October 15, 2022
Dear Friends,
Friday marked the last day of National Manufacturing Week, when we recognize the incredible impact of American manufacturers in supporting our communities, strengthening our economy, and inspiring our future workforce.
Our Capital Region is home to numerous innovative manufacturers dedicated to improving their craft and bettering lives. Over the past few days, I had the pleasure of meeting with several to discuss the challenges they’ve faced over the years and to better understand how I can help empower them to grow and thrive.
- On Wednesday, I held a roundtable discussion with a dozen business owners and manufacturers to hear firsthand about the state of manufacturing in the Capital District. We discussed opportunities to grow local industries and enhance our region’s status as a manufacturing hub, and I highlighted some key actions we’ve taken in Congress to support them.
- This discussion followed several visits last week on National Manufacturing Day, where I met with local manufacturers, toured their facilities, and learned of their continuing efforts to boost our regional economy:
- First, I visited Owens Corning in Feura Bush, a global leader in insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composite materials. Their work helps conserve energy, improve air quality, and protect homes across the region, all while employing hundreds and contributing to our local economy.
- I also toured Wright Electric in Malta to view their work developing electric power systems for airplanes. This will enable airplanes to become zero-emissions electric vehicles, leading to a substantial reduction in carbon emissions. Wright Electric has worked with NASA, the U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Department of Energy, and I recently submitted a letter of support for their most recent NASA contract request.
These innovative manufacturers deliver key services, create good-paying jobs, enhance economic opportunity, and add vibrancy to our region. I’ve long worked to support their powerful work at the federal level and ensure manufacturers in NY-20 and across the nation have the tools they need to succeed and help bring our nation to new heights. And in just the past few months, we have seen incredible progress in our efforts.
Since President Biden took office, our economy has added 660,000 manufacturing jobs, far more per month than any President in modern history. The recent boom in factory jobs hasn’t been seen in decades. This growth would have been impossible if not for Democrats’ unyielding push to pass the CHIPS and Science Act, legislation that will revolutionize American manufacturing.
The CHIPS Act delivers $39 billion in manufacturing incentives, including $2 billion for the legacy chips used in automobiles and defense systems, $13.2 billion for R&D and workforce development, and $500 million to provide for international information communications technology security and semiconductor supply chain activities, among many other investments to support domestic chip manufacturing.
These incentives will address supply chain shortages, create tens of thousands of good-paying, union construction jobs and thousands more high-skilled manufacturing jobs, and catalyze hundreds of billions more in private investment, as we are already seeing in our own state with exciting announcements from Qualcomm, Micron, and IBM.
When we invest in our small businesses and innovative manufacturers, we move towards a stronger, more resilient America.
I am eager to see the tangible, significant benefits these investments will have on our Capital Region and far beyond in the months to come, and I will continue pushing to strengthen U.S. manufacturing and work to ensure that we are investing in innovative new fields that will bring jobs, economic growth and opportunity to our communities.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
My office and I are working to make sure you remain informed with the latest updates and recommendations from federal agencies. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- This month, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that they will make available an additional $80 million in new funding to support nurse training programs and help alleviate staffing shortages impacting our healthcare industry.
- The Nursing Expansion Grant Program is designed to support nursing programs that diversify the pipeline of nursing professionals able to fill these healthcare jobs, with an emphasis on training individuals from historically marginalized and underrepresented populations to bring greater employment equity in underserved communities.
- Who is eligible?
- Nonprofit healthcare organizations, nonprofit trade, industry, or employer associations, labor unions, labor-management organizations, and worker organizations, Education/Training Providers, and Workforce Development Entities
- Applications are due January 6, 2023, no later than 11:59 PM ET. Learn more here!
