First Lady Jill Biden touched down at Burlington International Airport on Wednesday to tout job creation and career prep at the headquarters of electric aviation startup Beta Technologies alongside Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, and the members of the state's Democratic congressional delegation.

The highly choreographed 90-minute event was part of a weekslong road show to more than 20 states by members of President Joe Biden's administration ahead of a possible reelection campaign.

During the "Investing in America" tour, they've highlighted aspects of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and initiatives to train workers for jobs that the president's team has said the recent legislation will create. The first lady was joined in Burlington by U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona.



Inside Beta's hangar, where its pair of electric airplane prototypes were parked like sports cars in a showroom, Biden and Cardona spoke with Beta interns and CEO Kyle Clark, as well as students and an instructor from the North Country Career Center in Newport.
Biden applauded the state's career and technical education programs for high schools; a program to offer tuition-free community college for Vermont residents; and Beta's internship and job-shadow opportunities for students.

"What you are doing in this community is the future of our workforce: how we grow our economy from the bottom up and the middle out," she told an audience of local and state officials and Beta employees.

"These aren’t red ideas or blue ideas. They’re American ideas," she continued. "With champions from both sides of the aisle, these kinds of programs are a great place to find common ground."
Scott stood behind Biden as she spoke. In separate remarks, the governor noted that he and the First Lady are members of rival political parties.

"Today is a reminder that we can and we should prioritize progress over politics," he said, "especially on issues where the majority of Americans agree, like the importance of investments in infrastructure, on trades and technical education, and on equal economic opportunities from region to region."

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) — whose name the First Lady mispronounced — also gave brief speeches. Jane Sanders spoke in place of her husband, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who she explained had prior commitments to meet with high school students in Milton and Fairfax.

"He didn't feel it was appropriate to switch," she explained.