THOMASVILLE, N.C. — North Carolina's role as a key state for President Barack Obama's re-election prospects got further validation Friday as Vice President Joe Biden visited Davidson County Community College.

Biden joined his wife Jill and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis as they ended a bus tour in Thomasville, highlighting community colleges. 

"You, the community college, are part of the reason why I'm so absolutely convinced that we can accommodate the good middle class jobs that are coming back to the United States," Biden said.

Their mission is to highlight Obama's proposal to create an $8 billion fund to form partnerships between community colleges and business to train workers in fields that are growing jobs. North Carolina community college students have been mentioned by Obama in the last two State of the Union addresses.

"I promise that your generation is going to hear the word 'insourcing' as much as my generation heard the word 'outsourcing,'" Biden said.

The White House says the "Community College to Career Fund" would train 2 million workers for jobs in potential growth areas such as electronic medical records and cyber security within sectors such as health care, transportation and advanced manufacturing.

A key component of the community college plan would institute "pay for performance" in job training, meaning there would be financial incentives to ensure that trainees find permanent jobs – particularly for programs that place individuals facing the greatest hurdles getting work.

It also would promote training of entrepreneurs, provide grants for state and local government to recruit companies, and support paid internships for low-income community college students.

Jill Biden's bus tour rolled from Ohio through Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia before finishing in Thomasville.