President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are visiting Kokomo, Ind., today as part of their Main Street Tour.
The White House said Kokomo has been affected by plant closings and layoffs, but innovative investments from the American Recovery Act and the restructuring of the auto industry have helped the community turn its economy around.
Indiana has received more than $8.4 billion in Recovery Act funds. The Council of Economic Advisors estimates that the Recovery Act has provided 71,000 jobs in Indiana through September 2010. To date, more than $6.2 billion of this funding has been.
Kokomo was one of the many cities in the U.S. that suffered from plant closing and layoffs. In late 2007, Kokomo Sanitation Pottery closed, laying off 100 workers. Chrysler also laid off 11,000 workers nationwide and in 2008 many manufacturing jobs were lost a local Delphi plant.
Obama last visited Kokomo, Indiana in April 2008. As part of that visit, he held a town hall meeting where he discussed recent layoffs in the community and called for new investments in clean energy, manufacturing and education.
During the visit, Obama will visit Indiana Transmission, a Chrysler plant in Kokomo, which has been an example of the community's investment in new, sustainable industries. By the end of 2008, Kokomo had been labeled one of "America's Fastest Dying Towns" because of the sharp decline in local manufacturing and auto jobs. Unemployment hit over 20 percent in 2009, making Kokomo's one of the highest unemployment rates in the country.
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