Biden launches workforce programs to boost green energy and manufacturing

The Biden administration is announcing three new workforce initiatives on Tuesday, all aimed at supplementing emerging industries critical to President Joe Biden’s green agenda.

The administration has been communicating with localities and industry stakeholders on ways to ensure workers “will have equitable access to high-quality training, education, and services that provide a good career” in renewable energy, manufacturing, and other fields that stand to receive federal money through Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act.

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These three new programs, which will be announced in first lady Jill Biden’s Tuesday remarks at the Department of Labor’s Vision 2030 National Workforce Convening, include “Workforce Hubs” in five cities across the country, an “Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Sprint,” and the establishment of 15 additional cities as members of Biden’s “Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy.”

“Through the Biden administration’s Investing in America agenda, we’re rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure and bringing back supply chains. And we’re creating millions of jobs in growing industries like clean energy and manufacturing,” the first lady will say, according to her prepared remarks. “This work pays well and often doesn’t require four years of college. And we’re connecting people to those jobs. We’re bringing together our entire government — along with incredible allies like all of you — to bridge the gap between learning and earning. That’s the Biden education pathway.”

Senior administration officials say the cities hosting the new hubs — Phoenix, Arizona; Columbus, Ohio; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Augusta, Georgia — were chosen because of their emerging industry in the surrounding region and clear desire to work with the administration in receiving federal funds outlined in Biden’s legislative victories.

“These are places where there are both great opportunities to do these workforce development things,” one official told the Washington Examiner. “In many ways, the cities have also been working on innovative efforts themselves, which in our engagement, that sort of express interest in accelerating what we’re building out.”

The administration would not attach “specific dollar amounts” to the hubs themselves but reassured reporters the centers would receive federal assistance in a variety of ways.

The manufacturing workforce sprint will see the administration work directly with private companies and unions to expand apprenticeships and other certification programs necessary for advanced manufacturing jobs and will specifically seek to expand those workforces in “underrepresented communities.” The administration has already launched similar collaborative programs with companies in trucking, cybersecurity, and other fields.

Finally, the “Good Jobs, Great Cities Academy” will seek to help cities “spur innovative and scalable city-led solutions that upskill and reskill all workers — including those who have too often been left behind — into quality, high-demand jobs in infrastructure, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing.”

The 15 cities new cities joining the administration’s academy include:

Birmingham, Alabama Chattanooga, Tennessee Duluth, Minnesota Fort Lauderdale, Florida Frederick, Maryland Jamestown, New York Kokomo, Indiana Lansing, Michigan Missoula, Montana Monroe, North Carolina Newark, New Jersey San Antonio, Texas Santa Fe, New Mexico St. Louis, Missouri Tempe, Arizona A number of industry stakeholders have indicated that the workforce, currently operating at historically low levels of unemployment, could prevent the country from reaching Biden’s industrial goals.

In particular, mining industry executives have seen their workforce shrink by more than 20% over the past decade, with associated mining degrees falling near 40% since 2016 and half of all skilled engineers reaching retirement age by 2033.

Senior administration officials, however, stressed that the announcement of these new programs was not specifically spurred by concerns raised by any private sector stakeholders.

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“The administration has continuously engaged with state and local officials, employers, unions, community colleges, high schools, and other stakeholders who are doing innovative work here and have expressed interest in different ways to accelerate workforce development opportunities so that we can make sure that there are a wide array of individuals who can take advantage of the number of job opportunities being created by the Investing in America agendas,” one senior administration official told the Washington Examiner. “They are pathways to a career that you can raise a family on if you have the training and skills you need.”