President Biden talks investments in Milwaukee’s community with black, local business owners

President Joe Biden visited Milwaukee on Wednesday December 20, 2023, his third visit to the Badger State this year.

Milwaukee is one of many stops for the president as he talks about his efforts and investments in local economies.

“Today we’re making sure Milwaukee is coming back and all of Milwaukee is coming back,” Biden said.

“Milwaukee business applications are up 70 percent compared to before the pandemic. The share of black people employed in 2022 was the highest in more than a decade,” Biden added.

The President said his $15-billion bipartisan infrastructure law offers opportunity and hope to communities, like Milwaukee, to fully participate in today’s economy… something local business owners like, Rashaun Spivey, understands firsthand.

“After years of hard work I achieved my goal of becoming a master plumber and opened my own business, Hero Plumbing,” Spivey said.

His entrepreneurship was sparked by Spivey’s own mother, and continued, he said, by Biden’s investment in black-owned businesses and city-wide infrastructure.

“President Biden’s support of black-owned businesses has helped us live up to the hero name. Thanks to his investments, we’ve been able to replace 600 lead lateral pipes across the city, mostly at child care centers,” Spivey explained.

Across Milwaukee, thousands of miles of lead lateral pipes need to be replaced, a decades-long process. However, Biden’s infrastructure plan promises to accelerate that timeline.

“Last month we proposed a new rule that’s gonna require the water systems to be fully replaced in Milwaukee within 10 years, instead of 60,” Biden added.

This was just one of two stops President Biden had in the Milwaukee area. Likely, we could see him again as Wisconsin plays a crucial role in the 2024 election.