The American AI Action Plan, released July 23, 2025 by the Trump Administration, outlines a pro-growth strategy to accelerate AI innovation by addressing regulations, expanding infrastructure and aligning federal investment with workforce development.

As the introduction to the action plan states, “to secure our future, we must harness the full power of American innovation.” This will mean tapping into the innovative and productive power of America beyond just Silicon Valley and New York and looking to the powerhouses that are Champaign, Chattanooga, Baton Rouge, Ann Arbor and beyond. Meeting this moment—and realizing the full promise of an AI-powered future—will require the collective strength, talent and distinct ingenuity of communities across the entire nation. 

What’s equally clear is that the heartland will be uniquely shaped by the policies outlined in the AI Action Plan—policies that touch everything from workforce training and education to infrastructure, manufacturing, agriculture, health care and small business development. Below, we break down the proposal to examine how this region stands to be affected and how it can seize this moment as a catalyst for long-term growth.

Training the Workforce to Build and Power AI

At the heart of the plan is a focus on American workers. Where previous waves of automation displaced jobs, this AI strategy focuses on the need for technical training, apprenticeships and rapid upskilling as tools to help workers adapt to and thrive in the AI economy.

The plan prioritizes Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Registered Apprenticeships—hallmarks of building the talent pipeline in the heartland. Through partnerships with community colleges and industry, it seeks to rapidly train skilled workers for high-demand roles like electricians, HVAC specialists, data center technicians and manufacturing technologists. Many of these are occupations that pay well, don’t require a four-year degree, lead to a successful career pathway and will be vital to building an AI-dominant world.

By identifying AI-critical infrastructure roles, investing in skills frameworks and expanding early career exposure for high school students, the Action Plan positions heartland communities to become hubs of technical talent. For small towns where economic opportunity has faded, this push could revitalize local economies with high-wage, high-skill employment that’s built to last and is focused on strengthening the infrastructure needed for the future of AI.

Building AI Infrastructure on Heartland Ground

As the United States races to build this critical infrastructure, the heartland is poised to play a central role in this transformation. The American AI Action Plan outlines an aggressive strategy to expand domestic manufacturing, streamline permitting for critical infrastructure and overhaul the nation’s energy systems to meet the demands of an AI-driven economy. These priorities align with some of the assets and capacities found in many heartland communities, including available industrial land, existing energy and manufacturing infrastructure and a workforce with experience in construction, logistics and heavy industry.

One of the plan’s core infrastructure goals is to rapidly construct semiconductor manufacturing facilities, large-scale data centers and the energy infrastructure required to power them. To make this feasible, the Administration proposes new categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to fast-track permitting for these types of projects, particularly on federal lands—a resource that is often abundant in rural and lower-cost regions. These changes could benefit states across the heartland by opening the door to federal investment and private-sector development in areas historically underutilized in the digital economy

The plan also prioritizes a nationwide overhaul of the power grid, citing the need for reliable, dispatchable energy sources to support AI infrastructure. The proposed strategy includes preventing the premature retirement of existing power generation assets, optimizing grid performance and embracing emerging technologies like nuclear fission, geothermal and advanced grid management systems

Ultimately, the infrastructure and energy priorities outlined in the AI Action Plan could bring long-term, structural investment to the heart of the country—if states and communities can position themselves to take advantage of new funding streams, regulatory flexibility and public-private partnerships. For many regions in America’s interior, this moment presents not just a chance to support national competitiveness, but to become foundational to the country’s next technological era.

Bringing AI-Powered Care to Rural Communities

Health care is another pillar where AI could dramatically change lives—especially in rural and medically underserved areas. The Action Plan identifies health care as a priority sector for AI deployment, with the federal government pledging to support tools that increase diagnostic accuracy, reduce paperwork burdens and improve patient outcomes.

In practice, this could mean AI-powered software that helps rural clinics flag chronic conditions earlier, or virtual assistants that reduce administrative load for overstretched nurses. For rural hospitals on the brink of closure, these gains in efficiency could be the difference between staying open or shutting down.

Crucially, the plan also supports data privacy standards and AI model evaluation protocols, aimed at building trust among both providers and patients.  

Powering Small Business Innovation

As it pertains to small business, the AI Action Plan emphasizes democratizing access to AI for small businesses through open-source and open-weight AI models—cost effective and publicly available systems whose code and/or learned parameters (weights) can be used, modified or fine-tuned by anyone. While there are some real risks with these models, including security vulnerabilities, data risks and potential for misuse, they are especially valuable for small and mid-sized businesses that cannot afford proprietary models or long-term cloud contracts. By encouraging the development and dissemination of these models, the plan aims to help smaller firms innovate and adopt AI tools without relying on expensive, closed systems.

For the countless Main Street businesses across the Heartland—coffee shops, restaurants, non-profits, local manufacturers, service providers and others—this means AI tools for inventory management, customer service automation and market analysis could become both affordable and customizable.

Additionally, the plan proposes AI “Centers of Excellence” and regulatory sandboxes to allow small firms to experiment with AI tools in real-world environments, helping bridge the gap between innovation and adoption. This shift could level the playing field between rural entrepreneurs and coastal tech giants, and help small businesses boost productivity without adding headcount they can’t afford.

A Roadmap for the Heartland to Lead

America’s AI Action Plan acknowledges that winning the global AI race will require more than elite labs and coastal venture capital. It will also take the land, labor and ingenuity of all Americans.

For the heartland, this is a call to action. Local governments, economic development agencies, school districts and employers must seize this moment—partnering with federal agencies, pursuing new funding streams and preparing their communities for a dramatically different economic future.

The coming AI era doesn’t have to widen the urban-rural divide. If this plan is executed with vision and follow-through, it can close it—and usher in a new era of shared prosperity.

To learn more about how Heartland Forward’s work as a resource for state and local communities to harness the power of AI, check out the links below:

• Video: Harnessing AI in the Heartland
• AI Upskilling & Education Partnership — Heartland Forward x Stemuli Program
• Voices of Gen Z Poll: Preparing the Heartland for an AI Future — Heartland Forward, Gallup & Walton Family Foundation
• AI Sentiment Analysis: Public Perceptions of AI in the Heartland Between 2024-2025 — Heartland Forward and Aaru