In first day of Arizona visit, Jill Biden highlights community college program and praises the president

First lady Jill Biden came to Arizona on Monday with a message: workforce development programs and investments in industries of the future are key to building a stronger country. And people were right to put their faith in her husband to lead.

She made the remarks, which often had the tone of a political campaign speech, at an Intel Corp. campus in Chandler at the start of a two-day trip to the state to highlight job training and the president's agenda of "building a better America."

The first lady toured part of the semiconductor technology and manufacturing company’s Chandler site and learned about its collaboration with the Maricopa County Community College District to train workers before giving a short speech to a few dozen guests.

“We’re so excited for the investments that Intel is making in manufacturing like those we’re seeing today," Biden said. "I also want to recognize the many other partners across Arizona including Maricopa County Community College District, who are supporting students and making this state stronger each day.”

Biden began her remarks with a moment of silence for the people of Ukraine, saying her and the president's hearts are with them.  

The visit coincided with Intel and Maricopa’s expansion of Quick Start, a semiconductor manufacturing boot camp program launching at Mesa Community College in May, funded in part by federal dollars. The program will expand to Chandler-Gilbert and Estrella Mountain community colleges in the summer. Costs of the two-week program will be covered for Arizona students.

Biden said the American Rescue Plan helped make that program possible. She highlighted that the first class will be all women.

"These investments are changing lives and every person who benefits from this program and others like it who is better off today than they were a year ago passes that benefit along," she said.

Biden was introduced by Intel technician and U.S. Navy veteran Michelle Blackwell, who is pursuing an associate's degree at Chandler-Gilbert Community College to work toward becoming an engineer. 

Biden said the government will continue to invest in community college partnerships and workforce development, and help make childcare affordable so people can pursue education and careers.

'Building a better America'

Biden described how programs like Maricopa's will help Americans get quality jobs and help keep the economy growing.

"What does it look like for families like yours? It means investing in industries of the future, like we see here today, the kind of jobs that make our supply chain stronger, lowering prices and keeping our country safe."

Biden emphasized goals of working families having good-paying jobs "no matter who they are or where they live" and removing barriers that have kept women out of engineering, manufacturing and STEM fields.

Parts of her remarks seemed almost like a campaign speech. She took the crowd back to his inauguration, describing the cold weather, their family Bible and the man she fell in love with, "who stitched together a broken family with grit and grace."

During the Intel visit, Biden heard from Intel and college officials about expansion plans and workforce programs and took a virtual tour of a chip manufacturing factory.  

Steven Gonzales, interim chancellor of Maricopa Community Colleges, said in a statement he was honored that Biden met with the colleges to highlight how their programs are linking skilled workers to careers.

Gonzales said he had an opportunity during the Intel visit to tell Biden about the new semiconductor boot camp, which he said is funded with a combination of federal and state dollars, plus a donation from the Science Foundation Arizona.

The two-week program consists of 10 four-hour courses with day and evening offerings to train students for careers as semiconductor technicians, with industry employees as instructors. Students will get tuition stipends of $270, which will cover full tuition for state residents. And they’ll get an industry certificate and college credit. Interested students can learn more at Maricopa.edu/semico.

The Republican National Committee, however, said the first lady’s visit doesn’t address critical issues in Arizona.

“Jill Biden’s visit does nothing to address the real issues facing Arizonans, who are paying $500 more per month in household costs because of inflation. The Biden administration is failing on the most important issues in Arizona right now, like record-high gas prices, skyrocketing inflation and the historic border crisis,” RNC Arizona communications director Ben Petersen said in a statement.

Intel's investments in colleges, Arizona

Maricopa Community Colleges in fall 2020 began using Intel curriculum for artificial intelligence workforce training in what it says was the first associate degree and certificate program in the country in that field.

Two of the district’s ten colleges, Chandler-Gilbert and Estrella Mountain, currently offer the programs.

Intel late last year announced the artificial intelligence workforce program would expand to technical and community colleges in all 50 states by 2023.

The Santa Clara, California-based semiconductor giant has a significant Arizona presence. The company broke ground on two new Chandler factories in September, marking the largest private investment ever in Arizona. The two new factories will add to the four already on the 700-acre Ocotillo campus Biden visited. 

The added $20 billion Intel planned to spend raised the company’s total Arizona investment over the past four decades to more than $50 billion. Intel as of last year employed about 12,000 people in Arizona.

President Joe Biden recognized Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in his State of the Union speech, praising his investment in American manufacturing. 

“It was all about him (Biden) supporting this critical industry, which needs a strong pipeline of talent. And that talent needs to start from grassroots, which is really from community colleges as well as really the foundational learning that’s needed to support the critical industry like high-tech," Intel executive vice president Keyvan Esfarjani said. 

"If you believe that the data that we use all around us continues to grow, well this is an industry that’s going to be the future.”

Jill Biden, a longtime educator, has worked as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College since 2009. She continues to teach English and writing there.

"I'm on my spring break," she said Monday. "My students said to me, 'Hey, Dr. B, what are you doing during the vacation?' And I said, 'Oh, I’m going to be working my other job.' And they said, 'Dr. B, you have another job?' And then it dawned on them like yes, I have another job.

"So here I am on my spring break, but I’m happy to be here because I always love to be with community college students.”

Biden visit continues in Tucson

Angela Hanks, who is the acting assistant secretary for the Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, accompanied the first lady.

Hanks said in brief remarks that the American Rescue Plan changed the course of the pandemic and put the country on a pathway to recovery and good jobs for workers.

After the Intel visit, Jill Biden attended a Democratic National Committee finance event in Chandler before flying to Tucson late Monday afternoon.

The first lady and Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, will tour the San Xavier Health Center Tuesday afternoon, with a focus on the Tohono O’odham Nation’s cancer services, including a partnership with the University of Arizona Cancer Center.

Biden will leave Tucson for Reno, Nevada, on Wednesday morning to visit a community college there. She’ll then travel to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to meet with families of U.S. soldiers deployed in Europe.

Republic reporter Tara Kavaler contributed to this article.

Have a story about higher education? Reach the reporter at Alison.Steinbach@arizonarepublic.com or at 602-444-4282. Follow her on Twitter @alisteinbach.

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