a community in the Detroit region called Oxford. It's Barron Industries. They're a casting company, but they need help in making sure that they can produce the right parts with the right technology at the right speed with the right talent. So they have been receiving assistance on marketing, on cybersecurity, on production techniques so that they can make the transition as rapidly as the OEMs are making it and they can stay an important part of that supply chain.

    That also includes making sure that their employees have the skillsets - the upskilling that they need - so that they can be successful and, as you say, included and staying here in our region to do those jobs.

    SECRETARY RAIMONDO: Mr. President, one of the things I love about what Maureen and her team is doing is that so often, we focus on the "Big Three" automakers, which is important, you know, for all the obvious reasons. But what they're doing is focused on the whole network of small suppliers - you know, the hundreds, if not thousands, of small family-owned suppliers to the "Big Three" and making sure that, as Maureen said, they have the new materials, the new technology, the new training so that they can continue to service as we move towards EVs.

    And so I give you a lot of credit for getting into the supply chain.

    THE PRESIDENT: The last thing I'll say - I could talk about this for a long time, but - (laughs) - going through two of the major American automobile plants for a long time, for an extended period of time, there was a lot of concern by the UAW about robotics and - and how that was going to displace workers when, in fact, being able to teach those folks how to use those robots, it increased productivity and doesn't displace them is what's really happening.

    And so it's all about - you can maintain the workforce, you can maintain the - increase the productivity, remain competitive internationally, and still get a lot done.

    But at any rate, I - I - maybe with a - as my grandfather used to say, "With the grace of God, the goodwill of neighbors," I'll see you at the auto show.

    MS. KRAUSS: We welcome you. Absolutely.

    THE PRESIDENT: All right. Well -

    SECRETARY RAIMONDO: So, the mention of robotics is a perfect segue. I'd love to turn it over to Stefani from the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Coalition. You all will be receiving $62.7 million. I'd love to hear Stefani talk a little bit more about that.

    To put this in perspective and to pick up on the point you just made, Mr. President, about robotics, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is, we all know, a world leader in robotics. And a lot of jobs have been created right around CMU.

    But if you're living in a coal community or a rural community outside of Pittsburgh, you might wonder, "How do I fit in? How do I get a job, you know, with robotics and..."

    THE PRESIDENT: You go to the county executive, that's what you do.

    SECRETARY RAIMONDO: Exactly. (Laughter.) That's why he's part of it.

    So, that - so, that's what these guys are doing. So, we'll turn it over to Stefani and the team, and maybe tell us a little bit about what you're doing.

    MS. PASHMAN: Sure. Thank you, Madam Secretary. And yes, Mr. President, I am joined today by several of your friends - the county executive, Rich Fitzgerald; president of Carnegie Mellon University, Farnam Jahanian; and my colleague and the chief equity officer on the project, Majestic Lane.

    And what I want to start off by saying is thank you for your vision. And thank you very much, Madam Secretary, to your incredible team and for you in making that a reality.

    What we have loved, in some ways, most about this project is that we get to do what we do best in Pittsburgh, which is collaborate and bring together what - we had 200 partners - in which (inaudible) in Pittsburgh to make words into action to deliver on your vision.

    And so, through this amazing challenge, we are able to do exactly what you said, which is to look at those 3,000 manufacturers that are in counties like Indiana and Fayette and Greene and Washington and marry them with the over 100 robotics companies that birthed from Carnegie Mellon University and many of our other folks - to actually put them together to create the jobs and the technologies and the companies of the future.

    And we're doing that in a way that is building programs for people. This is about people first: 14,000 workers, 750 companies that will fuel an entire new economy for us that we think won't just be about Southwestern PA and not just the United States, but globally to redefine how we do business and how we keep jobs at home in our communities, as you so well described.

    SECRETARY RAIMONDO: Thank you. One of the things I love about this is - a lot of people when they hear "robotics" or they hear "autonomous technologies," they hear, "I'm about to lose my job." And so, what Stephanie and the team are doing is saying quite the opposite. This is going to create job opportunities for you, including in your rural community, not just in the neighborhood of CMU.

    MS. PASHMAN: Yeah, I so appreciate that question, Madam Secretary, because as you can imagine, as the birthplace and the leader in robotics, this is a question we tackle and think about extensively.

    And I can start by telling you the data, which is we know that for every one job that may be displaced with robotics technology in a company, it's creating at least 1.5 and sometimes more.

    But what's even more important and that we understand is for the companies that are actually growing and scaling in our midst - those 100 companies I talked about - many of them have upwards of 1,000 employees right now. And those are middle-skill jobs. Those are jobs where people are tinkering and building sensors and using the skills that you described, like your father had. And that's exactly what we're trying to do here today. And we're doing it across industries like energy, like agriculture, like healthcare.

    This is an incredible broad-based opportunity. And what we even know more as we talk to those workers: They are more fulfilled. They are actually enjoying their ability to use their creative skills, to customize sensors, to repair robots, to work in partnership with entrepreneurs in creating those actual technologies.

    It's a more fulfilling job. It's a higher-wage job. It keeps them in communities. And it actually allows them to have family-sustaining jobs where they were born and where they want to stay.

    THE PRESIDENT: Mr. President, at Carnegie Mellon - I had the honor of you showing me around Carnegie Mellon - it's a great university for real; I'm not being solicitous. Are you working with smaller outfits, like the community colleges in the region? And talk to me about the - the sort of coordination between a great national university like yours and a community college in your community.

    MR. JAHANIAN: First of all, Mr. President, thank you very much for your leadership. It's good to be with you.

    There are two aspects of it that I want to highlight. On one hand, what we're trying to do is to bring robotics and automation to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

    As you alluded to, the digital transformation is taking place, and it's really having a ripple effect across so many sectors of our economy. So we're bringing those technologies and know-how to agriculture, to construction, to energy, to healthcare, to manufacturing, mining, and transportation.

    So that element - bringing those skills and technologies to small and medium enterprises to make them more competitive is extremely important. It's extremely important for the nation because we live in a global world. So that's one element of it.

    The second element that - that you alluded to has to do with upskilling and reskilling the workforce. And in this case, we're working with community colleges, we're working on curriculum development, we're working on various ways that we can bring along the workers and retrain them and upskill them to be ready for these new jobs that are going to be created.

    It's extremely important to recognize that as we adapt these new technologies in smaller and medium enterprises, we have the workforce that's going to be ready to take those jobs.

    So, the coordination with community colleges, with labor unions, especially in our poor, urban areas, and, as Madam Secretary alluded to, the 11 counties that surround us is part of our mission and what we're committed to. Thank you again for the opportunity.

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, let me ask you: How is this going to play out on the political scene? As a county executive, what are you going to be able to tell folks about what's happening with this $62 billion - million dollars?

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    MR. FITZGERALD: Well, thank you, Mr. President. What we can tell people is: President Biden continues to invest in people and in jobs and in our future.

    First of all, congratulations on another great jobs report. I mean, we shouldn't just go over that real quickly. Ten million jobs in your - your year-and-a-half tenure is really unbelievable. And a lot of them have been created right here in Southwestern Pennsylvania.

    And as Stefani and President Jahanian have mentioned, it's not just for the - for the robotics software engineer in Pittsburgh, it is for the small town in Westmoreland County and in Beaver County, the manufacturing facilities that are transitioning and the type of training that can happen throughout our community college but for families.

    And I know you've talked about this all the time, and it's so important: It's about hope and for the future, for the next generation who are out there wondering what's going to happen. You mentioned the displacement that's going to - you know, could happen and the changes over the next 10 to 15 years. This doesn't leave people behind. And we appreciate that very, very much.

    And by the way, we're looking forward to seeing you on Monday on Labor Day. You're always here with us, and we're looking forward to it. We're guaranteeing good weather, Mr. President. (Laughter.)

    THE PRESIDENT: All right. (Laughs.)

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    All right. Sir, do you have anything you'd like to add about what's going on in the community?

    MR. LANE: Well, sure. I think what's important about this is, you know, as you spoke to, Mr. President, often people think that robotics and AI are leaving people behind. But we're being really intentional, both demographically within our communities - people of color and women - and also in our rural communities about how do we connect people to inclusive career pathways but also actually connecting them up to business development opportunities in the robotics and AI industry, which traditionally, they may not have had access to.
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( September 13th, 2022 @ 7:41 am )
 
Ly'n' Joe Bid'n': Have I described The Fool accurately, because all I know is that he is perceptively dishonest, or egregiously ignorant, or both?

Am I right am I here or am I blind to the man's "qualities"?



Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, September 2, 2022 News Services, Government, State and Federal Remarks by President Biden Celebrating Labor Day and the Dignity of American Workers

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