SYRACUSE, NY — US President Joseph Biden on Thursday announced Syracuse as one of four additional Investing in America Workforce Hubs, and the Syracuse hub will focus on semiconductor manufacturing.
The 46th president made the announcement during his visit to the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (the MOST) in downtown Syracuse.
Biden also touted the agreement between Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) and the US Department of Commerce for $6.1 billion in federal funding from the CHIPS and Science Act for the company’s projects in the town of Clay and at its headquarters in Boise, Idaho .
Besides Syracuse, Biden also announced hubs for Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Detroit and Lansing, Michigan.
The hubs complement five existing workforce hubs, including those in Phoenix, Arizona, and Columbus, Ohio that have supported new semiconductor training programs, per a White House fact sheet about Biden’s visit to Syracuse. These hubs seek to leverage and develop partnerships between companies, educational institutions, and labor unions on workforce development.
“And I know that Micron is also partnering with American Federation of Teachers to develop technology curricula for high schools in New York State,” the president said in his remarks at the MOST.
First Lady Jill Biden in 2023 announced the first five workforce hubs in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Phoenix, Arizona; Baltimore, Maryland; Columbus, Ohio; and Augusta, Georgia.
“Thousands of workers will be trained in these facilities,” President Biden said in his remarks at the MOST.
Federal officials first discussed the announcement of Syracuse as a workforce hub during a Wednesday morning press call with reporters in New York and Idaho ahead of the president’s visit to Syracuse.
“I worked with the Biden Administration to make Syracuse one of only a handful of locations around the country designated as a workforce hub, and that’s going to help deliver assistance to companies, educational institutions, labor unions … to build a pipeline of workers to fill the thousands of good-paying jobs being created,” US Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–NY), said in the press call. “It’s one of the reasons that Micron was excited to come to Syracuse … they knew they’d have a good labor supply. The workforce hub designation will build on the major efforts Micron is already undertaking on its own to train a new generation of workers.”
Schumer went on to say, “Major funding from [the] CHIPS announcement will help support these workforce efforts and highlight Micron’s leadership in investing in workers in the entire region.”
