 Thank you so much, Dr. Biden. Thank you so much, Dr. Biden, for your kind introduction. And thank you for your leadership. I can't believe you are a senior leader here and also teaching a course. At the same time, there's nobody. I'd be hard-pressed to think of someone in the Obama administration who has done more to give voice to the remarkable power of community colleges to change lives than Dr. Biden. She has done so much. And by the way, she's not teaching one course. She's teaching three courses. And that other day job is a little bit busy as well, I'm told, and it is really a tribute to her continuing lifelong commitment to learning. How many of y'all are students here? Just curious, excellent. How many are faculty or administration and partners, other higher ed institutions, et cetera? Well, you have a wonderful set of colleges here in North Carolina. We have been able to travel the country. This is day 107 or something like that for me. And I have seen so many examples of partnership and work. And here in North Carolina, you really are a leader because the grant process was exceedingly competitive. And there were a number of very worthy applicants who were not selected. And not only were you selected for this grant, but you got one of the largest grants that was awarded through this program. So you have every reason to be proud of what you're doing. And the reason you were selected is because you really are onto something here. The extent of your commitment to the partnerships that are embodied in this proposal and to the systems change, and to the partnerships with employers, how many employers are here today as well? We have a lot of employer partners right here and through your grant. Because the old model of workforce development was what I used to call the train and prey model. We train widget makers on how to make widgets, but we never ask the question, are there any employers hiring widget makers? Well, we've moved beyond the train and prey model of workforce development to a model that's truly demand driven. This president and this vice president want to grow the economy from the middle out. And the way to do that is to understand from the job creators what the demand needs are and to build those partnerships between employers, workers, community colleges, four year institutions, non-profit stakeholders, and other key participants in this process so that we can indeed provide those ladders of opportunity for all of you and can provide job training that is indeed relevant to the needs of the employers. And that's exactly what our grant program is all about. I appreciate the fact that you were able to name the whole program. We need to upgrade our department of name management because we don't do really well in the acronym department. But I can tell you, we're very serious about building the capacity of community colleges and other institutions of higher learning to make sure that they can prepare you, students who are here today, for the jobs of today and tomorrow. And I again want to underscore my thanks to all of the faculty members here because I'm very familiar from my time in local government and state government with how well you get paid. And I know no one's getting rich in this room. But as you watch your students succeed and as you see them just absolutely flourish, we all know that what brings you back day in and day out is the fact that the non-monetary rewards continue to be priceless. And those rewards are about students who are moving into those pathways of opportunity, making sure those ladders are open to everyone who's willing to work hard and play by the rules and do the hard work that it takes to get into these jobs. I've heard the word a lot, mission critical today. And that is a very critical word. I'm learning what it means here in North Carolina. And what it means is across a host of industries, it is training people to do those critical IT and other related tasks that will enable you to succeed tomorrow. Because skills development is truly one of the pillars of the Obama-Biden strategy to grow the economy, not from the top down, but from the middle out. And we know we have the best workers in the world, but they need us to invest in their true potential and their ability to compete now and in the future. The paradox of our country right now is that the economy is moving, it's growing. We've had 44 consecutive months of private sector job growth. Over seven and a half million jobs have been created during that period. And the private sector has been the engine of that job growth. But we also know that we need to pick up the pace. And we have the paradox of unacceptably high unemployment, but at the same time, we have so many employers who wanna further expand their business, but they lack the skilled workforce to enable them to do that. And that is why this program and this investment is so critically important. Because that is what we will enable you to do to make sure that you are able to move into jobs that are demand-driven jobs that will pay you a decent wage and provide those ladders of opportunity so that you can continue your lifelong learning. So if you get a certificate, or if you get an associate's degree, or whether you move on to UNC Charlotte and get a four-year degree and beyond, those career pathways will be here for you. Lifelong learning is what it's all about. When I started college, my mother started college, that same year, because she didn't have those opportunities to go to college when she was younger. And she completed her college the same year I completed my graduate school eight years later. She had some on-ramps and some off-ramps because she had family responsibilities like so many of you here. And she had other challenges like so many of you here, but she was persistent like all of you here. And that persistence, I guarantee you, will pay off. The partnerships will pay off. The leaders, and I'm so looking forward to hearing from you, Kenneth, about your story of success and transition into the workforce and how you are using your capacity as a networking technology student here at Cleveland Community College to upskill. Education is indeed the great equalizer. That's what my folks always taught me, and that's what you are here embodying, that great equalizer of education. And now, matching that education with the job needs of remarkable employers in this area, the sky's the limit. And that is why we were so excited to award this grant to this incredible consortium. So congratulations to all of you, and we look forward to learning more from students, from our business partners, from our education partners, and from all of you. You are in a great place. The future is bright for all of you, and I am thrilled to be here with Dr. Biden to talk about that and to talk about where we go from here. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.