JAMESTOWN, N.C. — Vice president Kamala Harris gave a speech Monday at Guilford Technical Community College on the importance of passing the American Jobs Plan and toured the Thomas Built Buses facility in High Point afterward.
“We’re going to make sure that these opportunities are equally available to women as well as men,” Harris said.
The vice president said the skills needed to land those opportunities start at technical colleges like GTCC.
“Her having this speech at the aviation manufacturing center was a great nod to our areas manufacturing,” said Jonathon Huber, a GTCC aviation management student.
Huber was inspired by the vice president’s speech.
“VP Harris mentioned almost every good job needs some sort of education after high school. Tech schools like this offer a variety of different things that you can accomplish to get the job you want,” Huber said.
He’s encouraging young people to look into technical training colleges and not get discouraged about going to a smaller school, saying you can still get a solid job.
He said the believes GTCC’s location is another positive that sets students like him up for the very jobs this administration is trying to create.
“For me, being in aviation, the airport being right here, Piedmont Triad International is a big hub and is growing for aviation jobs, so I see that and a lot of…industries will be growing in the Greensboro area,” Huber said.
He agrees with Harris’ stance that getting broadband internet to rural and marginalized communities is a huge factor in the future of sustainable jobs in this country.
“I thought since Covid has started, we’ve really seen the need for people working remotely and doing remote schooling. That’s going to be really important in the future to get that to everyone,” Huber said.
While the American jobs plan has had some pushback from Republicans over its $2 trillion costs and how much of it actually goes to infrastructure. Huber is hopeful it will pass.
“I am hopeful. I can’t say for sure, obviously. But I do think that there’s enough push and enough people are looking for this type of support,” Huber said.
Kathy manning who represents the sixth Congressional District, helped welcome the vice president to the Triad on Monday.
Manning said the diversity of the GTCC student body is a representation of diversity in this district and this country.
The type of training GTCC provides is a focal point in the American Jobs Plan, namely infrastructure.
Manning and Harris both believe North Carolina is one of many states that will truly benefit from this legislation.
She’s optimistic and said she has been backing the American Jobs Plan from the start.
Manning said she had a chance to speak with the vice president and thanked her for choosing her district and Guilford Technical Community College to explain the plan.
She said the United States needs to get back to number one in infrastructure in the world and believes this plan will do that.
While there is some pushback regarding the cost of the $2 trillion plan, she wants her Republican colleagues on Capitol Hill to understand how much this can help
“We need this bill not only to help people get people back to work, but to help us develop the workforce for the future and to make our country competitive; to bring our infrastructure up to where it should be,” Manning said.
