The White House hosts local officials and highlights the impact of policies.

The White House has launched a new initiative to demonstrate what it can do for local governments, visiting North Carolina officials to highlight funding prospects and hear personally how coronavirus treatment, infrastructure spending, and other programs are faring locally.

The gathering on Thursday shows an increase of the White House campus's usage as pandemic restrictions have been relaxed. It's also part of a bigger push to welcome municipal, county, and state leaders from all 50 states on a weekly basis, aligning with the White House's efforts to rally Democratic voters ahead of the November midterm elections.

"We're at a point in our administration when we can do more in terms of convening at the White House," said Julie Rodriguez, head of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. "It's really encouraging for us to come closer to the influence we're having on average Americans' lives."

The revival in manufacturing is one of the primary messages for the North Carolina leaders' visit. Continuous hiring since the middle of last year has increased the overall number of manufacturing employment in the United States to 12.85 million, the most since late 2008, when the financial crisis resulted in more than 2 million layoffs in the industry.

Officials from North Carolina are scheduled to discuss Wolfspeed's intentions to invest $5 billion in the construction of a silicon chip plant, which is projected to create 1,800 employment in the state.

This talk would come after Ohio officials made their initial group visit. President Joe Biden spoke at the groundbreaking for a new Intel factory in Columbus earlier this month. This year, there are open Senate seats in both Ohio and North Carolina.

The gathering on Thursday was to include EPA Administrator Michael Regan, who is from North Carolina. Rodriguez and Keisha Lance Bottoms, a former Atlanta mayor and White House senior advisor, were also scheduled to speak to the audience.

23 North Carolina politicians have confirmed their attendance, including U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning, state lawmakers, mayors of Charlotte, Wilmington, Fayetteville, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Concord, Kinston, and Durham, as well as leaders from Wake and Guildford counties.

Administration officials want to hear local stories, but they also want to highlight the potential opportunities for local governments as a result of the bipartisan infrastructure bill, incentives for developing computer chips and scientific research, as well as a recent package to promote clean energy sources and reduce prescription drug prices.

The White House intended to link those officials with regional media outlets as part of the day's events, indicating that they are attempting to reach a larger audience. This will be critical for political messaging. Republicans seeking control of the House and Senate have blamed rising inflation on Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus rescue program, while the administration claims the price increases are a result worldwide events such as the epidemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February

"A plateauing inflation rate above 8% does not signal that households are getting a respite — it implies exactly the opposite," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a speech to the Senate on Monday. "It implies that households will continue to watch prices rise and rise and rise all the time."