The Biden-Harris Administration is spearheading efforts to bolster the American auto industry and protect jobs, with a focus on Michigan’s historic manufacturing communities. As part of its Investing in America agenda, the White House is launching new initiatives to support auto workers and manufacturers, providing capital access, workforce training, and technical assistance for small- and medium-sized suppliers. This announcement underscores the administration’s commitment to revitalizing the auto sector, fostering clean energy investments, and ensuring that the future of the auto industry remains made in America.
FACT SHEET: Taking Action to Support
Auto Workers and Manufacturers, Including in Michigan
The American auto industry has driven the U.S. manufacturing base for generations, and the Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that the future of the auto industry is made in America by American union workers. Today, National Economic Advisor Lael Brainard is traveling to Detroit, Michigan to convene the Michigan Workforce Hub and announce a suite of new actions to support automakers and auto workers, with an emphasis on historic auto communities in Michigan. The Michigan Workforce Hub is one of nine Investing in America Workforce Hubs launched by the Biden-Harris Administration to ensure all Americans can access the good jobs created by the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda.
Today’s announcement builds on the actions that Vice President Harris announced in May to support small- and medium-sized auto manufacturers with access to capital to expand or retool manufacturing facilities, new workforce training resources, and new technical assistance programs.
“I believe in an economy where everyone has a chance to compete and a chance to succeed. Investing in the ambitions and aspirations of our people is the best way to grow the American economy and the middle class,” said Vice President Kamala Harris. “Yet for far too long, we have seen lack of investment in communities across America and profound obstacles to economic opportunity—including in communities with historic manufacturing expertise such as Detroit. Earlier this year, I was proud to announce new support for small- and medium-sized auto suppliers in Detroit. Today’s announcements build on those investments by making sure our auto supply chains stay here in America, strengthening our economy overall by investing in historically underserved communities, and keeping more auto jobs in Detroit.”
$1 Billion in Financing for Small- And Medium-Sized Auto Suppliers
Auto suppliers support the majority of auto manufacturing jobs, and small- and medium-sized suppliers employ more than 250,000 workers across the country—serving as economic engines in Michigan, Ohio, and other historic auto communities.
Today, the Department of the Treasury is announcing a $9.1 million grant to launch the Michigan Auto Supplier Transition Program to help small and underserved automotive manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers secure financing to scale and shift to supplying the electric vehicle supply chain. Made possible by Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI), the Michigan Auto Supplier Transition Program will provide financial, legal, accounting, and other support services to underserved and very small businesses, including helping these firms access the over $230 million in additional lending and equity investments made available to support Michigan businesses through the American Rescue Plan’s SSBCI program. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation will oversee the Auto Supplier Transition program in coordination with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Community and Worker Economic Transition Office.
Additionally, Monroe Capital is announcing a commitment to raise up to $1 billion for a new “Drive Forward” Fund to facilitate access to lower cost capital for small- and medium-sized auto manufacturers to refinance, grow, and diversify their businesses. The Drive Forward Fund builds on successful investment funds catalyzed by the Small Business Administration’s Small Business Investment Company program, which provides low-cost government-guaranteed leverage funding to lower the cost of capital for portfolio companies. The Drive Forward Fund will be advised by a council with experts from across the automotive industry to ensure that capital is directed to small and medium-sized auto suppliers with high-road labor practices and significant domestic manufacturing content. A focus will be placed on manufacturers that are well-positioned to lead in the future of the automotive industry and need additional capital and support to grow their manufacturing capacity, including companies making critical investments in the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) production to electric vehicles (EV).
These new announcements build on investments that the Biden-Harris Administration has already made in auto manufacturers, including in Michigan. For example, under the Domestic Manufacturing Conversion Grant Program, the Department of Energy announced a $500 million award to General Motors in Lansing and a $158 million award to ZF North America in Marysville to support the conversion of these legacy ICE facilities to EV production—retaining or creating over 1,000 combined jobs. Both of these facilities are UAW unionized. The Department of Energy also announced that the State of Michigan is eligible to receive over $18 million in funding to provide grants to small- and medium-sized auto suppliers converting their facilities to electric vehicle production. To protect these investments from unfair trade practices abroad, the President has taken strong and strategic action, including by raising tariffs to 100% on EVs and batteries from China.
The Administration welcomes additional commitments and actions from stakeholders across industry to support automakers and auto workers.
Michigan Workforce Hub Commitments
In 2023, First Lady Jill Biden announced the Investing in America Workforce Initiative in five initial locations where the Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda is catalyzing historic investments in industries of the future. In April, President Biden announced Michigan as one of four new Workforce Hubs, designed to prepare Michigan workers for the good-paying and union jobs created by these historic investments, with a focus on the auto sector. Since the start of the Biden-Harris Administration, industry has announced $28 billion in private investment in clean energy and manufacturing in Michigan. The Hub is focused on four pillars: improving alignment between training programs and industry needs, standardizing training program guidelines for emerging occupations in the auto supply chain, promoting career readiness with a focus on underserved communities, and addressing structural barriers to employment.
The Michigan Workforce Hub is coordinating across the Department of Labor, the Department of Energy, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, community colleges, unions, employers, philanthropy, nonprofits, and others to deliver on President Biden’s announcement. Since the launch of the Hub, the Department of Labor has invested more than $5.4 million to modernize, expand, and diversify registered apprenticeship programs in Michigan across key industries, including manufacturing, and connect workers to good-paying jobs, and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has continued to leverage $25 million in American Rescue Plan funding to expand apprenticeships in the state. The Detroit Regional Partnership is also continuing to implement its $52.2 million grant from the American Rescue Plan to invest in the Detroit area’s legacy automotive industry and unite 135 local coalition members around a common vision for a collaborative and equitable regional economy; the coalition is undertaking
To institutionalize the work of the Michigan Workforce Hub, the Department of Energy is announcing the selection of a full-time Michigan Fellow, hosted by the Michigan AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute. This Fellow is part of an inaugural cohort of ten fellows and host organizations funded by the Community Workforce Readiness Accelerator for Major Projects (RAMP) program—which is designed to address workforce gaps while ensuring that historic clean energy investments lift all communities, especially those historically left behind.
Today, the Michigan Workforce Hub is announcing a suite of new federal, state, philanthropic, nonprofit, and private sector commitments:
Building pipelines to careers for underserved communities:
- The Department of Labor and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity is announcing a new pilot program to train workers in Wayne County for over 140 high-quality jobs in the auto supply chain. The pilot will partner with local automotive employers to train workers while they earn a paycheck, addressing a major barrier to enrollment. As part of the pilot, the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) will work with employers, including Roush, and provide supportive services to address transportation, childcare, and other needs to make it easier for Detroit-area residents from underserved communities to access both training and good-paying manufacturing jobs.
- The Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity has partnered with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and invested $4 million to support more than 500 Michigan workers to receive the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program credential in preparation for good-paying, union jobs installing EV chargers, including through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program. Forty percent or more of the participants served will be from underserved targeted populations.
- Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, AFL-CIO Workforce Development Institute, and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) are launching an accelerated Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) to Registered Apprenticeship Program pilot to expedite preparation of RAP candidates who have completed CDL training. Through collaborative efforts with Labor partners and the IBEW, leveraging innovative Apprenticeship Readiness Programs, 15 participants from traditionally underrepresented groups will receive CDL training and participate in a registered apprenticeship resulting in a good-paying union job.
- Taskforce Movement is partnering with the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Opportunity to create career pathways for transitioning service members and veterans into electronic vehicle, manufacturing, and cybersecurity jobs. Transitioning service members and veterans will leverage the skills and discipline honed during military service to build a more robust workforce while providing veterans with stable, high-quality careers.
- The Detroit Lions and Detroit Pistons will partner with Detroit Public Schools to launch new manufacturing career exposure programs for over 1,000 high school students, with a focus on supporting students from underrepresented and employment-distressed neighborhoods.
Driving career readiness and standardizing training programs for good-paying jobs:
- The Department of Energy and over a dozen industry sponsors are providing $23.6 million in funding for the Battery Workforce Challenge to invest in equipment, technical support, mentorship, internships, and job placements and train up to 14,000 workers across the country for careers across the EV value chain—including technicians, electricians, skilled trades, and engineers. The program will invest more than $600,000 in colleges in Michigan to train over 300 Michiganders. Sponsors include Stellantis, Samsung SDI America, the American Battery Technology Company, AVL North America, Vector, and the Battery Innovation Center.
- The Department of Energy’s Battery Workforce Challenge Program, managed by Argonne National Laboratory, will create STEM talent pipelines in battery manufacturing hubs across the nation—the first being piloted in Michigan with the support of at least $400,000 in total, direct funding. Key partners in the Michigan pilot will include the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, high schools, vocational institutions, higher education, and industry. The Department of Energy will provide $200,000 in seed funding to Henry Ford Community College in Detroit to establish a state-of-the-art Battery/EV Technical Center. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation will also award $200,000 to the University of Michigan-Dearborn to establish an undergraduate-level training program as well as a summer boot camp to educate undergraduate students in EV battery technology and build a talent pipeline.
- The Department of Energy and Argonne will partner with New Energy New York to develop battery and EV training and educational content, “BattTech,” to be used in the Michigan pilot and the other Battery Workforce Hubs. BattTech will provide industry-aligned educational content and training in battery technology, EV development, safety, manufacturing, and recycling—ensuring participants are equipped with the skills required for roles across the battery and electric vehicle value chain.
- As part of the Battery Workforce Challenge, the Department of Energy will provide $250,000 to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) to pilot a battery manufacturing career pathway in high school career technical education courses in Michigan. The battery manufacturing career pathway will be integrated into the SME PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) program that currently is serves 110 schools and 10,000 students annually across 23 states. SME PRIME also intends to further expand its existing footprint in Michigan.
- The Department of Energy’s Battery Workforce Initiative and Michigan community colleges will launch discussions for a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to deploy industry-approved classroom and on-the-job training with battery manufacturers and their community college partners for high-demand occupations. This training program has also been certified by the Department of Labor as the guidelines for battery manufacturing machine operator apprenticeship.
Supporting employers in building a skilled workforce and navigating resources:
- The Michigan Workforce Hub will provide new resources to employers to attract a skilled and diverse workforce for clean energy manufacturing jobs. The Department of Energy’s Battery Workforce Initiative will invest $200,000 to provide skills assessment and job task analysis to firms transitioning to EV component or clean goods production.
- Additionally, the Families and Workers Fund will partner with the Good Jobs Institute and Toyota Production System Support Center to deliver training and coaching to ten small and medium clean technology manufacturers to help them navigate workforce and operational challenges. The recruitment for the first cohort of manufacturers is now underway, and the program will formally launch in 2025.
- Leveraging American Rescue Plan funding, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and SEMCA Michigan Works! will accelerate the adoption of apprenticeship programs in Michigan, particularly for small- and medium-sized auto manufacturers, by launching a Race to Talent with Registered Apprenticeship Michigan Event on September 25, which is designed to grow employer and industry awareness of the benefits of Registered Apprenticeships in the EV and mobility sector.
- With philanthropic support and in partnership with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, NextStreet will create a digital hub to help connect small- and medium-sized suppliers in Michigan to resources to help with retooling, modernization, and economic transition.
Supporting employers in building a skilled workforce and navigating resources:
- The Michigan Workforce Hub will provide new resources to employers to attract a skilled and diverse workforce for clean energy manufacturing jobs. The Department of Energy’s Battery Workforce Initiative will invest $200,000 to provide skills assessment and job task analysis to firms transitioning to EV component or clean goods production.
- Additionally, the Families and Workers Fund will partner with the Good Jobs Institute and Toyota Production System Support Center to deliver training and coaching to ten small and medium clean technology manufacturers to help them navigate workforce and operational challenges. The recruitment for the first cohort of manufacturers is now underway, and the program will formally launch in 2025.
- Leveraging American Rescue Plan funding, the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity and SEMCA Michigan Works! will accelerate the adoption of apprenticeship programs in Michigan, particularly for small- and medium-sized auto manufacturers, by launching a Race to Talent with Registered Apprenticeship Michigan Event on September 25, which is designed to grow employer and industry awareness of the benefits of Registered Apprenticeships in the EV and mobility sector.
- With philanthropic support and in partnership with the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, NextStreet will create a digital hub to help connect small- and medium-sized suppliers in Michigan to resources to help with retooling, modernization, and economic transition.
Building local capacity and promoting economic development:
- With the support of up to $250,000 in funding from the Department of Agriculture, the Federal Interagency Thriving Communities Network will team up with the State of Michigan, local officials, and economic development leaders to build capacity in the historic auto communities of Saginaw and Flint as well as rural communities in the Upper Peninsula. This initiative will work to close gaps related to workforce participation, infrastructure, and poverty—driving local economic comebacks. This work builds upon place-based capacity building efforts that the Network is providing to other parts of Michigan and across the country.
- The City of Lansing will increase representation of women in construction and skilled trades through the Leveraging Infrastructure Networks for Equity Initiative, a partnership between the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and the non-profit Accelerator for America. This project has been renewed for second year with nearly $500,000 in funding to improve pathways for women to access the good jobs being created by historical investments in infrastructure.
September 23, 2024 Washington, DC
Here are four critic questions from a Republican perspective regarding the Biden-Harris administration’s auto workforce and manufacturing efforts:
- How will the administration ensure that these clean energy investments won’t lead to job losses in traditional auto manufacturing sectors, which have been the backbone of Michigan’s economy?
- With rising inflation and economic instability, how can small- and medium-sized suppliers afford the shift to electric vehicles (EVs) without risking their businesses?
- Is the administration prioritizing the green energy agenda over the immediate needs of American workers, particularly in fossil fuel-dependent industries, risking energy independence?
- Given the reliance on foreign minerals for EV batteries, how can the administration claim that the future of the auto industry will remain truly ‘made in America’?
Sources: Midtown Tribune news, White House WH.gov