Greeted with cheers and applause and surrounded by local leaders, President Barack Obama thanked the workers at V&M Star for their hard work when he took to the podium Tuesday at the manufacturing plant on Martin Luther King Boulevard in Youngstown.
In his opening remarks the President reminded the crowd of about 200 that he is familiar with the Buckeye state and the concerns of citizens here in the Mahoning Valley.
“You know, in the two years I was running for President, I was not a stranger to this state," Obama said. "I saw firsthand what years of failed policies had done to working families here. And the Mahoning Valley is a place that doesn’t need an economist to tell you when a recession begins or ends.
"Plenty of folks here have known their own private recessions for thirty years. Plenty of folks aren’t impressed by another President swooping in to talk to you about the economy-not when the only headline they want to see is 'you’re hired.'”
Obama talked about how efforts to rescue the economy are working, creating jobs, growing small businesses and keeping communities like Youngstown going. He sited the $650 million expansion project at V&M, which promises to create 350 additional jobs as an example of how current policies are working.
"Right here, in the heart of the old steel corridor, where some never thought we’d see an investment like this again, they’re placing their bet on American manufacturing and on this community," Obama said.
A $20 million investment from the Recovery Act was used for transportation infrastructure around V&M Star and money was also allocated to make the surrounding industrial park a shovel ready site.
The president also credited the stimulus package that included funding for the construction of a rail spur runs through town behind the V&M plant. That rail line will be critical during the construction phase of the V&M expansion project.
Obama mentioned that some the decisions he made on the economy may have been unpopular, but he says they were the right choices to make, sighting the fourth straight month of job growth.
"But I think any fair-minded person would say that if we hadn’t acted, more people in the Mahoning Valley, more people in Ohio and more across America would be out of work today," he said.
He also mentioned that if those unpopular decisions were not made, General Motors would be defunct.
Tuesday’s visit marked the second time within a year that the president has visited the area.
