These grants, which we call the Community College Initiative, are designed to improve the training available at community colleges by connecting employers with the schools to provide more and better teachers, state of the art equipment, and a greater capacity to teach more students. In short, they will improve the ability of our Community Colleges to develop talent.

There is no doubt that community colleges play a vital role in educating and preparing our current and future workforce. The affordability, accessibility, and adaptability of institutions like those in the Dallas Community College District are a perfect match for today's dynamic economy.

While the role that community colleges play certainly impacts individuals and the companies at which they are hired, it also affects the entire region because community colleges are developing the talent base needed in today's economy. Indeed, talent development has never been as important to economic development as it is right now.

For most of its existence, economic development has been synonymous with infrastructure development like buildings and roads and incentives like tax rebates and credits. But globalization has changed the economic development equation.

Today, economic development also includes access to broadband and the technological infrastructure to support innovation. But the single most important factor companies consider when deciding where to open or expand a business is the availability of skilled labor. If the workforce is not present to produce high value goods or deliver just-in-time services, then all the tax breaks and highway extensions are irrelevant. This creates an opportunity for talent development organizations to not simply respond to economic events, but anticipate and even shape a regional economy.

It was this realization that led the Employment and Training Administration to create Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development, our WIRED Initiative. WIRED is built on the belief that the critical geography in today's economy is not towns or states but regions, and that an integrated economic and talent development strategy at the regional level can drive transformation.

WIRED began almost a year ago when we selected 13 regions to be a part of the First Generation of WIRED. The strength of the proposals we received and the interest expressed from around the country led us to add a second generation of WIRED regions. Your neighbors to the south in Rio Grande Valley are a part of that second generation where they also are pursuing a manufacturing strategy based on the strength of their location by the border and on the Gulf.

As some of you may know, we are now conducting a competition for a third generation of WIRED regions for a $5 million award over a three year period. What the first two generations have taught us is that this funding is capable of acting as seed capital, spurring investment from an array of other groups including other federal agencies, foundations, regional partners, and the state.

There is one particular group that has done more than any other to support the effort of these regions and that is the Manufacturing Extension Partnership. In addition to the continuing extension efforts, the NIST/MEP program has agreed to pilot a technology transfer and transition program in eight of our regions.

Many manufacturers have innovations and intellectual property that quite literally sits of the shelf because it is not relevant to the specific work of that company. But for small manufacturers or entrepreneurs, this can be just the breakthrough they need to become competitive or profitable. The MEP Centers in those eight regions have agreed to devote time and resources to identifying those opportunities and engaging with the WIRED leadership teams to make them available to other manufacturers in the region.

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I should point out that Drew Casani, who preceded me on stage this morning, is the director of the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center which is the MEP for this area. He is a central figure in the Advanced Logistics program I described earlier and is widely regarded in Washington as one of the leading MEP directors in the country.

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The technology transfer efforts of the MEP Centers are vital to our overall success because technology transfer is key factor in a concept called the innovation lifecycle. I was introduced to it about a year ago, and I have to admit, it took a little while for it to grow on me, but now I believe that it is single best representation of the dynamics each region must create to achieve a self-sustaining innovation economy.

It begins with knowledge creation. Investments in research and development and protection of intellectual property allow universities, research institutions, and manufacturers to make the break-throughs that lead to new products, product features and services, and new markets.

These break-throughs must then be moved out of the university or spun-out of large companies through technology transfer policies. This includes small business incubators and research parks, and it also includes access to risk-capital that allows our entrepreneurs to get off the ground.

From there is the growth of products and new industries through commercialization. And finally, ideas reach maturity as new clusters and business networks form around industries. This then allows successful clusters to reinvest in research and development and start the innovation lifecycle again.

More than any other industry, manufacturing plays a critical role at every stage of this lifecycle. I am committed to ensuring that we have an American manufacturing workforce capable of continuing this innovation lifecycle and I am proud that North Texas and so many other regions around the country recognize the value that manufacturing brings and are committed to its long-term success.

And finally, thank you all for your on-going commitment and investment in an industry that is driving the American economy and American innovation. It is an honor to appear before you today.

Thank you.