President Joe Biden’s Made in America director is scheduled to meet with the North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor to get feedback on the administration’s programs aimed at strengthening domestic manufacturing.
Livia Shmavonian said she will meet Thursday with the largest labor organization in Greater Cleveland. The visit will include a roundtable discussion with union members at the event, which isn’t open to the public.
The Cleveland stop is part of a tour Shmavonian is making to manufacturing communities, including Pittsburgh. It is tied to Made in America Week, which started Sunday, and touts domestic manufacturing. Shmavonian said not only her office, but the Biden administration as a whole, is “going out into the country talking to workers, talking to manufacturers and going to construction sites.”
I’m looking for feedback that I can take back to my colleagues across the administration. I want to hear feedback, both positive and also constructive. I really welcome that engagement.
Livia Shmavonian, the Biden administration’s Made in America director
Many of the industrial states are swing states, but Shmavonian said the visits aren’t tied to this year’s presidential election. She said Made in America Week has been observed for several years.
“We’re really lifting up and celebrating the work that American manufacturers, American innovators, workers, labor unions are doing to support the American economy and to support communities across the country,” she said.
Shmavonian said she believes such conversations are essential.
“I’m looking for feedback that I can take back to my colleagues across the administration,” she said. “I want to hear feedback, both positive and also constructive. I really welcome that engagement.”
Shmavonian said she intends to make stops in addition to the local AFL-CIO while in Cleveland. She told Signal Cleveland she would forward those appointments to us. We’ll update the story when we receive them.
What does the Made in America Office do?
Shmavonian said her office supports agencies and state and local governments in implementing laws requiring that American-made goods be used on certain federally funded projects. The office’s duties include the procurement process, in which the federal government buys goods and services from commercial businesses.
Several laws, including some passed during the pandemic, have Made in America requirements. They include the Build America Buy America Act, which is part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, whose provisions included addressing renewable energy and manufacturing. The CHIPS and Science Act, passed in 2022, which focuses on research and development and manufacturing in science and technology, is also among them.
Leonard DiCosimo, who heads the local AFL-CIO, gladly accepted Shmavonian’s invitation because he wants to “introduce her to the Northeast Ohio labor community.”
“Our labor community is benefitting from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that is creating tens of thousands of new infrastructure projects and rebuilding our roads, bridges, airports and railways,” he wrote in an email to Signal Cleveland.
“The CHIPS and Science Act has invested in research and development for manufacturing,” he wrote, “There have been many great programs created by the Biden administration and we want to say thank you.”
The national AFL-CIO endorsed Biden in 2020 and 2024. On Monday, the day after Biden dropped out of the presidential race, the labor organization announced it was endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris for president.
Has Ohio benefited from Made in America?
Shmavonian’s office emailed a Biden administration fact sheet pointing to how Ohio is benefitting from Made in America, including $13.5 billion in public funding. Ohio also is benefiting from $43.1 billion in related “private sector commitments.”
Ohio’s total includes $12.3 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, according to the fact sheet. Among the 572 projects are $8.7 billion for transportation, including those for roads, bridges, public transit, airports and waterways. Other public funding includes $1.4 billion in grants, rebates and other initiatives “to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, clean building and clean manufacturing.” The state is receiving another $218.3 million, including $110 focused on EV chargers for electric vehicles.
The fact sheet spotlights a few large Ohio projects that tapped some federal funding, including that with Made in America provisions. None are in Greater Cleveland. They include a $28 billion project to build two factories for advanced chipmaking in New Albany, near Columbus, and the $4.4 billion Honda and LG Energy Solution EV battery plant in Jeffersonville, near Xenia.