Microsoft and The Green Bay Packers are teaming up for a $10 million partnership aimed to connect Midwestern communities to the wide world of tech. Both parties will contribute $5 million to invest in start ups in Wisconsin. “For communities like ours in the manufacturing belt, this is going to get us to where we need to be in order to be competitive well into the future." Ed Policy, Packers general counsel said in interview. The birth of the initiative stemmed from Trump's presidential win in 2016, in which America's heartland carried most of the votes. Many of those states agree with Trump's belief that Silicon Valley relies too heavily on immigrant workers. “[Microsoft needs to] promote inclusive economic growth that helps everyone move forward.” Microsoft in blog post (2016)
