Did anybody see the State of the Union Address? Jobs and the economy were big themes. I liked what President Obama laid out. I just hope it works.
Last night, the US President called for six new high tech manufacturing hubs. He highlighted existing hubs in Raleigh, NC and Youngstown, OH. He praised them for connecting business and universities and helping the US lead the world in technology. He didn’t say where these hubs would be. He bragged about Youngstown’s contribution to 3D printing, with the help of $30 million in federal funding. He talked about Raleigh’s building energy efficient chips. Backed by $70 million in federal funding, companies from Delta Solutions to DIR Solutions are taking part in Raleigh’s project.
There’s a lot I can take in behind this. We needed these hubs, like yesterday! Don’t let that unemployment record fool you. That’s just the number of people who can’t collect unemployment benefits. The real number of unemployed persons is probably around 20% and that doesn’t include those being underpaid and those working two or three jobs just to survive. While they’re at it, put one, or two, or more of those hubs in Detroit and elsewhere in Michigan. Their job rates are woeful and U Michigan and Michigan St. are wonderful colleges turning out wonderful talent. Maybe Newark, NJ can get one of these hubs. I know $30 million and $70 million sounds like a lot of money. But do you know how much federal funding other nations got? Sorry, I don’t mean to get on a rant, but if more were invested in our nation and our people, then we’ll see this thing turn around. What do you think of these manufacturing hubs?