President Joe Biden will be in North Carolina on Tuesday as part of a tour to promote his economic agenda.
Biden will visit the Durham-based company Wolfspeed, which recently announced an expansion, including a new computer chip facility in Chatham County that will have an estimated 1,800 jobs. The state offered about a billion dollars in incentives to meet that goal.
Wolfspeed used to manufacture LED light bulbs under the name Cree. The company sold off that part of the business, changed its name and shifted to building semiconductors in 2021.
Wolfspeed will be the first stop for Biden in what the White House is calling the “Investing in America Tour.” The tour is intended to highlight how investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and the American Rescue Plan are “unleashing a manufacturing boom,” and “lowering costs for hardworking families, and creating jobs that don't require a four-year degree across the country,” according to a statement from the White House.
The president is celebrating recent job growth as well as the successful passage of bills designed to reduce inflation and improve infrastructure.
Biden, the First Lady, Vice President Kamala Harris and other members of the cabinet plan to visit more than 20 states as part of the tour.
According to the White House, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo will travel to North Carolina within the next week “to visit manufacturers producing fiber optic cable.” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan – a Goldsboro native who previously worked in Gov. Roy Cooper’s administration – also has a visit to North Carolina scheduled.
