Over 500 coalitions applied for these grants — from community organizations to philanthropies, to labor unions, to colleges and universities — all working together from every part of America.
 
That kind of interest is a testament to the need and enthusiasm for this type of investment.  I — it took — I take a look at this as a transition investment.
 
I’m so proud to announce 21 awardees, up on the screen here, who will each receive between $25 million and $65 million jobs to turn their plans into action.
 
And as Secretary Raimondo just said — and I guess I wasn’t supposed to start this off, was I?  Come to think of it.  All of a sudden, it dawned one me: I was supposed to let her speak first.  (Laughter.)
 
But estimate these projects are going to result in 100,000 jobs created or saved, over $7 billion in additional private sector investment in these 21 communities.
 
We want you to continue having good jobs in your community so you don’t have to leave, so your people in your communities are displa- — aren’t displaced.
 
The winners are all here up on the screen, and they’re going to empower communities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia —
 
Joe, is that you?  Is that Joe Manchin I see?
 
SENATOR MANCHIN:  I’m right here with you.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Hey, Joe Joe.  Good to see you, man.  Thanks for what you’re doing.  A matter of a fact, you’re one of the guys that started this idea with me — what you needed — what you’re talking about needed — had happened in West Virginia. 
 
But anyway —
 
SENATOR MANCHIN:  And you kept your promise.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  They’re — they’re going to empower communities in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Louisiana to lead our nation’s transition to clean energy. 
 
They’re going to empower small manufacturers in Michigan, Kansas, North Carolina, El Paso, Texas — helping them modernize and become part of a supply chains for cutting-edge technologies, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, aerospace.
 
They’re going to empower agriculture workers in Fresno, California, and women in St. Louis, Missouri, pursuing manufacturing careers through quality job training and apprenticeships that lead to good-paying jobs.
 
And they are going to support entrepreneurship and small business creation from Native American communities in Montana and to Tulsa Greenwood neigh — to Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, once known as the Black Wall Street, that I visited on the 100th Anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre.
 
Together, these projects are going to uplift underserved communities and include them as a key part of America’s economy for the 21st century.
 
We’re putting people who have been left behind in the past or couldn’t be — couldn’t have been lifted out of anything before.  They’re going to be part of this recovery.  They’re going to be the ones who are going to leading the way here.  They’re going to be the ones getting retrained for these jobs.  
 
Take the project in Georgia.  I’ve recently signed a number of laws that is going to bring manufacturing jobs back to America and to make sure the future is made in America — think of everything from electric vehicles to semiconductor chips.
 
Georgia Tech, one of the great research universities, is a leader in understanding how artificial intelligence can be used to strengthen almost any industry.
 
But too many folks, especially small manufacturers in Black communities or in rural — or rural communities in Georgia, can’t afford access to the knowledge and research to be able to capture these jobs, to be trained for them.
 
They can’t take advantage of all that technology that can make them — for them, all the difference between their businesses closing and thriving.  So, Georgia Tech partnered with HBCUs and — like Spelman College and Fort Valley State, and local community colleges.
 
With this grant, they’re going to take this technology on the road with a mobile training studios.  That’s basically a high-tech van that’s going to travel into underserved areas across Georgia to train a whole new generation of workers.
 
Technology experts will provide workers who are interested in four- to six-week hands-on training that can make all the difference in their employment.
 
Think of a poultry farmer who might never have had a chance to learn how to artificial — how artificial technology can help manage inventory or improve safety and quality while increasing their productivity.
 
Think of a family-owned paper manufacturer that could never have afforded trying out cutting-edge technologies, but now they’re going to be able to.
 
And they’re going to be able to grow their businesses.  And they can do it without ever leaving their home or their families.  This is a gamechanger.
 
Take the projections — the project in Manchester, New Hampshire.  And I’d tell you what: I heard so much from the — from the delegation in New Hampshire — from Maggie Hassan — anyway.  I won’t get into it.  But they — this has been one of the things they’ve been pushing for a long time — both senators and the congressman.  
 
Their goal is nothing short of becoming a global epicenter for the next generation of advanced medicine.  But to do it, they need world-class labs for clinical trials that will attract the most innovative bio-medicine companies in the — to locate and create jobs in New Hampshire.
 
I have to say that Senator Hassan and Shaheen, and Congressman Pappas: I hear you.  I hear you.  I hear you.  I know you’ve been talking about this a long time.  We’ve finally gotten it. 
 
And they’re going to need to bring struggling communities along in the process.
 
Because of this grant, Manchester is going to revitalize what was once one of the largest cotton textile plants in the world.
 
Right now, 100,000-square-foot mill building is empty and idle, but not for long.  Because of this grant, a coalition of city leaders and research and community organizations is going to transform that old mill into a modern marvel.  It’s going to house advanced science labs that are going to conduct groundbreaking clinical trials.
 
It’s going to be the place where they can test biotechnologies and test — and treatments that are going to save lives.  And the governor — the Republican governor is working on it — going to be there as well. 
 
For workers, small businesses, entrepreneurs in the Man- — in the Manchester area, it means opportunity.  It means jobs you can raise your family on in Manchester — not have to move.
 
Because of this American Rescue Plan grant, they’re going to be able to have access to cutting-edge technology and labs they never could have afforded before.  This is going to allow them to compete with anyone anywhere in the world, and make sure the supply-chain for these new medicines advances — the medical advances are built right here in America.  It matters. 
 
As you probably know, I could go on and on and speak about each of your communities here, but time won’t permit. 
 
I applaud every community that received the grant and that applied.  You’re the reason why I’m so optimistic for the future of our country.  I mean it. 
 
You’ve heard me say it many times before.  America is the only nation in the world that can be defined by a single word: possibilities.  There’s nothing but possibilities here.  That’s what this is about.
 
I want to thank you.  And now I’m — so I’m going to do what I should have done to begin with: Turn it over to the Secretary to begin this.  But we’ve already gone by it.
 
So, Madam Secretary, the floor is yours.

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