GREEN BAY, Wis. — First Lady Jill Biden spent Friday afternoon in Green Bay as the Biden-Harris administration kicked off its fourth "Investing in America" tour earlier this week.
The city’s downtown Rail Yard Innovation District, an area focused on economic development, served as the backdrop to highlight President Joe Biden’s economic development agenda.
Given its name, at first, some might expect warehouses and tracks filled with train cars, but instead the First Lady was surrounded by repurposed buildings that are now home to several small businesses, including a local cafe and craft brewery.
The area is just one of the places where an influx of new businesses has helped grow apprenticeship programs in the region.
“You are leading the change here in Northeast Wisconsin,” Biden told the crowd. “You are providing students with an incredible education. An opportunity to discover what they love to do, and a solid foundation for their future.”
During her visit, the First Lady highlighted how her husband’s administration is helping to connect high school and community college students to jobs upon graduation.
“It looks like what’s happening here where President Biden and state leaders are transforming education, reimagining middle school and high school classrooms, and turning them into places that students can try out different careers, explore their interests, and discover how to turn those interests into good-paying jobs,” Biden explained.
After brief remarks, the First Lady sat down for a roundtable conversation, where she heard from local teachers and students involved in youth apprenticeship programs.
“Although it can be a little scary entering the workplace as an 18-year-old high schooler, we have a school advisor that offers periodic check-ins and talks to help with issues in the workplace and provide insights into future career options,” Katelyn Callahan, a senior at Mishicot High School, told the First Lady.
Now, a first-of-its-kind grant program led by President Biden’s Dept. of Education has awarded the Badger State with almost $1.5 million in federal funding to support the "Unlocking Pathways Wisconsin" initiative. That program aims to help more than 10,000 students at 20 pilot high schools across the state, get connected with good-paying jobs upon graduation.
“This program will help get students, especially low-income students, students of color, students with disabilities, one step closer to securing good-paying jobs in in-demand industries that are eager to hire and give them the tools to build a solid foundation for a career right here in Wisconsin,” Gov. Tony Evers said.
Biden’s Investing in America agenda
Another part of the latest tour from the White House will include some major investment announcements along the way — the first of which came Thursday when the recipients of nearly $1 billion in funding for airport terminal projects were announced.
In Wisconsin, that includes roughly $3.4 million for the Appleton International Airport to add four new gates to its terminal.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) allocated a total of $5 billion toward such projects, with $1 billion in funding awarded across the nation annually between 2022 and 2026. Last year, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport received $5.1 million to replace the flat roof areas over Concourse D, and in 2022, Dane County Regional Airport was awarded $2.6 million to resurface pavement and install 400 new energy-efficient LED street lights.
A Republican rebuttal
Ahead of the First Lady’s visit Friday, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Brian Schimming criticized the visit and said it would be much less about investing in Wisconsin and more about an administration not connecting with voters.
“The truth of all of this is the Biden administration has failed Northeast Wisconsin and the state as a whole,” Schimming said. “That’s why they have to repeatedly come back here. They’re asking the people of this state not to believe their own lying eyes but what they tell them on any number of issues.”
Schimming also criticized the Biden administration for what he called a continued failing of the U.S. education system.