Making good on a promise from last year’s State of the Union to help create good-paying American jobs, President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced a new public-private manufacturing hub in North Carolina to develop next-generation power electronics.

Obama’s announcement was meant to give a manufacturing boost to the state that has taken hits in the recession. “We’re not going to turn things around overnight. A lot of jobs were lost in the textile industry and furniture-making,” he told 2,000 gathered at a North Carolina State University arena.

But he expressed optimism that the time is now for a change. “This can be a breakthrough year for America,” Obama said. “The pieces are all there to start bringing back more of the jobs that we’ve lost over the past decade.”