Politics
Obama announces New Manufacturing Hub in North Carolina
The new manufacturing institute will focus on developing the next generation of energy-efficient, high-power electronic chips and devices that will be used to help make things like motors, consumer electronics and other devices that support the power grid, smaller, faster and more efficient. It’s being led by a consortium of 18 businesses and six universities, led by North Carolina State University.
Obama said his administration will announce the two other innovation hubs in the coming weeks, one focusing on digital design and another on light-weight metals. The program is being funded by using US$200 million in existing federal money.
Before his speech in Raleigh, Obama toured Vacon, a member of the consortium in nearby Durham that manufactures drives to make electric motors more energy-efficient by controlling their speed. “That means, ultimately, energy savings that we can spread across the entire economy,” Obama told reporters as he toured the company in shirtsleeves.
While the economy was the reason for Obama’s trip, it wasn’t without a dose of political drama. Kay Hagan, the state’s Democratic U.S. senator, did not plan to join Obama as lawmakers often do when a president visits their turf. Her office said she wouldn’t be there because the Senate is in session, an explanation Republicans weren’t buying. The GOP hopes unhappiness with Obama’s health care law and Hagan’s support for it will help topple her in November and help the party take back the Senate.
Hagan’s decision has raised questions about whether Obama has become a drag on vulnerable Democrats facing re-election. But Obama praised her at the top of his speech, and she was likely to see Obama later in the evening back at the White House for a private meeting with Senate Democrats.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press
