The Commerce Department is also the primary funder for the UD-headquartered National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL), a nationwide consortium of more than 200 public, private, nonprofit and academic entities focused on developing more efficient and cost-effective ways of producing biopharmaceuticals. Before her conversation with Biden Owens, Raimondo toured the NIIMBL headquarters and other research facilities at the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center on UD’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus with UD President Dennis Assanis, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware and others. Since NIIMBL was created in 2017, the Commerce Department has invested $240 million in the partnership, which has leveraged an additional $300 million from other sources, for research, innovation and workforce development.
With thousands of employees stationed in embassies around the globe, the Commerce Department provides excellent opportunities for young professionals looking to explore the world, Raimondo told Biden Owens. Though there is more to the role than industrial trade and manufacturing, she notes that no two days are the same, and her job is ultimately about making America more competitive on a global scale.
“My personal story is not that different from yours,” the former governor of Rhode Island said to Biden Owens when reflecting on being asked to take on the job.
Growing up in a middle-class, Italian-American household, Raimondo understood the value and necessity of employment from a young age. When her father lost his factory job to overseas outsourcing, it was only then she realized not everyone worked in manufacturing.
“To me, it felt like there was a place for everybody at the factory,” she said, remembering the daily carpools where her father and other neighbors rode together to work.
The choice, then, was simple when then-President-Elect Biden asked her to be his partner in bringing back American manufacturing, citing her family’s struggle and drive to create more jobs as inspiration. One of her first undertakings was launching the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, passed by Congress to provide $50 billion in funding to the Commerce Department to work with companies to build semiconductor factories across the U.S.
“The U.S. makes zero percent of the most sophisticated chips in America,” she said in reference to the processor chips necessary for the operation of everything from a microphone to a smartphone to artificial intelligence technology, including equipment used in the military and airplanes.
More than 90% of processor chips used globally are made by a company based in Taiwan.
Raimondo is now charged with investing that $50 billion to incentivize tech companies to help build semiconductor factories in the U.S. through subsidiary financial support.
“Everybody in COVID learned the hard way how vulnerable we are if all of their suppliers are in one place,” she said.
While it is 30% more expensive to manufacture these chips domestically, government support is boosting infrastructure and economic growth to ultimately make those initial investments worth the while of such corporations.
Another essential piece for Raimondo is breaking down barriers for working parents, saying she’s encouraging companies to include childcare facilities onsite.
“If they don’t think about providing child care and decent wages, they’re not going to get top-notch employees,” she said. “If you have all people who look the same and think the same, you’re not going to get invention and creativity.”
Raimondo also spoke about her work to provide equal access to home internet. Like processor chips, this was another issue thrown into the spotlight by the COVID-19 pandemic, when lack of Wi-Fi meant the inability to work from home, attend virtual school or necessary medical appointments for many Americans. A significant barrier to those living in rural areas throughout the country is that 30% do not have access to working internet, with an even higher percentage on Tribal Lands.
“How are we going to lead the world in technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, if we don’t even ensure everyone has the internet at a price that’s affordable?” she said.
Through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (B.E.A.D.) Program, which supplies over $42 billion in grant funding toward high-speed internet access programs throughout the entire United States, Raimondo is working to ensure that Americans no longer have to see it as a luxury or source of worry.
