Commissioner Represents Centre County at White House Forum

A Centre County commissioner was invited to the White House on Thursday to participate in a forum discussing the impacts of investments by the Biden-Harris Administration across the commonwealth.

Board of Commissioners Chairman Michael Pipe was among nearly 50 Pennsylvania elected officials, labor leaders and nonprofit directors taking part in the “Communities in Action: Building a Better Pennsylvania” event.

“I’m honored to be invited to represent Centre County and to join fellow leaders from across Pennsylvania at this meeting,” Pipe said. “This is a unique opportunity to share real-life examples of the progress we’ve made and collaborate with officials from the Biden-Harris Administration.

“Major and significant pieces of legislation signed by President Biden have already had positive impacts on Centre County. Case in point is the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that has enabled the Centre County Board of Commissioners to continue to invest in our small businesses, improve public health outcomes, reform the criminal justice system and keep property taxes low.”

Centre County was awarded $31.7 million in ARPA funds. To date, that money has been used toward a variety of expenses and initiatives, including a $3 million small business relief program, tourism industry recovery, broadband internet assessment and planning, studying the feasibility of a county health department, an incentive pool to attract new flights to University Park Airport, assisting with unreimbursed costs of vaccine distribution at CVIM and Mount Nittany Health, various infrastructure projects and $2.5 million in the 2022 budget to maintain county services.

White House and Cabinet officials participating in Thursday’s event included Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education; Julie Chávez Rodriguez, senior advisor and assistant to the president and director of the; White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs; Keisha Lance Bottoms, senior advisor to the president for public engagement; Gene Sperling, senior advisor to the president and American Rescue Plan coordinator; and Brenda Mallory, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality.

The forum “is part of a new series that features local elected officials and community leaders working on behalf of their communities to create opportunities and improve people’s everyday lives.” The White House previously hosted similar events focused on Ohio and North Carolina.