President Obama Returning to Elkhart
President Obama visited Elkhart in 2009.
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPresident Barack Obama next week will return to the first city he visited as president. Obama says he will visit Elkhart next Wednesday to discuss economic growth, saying, "The story of Elkhart’s recovery is the story of America’s recovery." Earlier this month on Inside INdiana Business Television, Greater Elkhart Chamber of Commerce President Kyle Hannon talked about the city’s turnaround.
Elkhart and northern Indiana were focal points during the 2008 election cycle, when Elkhart County had the nation’s highest unemployment rate. "It’s always fun and nice to have the President of the United States visit your community,” said Hannon. "But it’s not great when the national media flocks in and looks for all the hard luck stories they can find… that was not much fun."
President Obama sent the following email to announce the trip:
Just three weeks into my presidency, I made a promise to the people of Elkhart, Indiana.
It was the first city I visited as President. Folks there had been hit harder by the recession than almost anywhere else in America. The unemployment rate was on its way to nearly twenty percent. Companies that had sustained that community for years were shedding jobs at an alarming speed — and hardworking families were losing their homes and health care along with those jobs.
When I spoke to the people of Elkhart in February of 2009, I promised them that if we worked together, we could pull that community and this country out of the depths of recession — that we could not only recover, but put ourselves on a better, stronger course.
Today, thanks to the hard work of people in Elkhart and in communities across the country, America has recovered from crisis and we’re on the cusp of resurgence.
That’s why I’m going back to Elkhart next Wednesday — to highlight the economic progress we’ve made and discuss the challenges that remain.
The story of Elkhart’s recovery is the story of America’s recovery.
Today, Elkhart’s manufacturing industry is back, and the town has regained nearly all of the jobs it lost during the downturn. The unemployment rate is lower than it was before the recession, and lower than the national average. In Indiana, more people have health insurance, and fewer homeowners are underwater.
This progress is thanks to the effort and determination of Americans like you. And it’s a result of the choices we made as a nation.
We still face some tough economic challenges, there’s no doubt about it. And all of us have to make some very important decisions about where we go from here.
That’s what I’m going to talk about when I return to Elkhart on Wednesday. I hope you’ll tune in.
Thank you,
President Barack Obama