| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
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unidentified
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Democracy Unfiltered. | |
| We're funded by these television companies and more, including MIDCO. | ||
| Where are you going? | ||
| Or maybe a better question is, how far do you want to go? | ||
| And how fast do you want to get there? | ||
| Now we're getting somewhere. | ||
| So let's go. | ||
| Let's go faster. | ||
| Let's go further. | ||
| Let's go beyond. | ||
| Midco supports C-SPAN as a public service, along with these other television providers, giving you a front-row seat to democracy. | ||
| The governors of Maryland, Michigan, Alaska, and Virginia talked about strategic technology investments, artificial intelligence, and manufacturing during a summit hosted by Select USA. | ||
| The conversation runs nearly 45 minutes. | ||
| Here we go. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Hello, governors, and good afternoon, everyone. | ||
| My name is Jay Timmons, and I do run the National Association of Manufacturers. | ||
| And the basic idea behind the NAM is that manufacturers power the economic prosperity of the United States. | ||
| We believe that when manufacturing succeeds in every state of every size across every sector, that means more shovels in the dirt, more people put to work, more goods on our shelves, more innovation in the market, more opportunities for our children, and more prosperity for communities, our nation, and the world. | ||
| At the NAM, we advocate for the 13 million people who make things in America and for the companies that they help power. | ||
| Because when manufacturing wins, America wins. | ||
| Now, next to me on this stage are four exceptional leaders in our country, four people who understand not just how important manufacturing is in their states, but also how to put the wind at the backs of manufacturers of every size and stripe in Alaska, Maryland, Michigan, and Virginia. | ||
| Now, as you might note, that's alpha by state, but it's also alpha by last name. | ||
| I don't know how that worked out, but it worked out pretty well. | ||
| So, Governors Dunlevy, Moore, Whitmer, and Yunken, I want to thank you so much for your leadership on behalf of manufacturers everywhere. | ||
| And thank you also for lending your time to this great group today. | ||
| You've got an important perspective serving both in the State House and on the front lines to tell us how manufacturing is evolving and also the opportunities that AI presents as well as emerging technology. | ||
| Now, by harnessing these technologies, it becomes clear that the United States is the best place to invest the next dollar in manufacturing. | ||
| So, if it's okay with you, we'll dive right in. | ||
| So, I'm going to ask all of you a couple of questions, and then we'll get to individual questions. | ||
| Our member companies at the NAM, they tell me what I'm sure manufacturers in your state tell you. | ||
| AI and emerging technologies are radically changing how we live, how we work, how we build things in America. | ||
| So when it comes to AI, what developments are you seeing from manufacturers in your state? | ||
| And is there a project or an investment that you'd like to highlight? | ||
| And let's go alphabetically. | ||
| By state this time. | ||
| I thought it was going to be by size. | ||
| No, I'm kidding. | ||
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unidentified
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Well, that works too, kind of. | |
| By Alaska. | ||
| No, it's a great question. | ||
| And I think these folks will agree as well. | ||
| My governor is next to me here. | ||
| But AI is radically changing everything. | ||
| It's causing business inefficient, which is good. | ||
| And which is interesting, in a demographic leveling out and decline here in the United States and across the world, AI couldn't have come at a better time in order for businesses to be able to take the next leap forward. | ||
| Alaska is generally, unlike some of the other states that these governors represent, we're basically a resource state. | ||
| We are a logistics state. | ||
| And for us, our oil and gas industries are huge. | ||
| Our mining industries are huge. | ||
| Our fishing industries are huge. | ||
| And those industries are capitalizing on AI for a whole host of reasons and methods. | ||
| I know in the oil industry, it's making drilling a lot more efficient. | ||
| It's looking at seismic in a different manner. | ||
| And so these efficiencies are going to result in better approaches, better products, better services. | ||
| And we see that, like I said, occurring in Alaska. | ||
| Alaska is a big energy state. | ||
| And so this is going to bode well, and it is boding well right now for Alaska, again, to capitalize. | ||
| We've got, and we'll probably talk about this in a little while, but we are an oil supergiant. | ||
| We have a renaissance on our north slope in terms of oil, more oil production as a result of changes in technology and AI. | ||
| But also we're on the verge of consummating a massive gas project, an Alaskan LNG project, that would serve our Asian alleys in Europe, excuse me, Asian alleys in the Pacific. | ||
| And so in all aspects of our lives, AI is having an impact and in government efficiencies as well. | ||
| And so we are deploying a number of AI approaches and we'll be doing much of that this summer going into the fall to modernize our government, to make it more efficient, to find out where there may be some waste and opportunities. | ||
| And so I think just about everybody in the audience has used AI one time or another in terms of chat or other Gronk applications. | ||
| But in Alaska it's having an impact just like it is in the rest of these states. | ||
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unidentified
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How about you, Governor Moore? | |
| First, it's an honor to be here with my colleagues who I admire and respect. | ||
| And so just thank you. | ||
| Thank you all so much. | ||
| And also just welcome everybody to Maryland. | ||
| I want to thank Select USA for selecting Maryland. | ||
| And for all of you who are here, welcome. | ||
| We don't plan on you leaving ever, so you should just stay in the state of Maryland. | ||
| But you know, I think about the reason AI has become so important in the way that we do our work. | ||
| A lot of it does come to thinking through what are the natural assets that the state of Maryland has. | ||
| And also I think for, you know, from my background, so before I ran for office, I was a military officer and I was in the business world. | ||
| And And you think about the way you have to invest and think through growth in a really smart way. | ||
| About how when we first, when our administration first came on board, one of the first hires that we made was a chief modernization officer to actually making sure we can streamline and speed up the way that government actually worked, be able to address, how are you cutting waste out of a budget and really thinking how are you streamlining your work. | ||
| One of the first hires we made was actually a senior advisor to AI who comes in and reports directly into our office, one of the few in the country, because while I believe that you have to think about AI in terms of the guardrails around it, I also believe that you, and I know we think we're very bullish on what are the opportunities that AI can actually provide to be able to enhance the human experience. | ||
| And so there were some specific lighthouse industries that we really tailored and focused on for the state of Maryland. | ||
| One was life sciences, the second was IT, and the third was aerospace and defense. | ||
| And amongst that IT bucket was AI. | ||
| And if you think about the assets that the state of Maryland has, the reason that AI was so important is that we believe that Maryland has such uniquely tethered assets to our state that made AI, that made AI desirable there. | ||
| Where in the state of Maryland you have the Johns Hopkins Data Center and AI Initiative. | ||
| That in the state of Maryland you have the University of Maryland AI Center. | ||
| And you also have the University of Maryland serving as the capital of quantum. | ||
| And so we believe that AI is something that can not just serve as a way of making government more efficient, but also when you're able to leverage your private sector partners, when you're able to leverage your institutions of higher education, when you're able to leverage all the various platforms and investment vehicles that are looking towards AI, we think it's important for our states to be on the front edge of this instead of waiting for consequences on this. | ||
| And so I just believe strongly that when we're having these conversations about alternative intelligence and generative AI, that we cannot look at it exclusively from a defensive measure. | ||
| We do have to look at it from an offensive perspective about the things that we can uniquely benefit from, just make sure we're bringing the communities along with us so they understand what exactly are the long-term benefits and how can they, you know, how can their lives be enhanced by it as well. | ||
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unidentified
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Let's go north. | |
| Governor Whitman. | ||
| All right. | ||
| Well, I'm glad to be here with all of you and especially glad that you're moderating our panel as the premier advanced manufacturing state. | ||
| I'm awfully always glad to share a panel stage with someone who is in that business. | ||
| Michigan is known for advanced manufacturing and unfortunately there sometimes are still old notions of what manufacturing looks like, that it's hot and hard and dirty work, but it is cutting-edge technology. | ||
| And we know that all of our mobility jobs really are very different than what they used to be. | ||
| They are high-tech. | ||
| This is an industry that is moving fast. | ||
| As we've positioned Michigan and we look to the future, we know that some of our natural assets, like having the most engineers in the country per capita, like institutions like the University of Michigan or Wayne State or Michigan State University or Michigan Tech in the Upper Peninsula that churns out lots of engineers every year. | ||
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We know that these strengths give us an opportunity when it comes to AI. | |
| As we just created a collaboration between the University of Michigan, the AI work that they are doing and Los Alamos Labs, we are focused on how do we apply this technology to improve people's lives, but also to ensure that we lead the way when it comes to advanced manufacturing. | ||
| As we think about all the needs in order for us to realize the opportunity in this moment, we're also working very hard to ensure we've got the energy to power it. | ||
| Michigan will be the first state in the nation, perhaps the first place in North America, to restart a nuclear facility. | ||
| That's something that we decided we are going to do because there's no question if we are going to meet our clean energy goals and power the technology that is going to drive not just manufacturing but almost every facet of our life, we've got to have the clean energy to do that. | ||
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unidentified
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And so we are looking at it from a wide array of avenues to ensure that we don't just apply AI to make our lives better, although that's a very important goal, but that we are also leading when it comes to developing, to innovating. | |
| What does the next iteration look like as we see the whole world moving so quickly? | ||
| Take us to the Silicon Dominion, Governor. | ||
| Perfect. | ||
| Well, first of all, welcome everybody. | ||
| And I know we're in Maryland, but most of you landed in Virginia at the airport and drove over here. | ||
| And one of the things you'll, of course, recognize is that we're all very proud governors of our states, and we will be advocating for you to invest in each one of our states. | ||
| Let me just begin with why we're here, which is select USA. | ||
| And the choice to invest in the United States is the most important decision that you will make. | ||
| This economy is going to thrive, and I'm a firm believer that the trade deals that are being negotiated, that the budget deal that will come, and the investment, which is at a record level already, is going to really pave the way for an extraordinary opportunity for all companies in the United States. | ||
| And of course, once you select USA, I hope you'll select Virginia. | ||
| And AI is a big part of our future. | ||
| So Virginia was recently named by CNBC as the top state in America for business. | ||
| And the reason was really straightforward. | ||
| One, we have invested heavily in getting sites ready. | ||
| And so we've allocated $500 million to have sites ready. | ||
| We have progressed an all-American, all-of the above energy platform. | ||
| And one of the things that I'm excited about as well is nuclear. | ||
| And we're really planning on being the first state to commercially deploy small modular reactors. | ||
| But on top of that, we are the first state to be awarded the construction of the first fusion power plants, which is really exciting. | ||
| Thirdly, we believe talent is the key to everything. | ||
| And when you have a talent pipeline that is truly differentiated, then you can in fact lead. | ||
| And then finally, you have to have a government that understands what it means to be pro-business. | ||
| And what I'm excited about is that we have deregulated in Virginia. | ||
| We've had a chance over the last three years to streamline 70,000 regulations to make it easier to get permits and to go faster, to operate at the speed of business. | ||
| Now, all of that translates into one of our core sectors, which is the data center and AI world. | ||
| Virginia is the leading state in the world of data centers by a factor of four. | ||
| It's estimated that 70% of the internet traffic of the world goes through Virginia. | ||
| And that gives us a great opportunity to not just lead the nation, but lead the world in the advancement of AI. | ||
| And we've seen huge investment across the state. | ||
| What that also requires is collaboration with our university and high school education system, which CNBC rated top in the nation. | ||
| And that allows us to really develop a unique pipeline of talent. | ||
| Talent of engineers, talent of developers, talent with technicians that in fact understand the application and the opportunities that AI presents itself. | ||
| And then I agree with Governor Whitmer. | ||
| AI is not just technology, it is advanced manufacturing. | ||
| And at the heart of the application of AI is how it translates into driving efficiencies and opportunities and new capabilities in manufacturing. | ||
| And that's why I've been so pleased that Virginia has been able to attract some of the leading manufacturing companies in the world. | ||
| We've just crested over $100 billion of committed investment from companies expanding in Virginia or coming new to Virginia. | ||
| And those are businesses from all over the world. | ||
| And it's fun when you have companies that have come from all over the world, like Steel from Germany that just celebrated their 50th anniversary in Virginia, or Cannon from Japan that just celebrated their 40th anniversary, or new companies like Lego, who just committed to invest another $350 million in Virginia after establishing their very first U.S. manufacturing facility. | ||
| And then finally, we just broke ground on a great cable manufacturing business from Korea. | ||
| So the opportunities that AI presents, of course, are really going to transform the way that we do business, but they're going to transform the way we build things. | ||
| And that's why it's such an important aspect of, I believe, Virginia's future, which is to lead in AI, lead in data center development, but most importantly, lead in the application of that to make advanced manufacturing the envy of the world here in the United States. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you, Governor Yunken. | |
| So as you all know from your leadership and experience, even the best manufacturing companies don't succeed in a vacuum. | ||
| It also comes down to whether leaders in Washington and in state houses are investing in manufacturers in the form of smart public policy, particularly through a comprehensive manufacturing strategy, something that we talk about at the NIM on the national level. | ||
| Our members tell us every day that the right policy choices around taxes, trade, rebalanced regulations, energy, permitting reform, labor, and training our workforce can help manufacturers compete and succeed on the world stage. | ||
| Making the case along the way that an investment in American companies is a smart investment every time. | ||
| Now, this may be a little bit repetitious from your previous answer, so let's kind of shorten it to one policy that's on your mind to help manufacturers in your state get ahead. | ||
| I'm going to start with Governor Whitmer. | ||
| And Governor, our state affiliate is the Michigan Manufacturers Association. | ||
| John Walsh gives you a lot of praise for your focus on high school manufacturing programs. | ||
| I wanted to make sure you knew that. | ||
| What's one policy that you would really like to focus on to enhance manufacturing in your state? | ||
| I can't help but go to workforce immediately. | ||
| You know, as we think about how manufacturing has changed and how high-tech it is, making sure that our residents have got the skills necessary to get into these advanced manufacturing projects we've been landing in Michigan is really first and foremost. | ||
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unidentified
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All the right tax policy in the world won't make up for lack of workforce. | |
| And that's why I don't say it's one or the other, we got to do both. | ||
| But our focus on skilling up our population so they've got skills that translate. | ||
| You know, I gave a speech not long ago here in Washington about American competitiveness. | ||
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unidentified
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You know, we've got a wonderful history in Michigan when World War II, we changed the whole auto industry into the arsenal of democracy and we built bombers instead of trucks. | |
| It was men, and it was mostly women showing up because men were fighting in Europe and in Japan. | ||
| And I would say that that moment of time showed what American ingenuity can be, what American manufacturing is ideally, problem-solving and nimble and ready to move. | ||
| And that's why I think as we think about whether or not it's America building ships or airplanes or chips, having that kind of mindset and a strategy that really is focused in ensuring that we are leading in these spaces instead of catching up or relying on others. | ||
| And so the workforce is always going to be central to our notion of whether or not we can be successful there. | ||
| Bringing down the cost of a four-year degree in Michigan is something that we've done for Michiganers, making community college free for all Michiganers, working with the U.S. Navy to create M3, which is a Michigan maritime and manufacturing undertaking with our community colleges in Macomb County. | ||
| Just spoke to the graduates of that program and they all came out with jobs. | ||
| And if we want to create, we want to make sure that America is building ships again, we've got to have the skills to do it. | ||
| And that's what our focus has been in a big part in terms of building an ecosystem that supports and thrives in the manufacturing sector. | ||
| Governor Youngkin, you work with Brett Vassey, who is the head of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, our state affiliate in Virginia. | ||
| He gives you high praise for your work on workforce and your energy strategy that you adopted. | ||
| What's another issue that is something that's foremost on your mind to help encourage manufacturers to invest in Virginia? | ||
| So just to take a pit stop on workforce for a minute. | ||
| Talent's the key, we all know it. | ||
| And we have to provide multiple pathways for students to find their way into an opportunity-driven workforce. | ||
| And that means start early. | ||
| That means start in middle school and make sure that all your students are having a chance to run as fast as they possibly can, but also begin to find areas where they have a passion. | ||
| And so we have a dual enrollment partnership with our community college system that a student can get an industry recognized credential or a certificate and go to work right away. | ||
| And by the way, they don't have to pay for it. | ||
| And that opens up a whole new opportunity for employers, but even more so for the future workforce. | ||
| But they can also go to one of our great colleges and get a two-year degree at a community college or a four-year degree at one of our great universities. | ||
| So talent is the key, and we customize that to work with companies. | ||
| And so Virginia's Talent Accelerator, which we've been rated as the best customized talent workforce development program for the last three years, best in the country, really works with companies to match their needs with that talent pipeline. | ||
| Power is critical, and if we do not have power, we're going to be in trouble. | ||
| And I think this is one of the great opportunities, not just for Virginia, but for America, to continue to demonstrate that we are going to have affordable, reliable, and Yes, increasingly clean power. | ||
| When you lead in nuclear and introduce natural gas and yes, have solar and some wind development, you're going to have increasingly clean power. | ||
| But we need to make sure that it is affordable and reliable. | ||
| And I think that's one of our great competitive advantages. | ||
| The one thing that I would add is pipelines for your supply chain. | ||
| And I think supply chain certainty is critically important. | ||
| And as we watch supply chains move, particularly to the United States and to our trusted allies, that security of a regional supply chain that is, yes, in the United States, but also with some real trusted allies, I think is going to be the absolute cornerstone to manufacturing going forward. | ||
| And I'm really excited about watching the dynamic nature of supply chain movement around the world as we're seeing it regionalize, regionalize in the United States. | ||
| It's one of the things we're most excited about in Virginia in some of these key areas, like semiconductors and like pharmaceuticals and like advanced manufacturing, as we see things coming to the United States. | ||
| And so if we get education right and workforce right and we get power right and we get supply chain right, boy, the United States is going to dominate for a long time. | ||
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unidentified
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So Governor Dunleavy, let's talk about a different kind of pipeline. | |
| You've been working with the administration and the president on the Alaska LNG project. | ||
| Katie Caposi, who runs the Alaska Chamber of Commerce, our affiliate in your state, says you are one of the most incredible pro-business governors that she's seen in Alaska. | ||
| What is one issue that's on your mind to attract manufacturing investment into the state? | ||
| No, that's a great question. | ||
| So Alaska has different challenges than the states represent up here on the podium. | ||
| Distance, we're at the top of the world, small population, 740,000 folks. | ||
| It's really a greenfield operation, part of America. | ||
| It's the 49th state. | ||
| But we came into the Union as a resource state, and that's what we do best. | ||
| President Trump signed an executive order. | ||
| We're the only state, Alaska is the only state that had an executive order signed on its behalf because of its energy potential, its critical minerals, our metals. | ||
| Alaska's got enormous amounts of gas, enormous amounts of oil, largest graphite find in North America, large deposits of nickel, lead, zinc, gold, you name it. | ||
| And so Alaska is looked at upon by the White House as a solution to many of the world's problems and America's problems. | ||
| The gas line is a huge project that is supported by the President, but also needed for Alaska, for our utilities, our bases, and for future manufacturing, as well as our Asian allies. | ||
| And this pipeline has been talked about for decades and decades and decades. | ||
| This is a whole different pipeline today. | ||
| We have all of our permits, we all have all of our right-of-ways. | ||
| And with the surge in electrification of the world, especially for low-carbon fuels such as our natural gas, the appetite and the enthusiasm we're receiving now, especially from our Asian allies, is something we haven't seen before. | ||
| This pipeline is going to be phased out into three phases. | ||
| The pipeline itself, as opposed to the liquefaction plant, we hope to have that built here in the next two, two and a half years, delivering gas to Alaskans and then exporting large amounts of gas to our Asian allies. | ||
| We just got back from a trip in Asia. | ||
| The folks in Taiwan are very interested in off-taking gas and investing. | ||
| Same with Thailand. | ||
| We just had a contingent go up to Alaska last week from Thailand, Japan, and Korea. | ||
| We pioneered LNG export for the world in 1969. | ||
| Most people don't know that. | ||
| Alaska was shipping gas to Japan for 50 years. | ||
| We also pioneered large oil pipeline construction with the Trans-Alaskan oil pipeline built in 1974 to 77 and shipping oil ever since. | ||
| 18 billion barrels worth of oil have gone through that pipeline. | ||
| And so this pipeline concept is supported by the president, is supported by his staff. | ||
| We're going to have a huge energy conference here June 3rd, 4th, and 5th in Alaska. | ||
| Secretary Bergham is going to be there. | ||
| Secretary Wright, Elise Eldon with EPA is going to be there. | ||
| And probably 1,000 folks from all over the world that want to invest in Alaska. | ||
| And I would say that energy is the key to everything we're talking about. | ||
| Education is the key. | ||
| And Alaska has a lot to offer when it comes to the energy world and the energy sphere, especially for the Pacific Rim and the Pacific Basin. | ||
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unidentified
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Governor Moore, Mary Kane of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, our state affiliate there, gives you high praise for the work you all did together on the RAISE Act, which was about apprenticeships. | |
| We appreciate that as well. | ||
| What's one thing on your mind to attract manufacturing investment into the state? | ||
| I'd say the importance of apprenticeships and I think workforce development is absolutely crucial in all this. | ||
| I mean, it's a reason why, you know, when we came in, we were very clear that we are going to invest and find ways of creating better pipelines for our young people. | ||
| And since we come on board, we have actually quadrupled the amount of apprenticeships that we have now in the state of Maryland, being able to provide pathways for high school students, being very clear that we have some of the best four-year institutions in America in the state of Maryland, but not every one of our students needs to attend one of them in order to be economically successful. | ||
| And that really has, I think, created not just a strong pipeline of talent that we've had on board, it's also one of the reasons I think has been able to drive the unemployment rate in the state of Maryland, so now one of the lowest in the entire country. | ||
| And I think that while the apprenticeship work and the pipeline work does become incredibly important, I think the other thing that has to be focused on is how are you then leveraging the items that you know are uniquely tethered to your jurisdiction. | ||
| And so, you know, we are focusing on making sure that we're creating an education system that teaches our young people how not just to be employees, but also be employers and being the entrepreneurs themselves. | ||
| But when you look at the type of assets that we have within our state, the type of assets that we invest in, whether it be the Port of Baltimore, which is not just one of the largest but also one of the most active ports within the United States, where literally two-thirds of the United States gets their goods from the Port of Baltimore. | ||
| So we know that many of, in fact, many of you have cooperations and partnerships with the Port of Baltimore. | ||
| When we think about the leverage assets that we have that's supporting advanced manufacturing and also the aerospace industry, I know we have a few businesses here who I actually had a chance to meet with earlier thinking about ST Engineering and the work that they're doing out in Middle River within Maryland. | ||
| And they talk about the reasons they chose Middle River was the fact that Maryland is also the home of Fort Meade and the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Cyber Command and the Applied Physics Lab. | ||
| And so you have all these assets that are some of our largest, not just thought leaders, but industry-producing assets that for a lot of our large businesses, specifically in advanced manufacturing, they want to be near. | ||
| They want to be around. | ||
| They want to be able to leverage. | ||
| And so I think that we've got to be able to focus on educational pipelines. | ||
| We have to be able to focus on apprenticeship platforms like Mary Kane from the Maryland Chamber of Commerce was speaking about. | ||
| We have to make sure that we're focusing on creating a way to get more people back into the workforce. | ||
| And we have to be able to leverage the assets that are already there. | ||
| Because for large corporations and smaller corporations that are looking to invest in our own individual states, those are the questions that they are asking. | ||
| How can I leverage the things that are already there, not just the institutions of our education, but also the business and the governmental entities? | ||
| And so I think our ability to be able to streamline that, make it easier, provide the right kind of incentives, is also going to give us the core pathway to be able to win in the advanced manufacturing race that's taking place right now. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you, Governor. | |
| I'm going to go back to alphabetical order now. | ||
| So I'll start with you, Governor Dunlevy. | ||
| We're going to do a speed round here. | ||
| Different questions for each one of you. | ||
| So as technology and AI companies look for competitive destinations for investments, what makes Alaska a strong contender for data centers and digital infrastructure? | ||
| How's Alaska shaping the next generation of technology investments? | ||
| Great question. | ||
| So Alaska, we always talk about Alaska's the next several decades. | ||
| In some respects, it's going to be long to Alaska because of our energy and our ability to actually host data farms and data centers. | ||
| Alaska has large tracts of continuous acreage of land, large tracts. | ||
| We're talking thousands of acres, continuous acres. | ||
| Again, small population, large land mass. | ||
| We have three times the fresh water of any other state in the country. | ||
| We have cool temperatures, obviously. | ||
| And once this pipeline is built and we have export going through it by 2031, we're looking at potential electrical costs in state at around 4 cents a kilowatt hour. | ||
| This bodes well for any outfit that's looking to relocate and diversify where they put their data farms, as opposed to just in one place or one area. | ||
| There's an opportunity to have data farms in Alaska. | ||
| So inexpensive, large tracts of land, lots of water, cool temperatures, secure area in Alaska. | ||
| We've got a number of military bases up there. | ||
| And starting here in just a few years, very inexpensive gas, very inexpensive electricity. | ||
| And so I think a tremendous opportunity. | ||
| And what will be a stable tax rate, a tax system, tax regime for future data farms. | ||
|
unidentified
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So Governor Moore, how are you leveraging international partnerships to accelerate AI research and development as well as commercialization in your state? | |
| And do you have a recent collaboration that you might be able to share with us? | ||
| Absolutely. | ||
| And we are very clear that if you were going to win, particularly in the lighthouse industries that we indicated, whether it be life sciences, IT, and also airspace and defense, that the ability to win in those industries means that you have to be the best partner possible. | ||
| And in fact, we just recently came back from a foreign trade trip to both Japan and Korea. | ||
| So it's great seeing so many of you who I had a chance to meet with a chance to meet with over there. | ||
| But talking about how if we are going to be able to focus on these type of industries, then it means making sure that you have the strong partnerships with Toshiba, making sure you have a strong partnership with Mitsubishi, making sure you have strong partnerships with CASA when you're talking about airspace and defense. | ||
| And so our ability to be able to create those type of bilateral relationships became imperative. | ||
| And I actually think that that's going to be where a lot of this future is going to be because I think people saw within the state of Maryland what you have is what you have is stability, what you have is transparency, and what you have is a really ripe atmosphere for the type of technological growth that I think we all believe in. | ||
| And speaking with the idea of thinking about data centers and data farms is one example, where the truth is, and just being completely transparent, that Maryland was not always the best place to be able to have data center advancement, that a lot of our neighbors were able to move much faster and did move much faster. | ||
| And so one of the first things that we did was actually introduce legislation around critical infrastructure and about how are we enhancing critical infrastructure assets because many of the same things the governor was talking about about access to energy supply, access to water supply, where 70% of my state is either water lined or water lots. | ||
| When you think about access to Washington, D.C. and also where the largest edited set of data farms were in, which was Virginia, that for expanded growth, the best place to look was actually to look in the spaces within Maryland. | ||
| And so that was actually a muscle that we had to develop and had to create. | ||
| And I'm really thankful for the type of progress that we've seen now within the state of Maryland in these areas. | ||
| But I think it is how are we focusing on these bilateral relationships between our state and our foreign partners that I think is going to be really unique and actually really help to win this next decade that we're all competing for. | ||
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unidentified
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All right, Governor Whitmer, I have literally the most important question of the day that is going to you. | |
| Who is going to win that big game the Saturday after Thanksgiving? | ||
| And the second most important question is, can you get me into your box? | ||
| Because I'm an Ohio State guy. | ||
| The question is about the Michigan-Ohio State football game next fall. | ||
| So it's really not that important. | ||
| I'll give you a different one, and maybe we can talk about that one later. | ||
| Michigan's advanced manufacturing base, as you know, is rapidly integrating artificial intelligence. | ||
| What role do you see Michigan having in supporting the country's competitiveness and leadership in AI? | ||
| I think a major role. | ||
| You know, Michigan, one of the great things about Michigan is the people who call it home. | ||
| They're humble, it is a diverse population, and they work hard. | ||
| Like, we are gritty people. | ||
| We know how to get things done. | ||
| And I'm really proud of a lot of the work that we've been able to do to diversify our economy. | ||
| Obviously, advanced mobility continues to be a really important part of the Michigan economy. | ||
| But as I think about defense in particular, I was thrilled that we were able to announce Michigan will be home to a number of the F-15EXs. | ||
| We've been growing our defense industry and aerospace. | ||
| Saab just announced a munitions plant being built in Gaylord, Michigan. | ||
| And one of the great things about where we're located geographically on the map is we are home to over 20% of the world's fresh surface water. | ||
| I'm going to say that just one more time because sometimes even people in Michigan don't appreciate what a big deal this is. | ||
| 20% of the world's fresh surface water is in and around the Great Lakes. | ||
| We are the Great Lakes state. | ||
| And so these are wonderful strengths that I think we have as we look to diversify and make sure that we stay cutting edge with our phenomenal institutions of higher education. | ||
| So many, I think, Fortune 500 companies that are headquartered in the state of Michigan because of these important assets, but also the collaboration between government, industry, and the foreign direct investment that we have been benefited from over the years. | ||
| I will just level set it is a challenging time right now globally. | ||
| I know that trade policy is creating a lot of stress in industries all across our economies. | ||
| I can tell you that when Wes says that he believes that the state-to-country relationship is more important than ever, we believe that as well. | ||
| We want to make sure that companies who invest in Michigan have got real partnership from our state government, and we're working overtime to do that. | ||
| And as the goal, if the goal is to make sure that we're onshore and doing more manufacturing, that's something I think Michigan is very strongly positioned to be successful at doing and combining that with our cutting-edge technology process when it comes to AI. | ||
| So it's an exciting time, it is a stressful time, it is a challenging time. | ||
| But for anyone who is in here and hasn't been down to the Michigan booth, please come check it out. | ||
| We would love to work with you. | ||
| Thank you, Governor. | ||
| Governor Yunken, a little over two years ago, I had the privilege of joining you and other state leaders at the Lego Groundbreaking in Chesterfield County. | ||
| Now, I have my own bias. | ||
| I was a chief of staff for one of Governor Yunkin's predecessors, so I kind of like Virginia. | ||
| But like all states up here, Virginia does know how to build. | ||
| So tell us a little bit about how you're making more places in the Commonwealth shovel-ready for manufacturers, especially for AI-focused projects like data centers and facilities for advanced manufacturing companies. | ||
| And I'm asking that because, as you well know, industrial site availability is often cited as a challenge for expanding manufacturing. | ||
| I think one of the biggest opportunities for economic development is to shrink timelines. | ||
| And we all know that when timelines expand, projects go from being great to mediocre or even mediocre to bad. | ||
| And so having an accelerated timeline for every aspect of an economic development project is critical. | ||
| That starts with a state that understands what it means to run fast. | ||
| And so last week we announced the built-in Virginia Investment Accelerator. | ||
| And it takes every aspect of state government. | ||
| And when we have an economic development opportunity, we can accelerate everything from permitting to approvals to site investment. | ||
| Site investment becomes critically important. | ||
| And when we came in, I worked with our General Assembly, and we have divided government in Virginia. | ||
| And you get this done because it's critically important. | ||
| And we've appropriated $500 million to invest in site readiness. | ||
| That's to make sure that the sites, in fact, are graded and they're connected to utilities and that the transportation infrastructure around them from rail to road is ready to go. | ||
| And as a result, companies that are coming to Virginia are able to get ready to build immediately. | ||
| And when you can accelerate that whole timeline, everything changes. | ||
| And now what we're seeing is businesses like Lego that came to Virginia because we had a shovel-ready site are now investing again. | ||
| And that is a huge statement of, I believe, affirmation for the ecosystem, the business-friendly ecosystem that we have built. | ||
| Listen, I think we have to be able to combine this great ecosystem. | ||
| I want to Virginia, and we just crested through our 15,000th high-growth startup in Virginia. | ||
| We set a goal for 10 over four years, and we've hit 15,000 in three years of innovative companies that want to grow. | ||
| We want to connect them to the advanced manufacturing side so that they have customers. | ||
| And then I think finally, one of the biggest attributes that we have to pay attention to is where are people wanting to live? | ||
| And at the end of the day, are more people moving into states or out of states? | ||
| And we, in fact, crested through net in migration in 2023 at a level that put us ninth in the nation of the desired place to live. | ||
| People coming much faster than they're moving away. | ||
| I think we have certain sets of customers. | ||
| We have people who live here. | ||
| We have people who don't live here yet but may want to come. | ||
| And we have businesses that are already here that want to expand. | ||
| And I believe if we create an environment where we have lower cost of living, we've had $9 billion of tax relief in Virginia. | ||
| We have streamlined regulations. | ||
| We have sites ready to go. | ||
| We have great talent development. | ||
| We have a military that is one of the largest presence in the entire United States. | ||
| Can keep those people and have them feed into our workforce. | ||
| And finally, that we have a government that understands that it's your pace that matters, not ours, and therefore we've got to run fast to help you be successful. | ||
| Well, then we can, in fact, be great partners to help build not just a successful business for you, but to open up opportunities for the people that we all serve. | ||
| As I said at the beginning, this is about doing business in America. | ||
| And the net opportunity for all of you is to invest. | ||
| And you get to invest in what I believe is going to be the most dynamic economy in the world by far, with great growth opportunities, innovation that will overwhelm any problem, an incredibly talented workforce, a home market that will provide you a place to sell your product. | ||
| And I think new trade deals around the world are going to open up markets that have historically not been open like they should be. | ||
| What an opportunity for you to select USA. | ||
| And I just appreciate everybody for being here and giving us as governors an opportunity, yes, to advocate for our own states, but to give us a chance also to see why the United States is the best place to invest capital, to build businesses, to invest in research, and to live and work and raise your family. | ||
| So thank you. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you very much, Governor. | |
| And as you can see, the number one job of every governor in this country is to be the chief economic development official. | ||
| And these four governors do that tremendously well. | ||
| And to echo what Governor Yunken said, if you're looking to invest anywhere in the world, the best place in the world to invest is right here in the United States. | ||
| And you will find no better partner than these four governors, as well as the others throughout the country. | ||
| And the one thing I hope everybody here really takes away from today's discussion is we have two Republican governors, we have two Democratic governors, and when it comes to jobs, when it comes to investment, when it comes to economic opportunity, that is a nonpartisan issue all across this country. | ||
| We want Americans to succeed. | ||
| So I want to thank these four governors because they are tremendous leaders. | ||
| And what they said during this discussion is with the right policy decisions, manufacturing will continue to grow in this country. | ||
| And the 13 million people that make things in this country will become many millions more. | ||
| Thank you all so much for having us here. | ||
| Thank you so much. | ||
| Here's a look at some of our live coverage coming up Tuesday on C-SPAN 3. | ||
| First, at 10.15 a.m. Eastern, the Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing examining the role of pharmacy benefit managers or intermediaries in the prescription drug supply chain and how they can impact market competition and drug prices. | ||
| And then at 2.30, the House Ways and Means Committee takes up the 2025 GOP budget package, which may extend many of the tax cuts from President Trump's first term before they expire. | ||
| Republican leaders in the House are looking to reduce taxes by more than $4 trillion and cut spending by $1.5 trillion in the next decade. | ||
| Votes on amendments are expected late into the evening. | ||
| You can also watch these programs live on the C-SPAN Now app or online at c-span.org. | ||
| Thank you, Universe, for C-SPAN. | ||
| It's the one essential news network. | ||
| You and C-SPAN show the truth. | ||
| Thank you for C-SPAN. | ||
| Appreciate you guys' non-biased coverage. | ||
| You're free for C-SPAN that lets ordinary citizens participate in the national dialogue. | ||
| What's so great about C-SPAN is that you hit every side. | ||
| C-SPAN truly is an unbiased channel. | ||
| Doing a great service for the nation. | ||
| I've been watching Washington Journal and using C-SPAN for 35 years, so appreciate you guys. | ||
| Thumbs up to C-SPAN. | ||
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unidentified
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The real news source for me is C-SPAN. |