Our country is in the midst of a clean energy revolution and manufacturing renaissance, and so much of it is happening right here in Georgia. What better time than Labor Day to remind my fellow Georgians that these welcomed changes are the result of hardworking people who put their dreams into action. I am proud to be one of them.
I started my career as an electrician, going through an apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). I was the first woman in Local 917 and the first Black woman in Mississippi to be a journeyman in a union. For the past 24 years, I’ve owned my own electrical company. Right now, my made-in-America EV charging product is on the verge of being deployed in our state. The feeling of seeing my company’s product in an engineer’s blueprint is a feeling I struggle to describe.
This story would not be possible without Biden signing the Inflation Reduction Act and its clean energy investments into law. Since it was signed two years ago, the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy plan in that law has helped turbocharge Georgia’s economy, creating 32,191 jobs and nearly $24 billion in investment. Since the IRA went into effect, my company has seen a significant increase in sales and interest in clean energy projects, giving us the revenue to add jobs and keep people working.