President Biden Highlights Black-Owned Small Businesses in Milwaukee
MADISON, Wis. — Yesterday, President Biden traveled to Milwaukee to deliver remarks at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce and visit Hero Plumbing, a Black-owned small business working to replace lead pipes in the city of Milwaukee.
Wednesday’s visit came as President Biden and Sen. Baldwin announced that the Grow Milwaukee Recompete Plan has been selected as one of 22 finalists for the Recompete Pilot Program. Funded by the CHIPS and Science Act, the Recompete Pilot Program is focused on investing in quality job creation, small business growth and economic opportunity. As a finalist, the Grow Milwaukee Coalition will compete for $190 million in flexible implementation funding for locally-led economic development plans to create and support small businesses, train workers and connect them to good-paying jobs, investment in infrastructure, and technical assistance.
Read more about President Biden’s visit to Milwaukee below:
ASSOCIATED PRESS: Biden tackles Trump and touts economic progress in Milwaukee visit
“President Joe Biden touted his administration’s support for minority-owned businesses and the replacement of lead pipes during a visit here on Wednesday while also swiping at Donald Trump’s rhetoric toward migrants and his ongoing lies about his election loss. […] The Democratic president’s first stop upon arriving in Milwaukee was Hero Plumbing, which has replaced hundreds of lead pipes around the city. The work is part of a $15 billion nationwide initiative funded through bipartisan infrastructure legislation. ‘Not only has our business grown, but we’re helping to save our community,’ said the company’s owner, Rashawn Spivey.”
FOX 6 MILWAUKEE: Biden visits Milwaukee, highlights Black-owned businesses
“President Joe Biden visited Milwaukee to tout his administration’s investment in Black-owned businesses Wednesday, Dec. 20. The Biden administration announced Milwaukee is a finalist for millions of dollars in funding for revitalization and job creation in the 30th Street Industrial Corridor and efforts to replace lead pipes across the country. ‘Lead exposure disproportionately affects low-income communities and disproportionately affects people of color,’ Biden said. Biden took to the stage at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce, located near 29th and Vliet on Milwaukee’s north side. He promoted his administration’s small business growth and the infrastructure law that will fund lead pipe removal nationwide. ‘Everyone should be able to turn on a faucet and know whatever they’re drinking was clean, pure and not have to worry about it,’ said Biden.”
WISCONSIN EXAMINER: Biden’s Wisconsin visit highlights Black small business growth, Milwaukee revitalization project
“With his visit to Milwaukee, including a talk at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce as well as a stop at the shop of a Black plumbing contractor, President Joe Biden underscored his administration’s economic focus on the middle class Wednesday. Biden touted the addition of 15 million jobs since he took office after the brief COVID-19 pandemic recession. ‘We’re doing it by building an economy from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down. Not a whole lot trickled down on my dad’s kitchen table with a top-down economy,’ he said. ‘But when you [build from the middle], when you increase the middle class, the poor have a shot and the wealthy still do very well, the middle class does well, and we all do well.’ […] Biden took a jab at Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson for voting against the infrastructure law as well as the American Rescue Plan Act, which helped fund some of the small business assistance he touted Wednesday. He also criticized Republicans in Congress who are trying to undo provisions passed in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to lower the cost of prescription drugs.”
WISCONSIN PUBLIC RADIO: President Joe Biden visits Milwaukee to voice support for Black-owned business ownership
“Ahead of what’s sure to be a tightly contested presidential election next year, President Joe Biden visited Milwaukee Wednesday to share how his policies are driving what he calls a boom in Black-owned small businesses across the nation. […] According to the White House, Black business ownership is growing at its fastest pace in 30 years. Biden highlighted that success to those gathered to hear him speak at the Wisconsin Black Chamber of Commerce. ‘Where Black small businesses go, everything benefits,’ Biden said during his speech. ‘The community benefits, everyone benefits … and it gives hope and prospects for people.’ Biden also said he believed Black-owned businesses also ‘hold communities together.’ ‘Every new business opening is a vote for hope,’ Biden added.”
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