Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at the Faith-Based National Partnership Summit

Remarks by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo at the Faith-Based National Partnership Summit
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Thu, 10/20/2022 – 09:35

Investing in communities and workers
Minority business growth

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Thursday, October 20, 2022

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Gina M. Raimondo

Thank you, Andres, for that introduction. Welcome to the Commerce Department’s Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Summit. I’m thrilled to be joined by Deputy Secretary Graves and Under Secretary Cravins. And most importantly, thank you all for participating today.

I am so proud that under the Biden-Harris Administration, we have relaunched the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. We know how important this mission is to deliver equitable results and ensure no community is left behind. And we’re thrilled to have Andres leading the charge.

We have an unprecedented opportunity right now. Thanks to President Biden’s leadership, our department is investing tens of billions of dollars in communities across the country.

We’re investing $50 billion to connect every American to affordable, reliable high-speed internet. We’ll invest another $50 billion to build new semiconductor manufacturing facilities in the U.S and supercharge innovation. And we’re investing billions to train the workforce of tomorrow and help bolster industries in local communities.

We want all Americans to benefit from these opportunities, including communities of color, rural communities, and other underserved populations.

Making these investments is going create tens of thousands of jobs. These are good-paying, high-quality jobs that have the potential to change lives.

We’re working at the Commerce Department to ensure everyone has access to them. But we can’t do this in a silo.

Faith-based and neighborhood partnerships form the backbones of communities across the country. So many people learn about apprenticeships, grants, and career opportunities from their community organizations. And you know your communities’ needs better than anyone.

We want to work with you to ensure that the federal dollars that are coming to your communities are being spent wisely and effectively. And we expect you to hold us accountable and give us feedback throughout the process.

That’s why joining today’s summit is so important. We need to form meaningful partnerships between businesses and faith-based and community-based organizations. Together, we can promote equity, job creation, and economic growth. Commerce is all in on this agenda.

These relationships are going to be what makes us successful. I hope you find this summit transformative, and that you’ll consider the Commerce Department – and the OFBNP – as valuable resources and strong allies. Thank you.

Leadership

Gina M. Raimondo

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Secretary Gina Raimondo

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