02/09/2009 - Obama finds Elkhart Co. changed from 6 months ago (Associated Press)
Obama finds Elkhart Co. changed from 6 months ago
By TOM COYNE
Associated Press Writer
ELKHART, Ind. (AP) -- Six months after making a campaign stop here promising change, President Barack Obama returned to find a lot has, indeed, changed. It hasn't been for the better.
Elkhart County has gone from being the RV capital of the world to the unemployed RV worker capital of the world. The region saw its unemployment rate spike to 15.3 percent in December, up a whopping 10.6 percentage points from December 2007. Some county officials, who learned of an additional 600 RV layoffs last week, say the number now is likely closer to 20 percent.
The numbers alone don't tell the whole story, Obama said Monday while making a campaign-style pitch for a massive economic stimulus bill being debated in Congress.
"We're talking about folks who've lost their livelihood and don't know what will take its place," he told about 1,700 people gathered for a town hall-style forum in the Concord High School gymnasium.
The House has already passed an $820 billion stimulus plan, and the Senate was expected to pass its $827 billion version Tuesday. The two versions must then be reconciled, but Obama hopes to have a plan on his desk by the beginning of next week.
Help can't come soon enough for people like Randy Head, 55, of Benton, who has been laid off since September from Utilimaster, a Wakarusa company that makes van and truck bodies.
Head said it's hard to even find places to apply for jobs.
"It's pretty dry out there because they've laid a lot of us off," he said.
Ed Neufeldt, who introduced Obama, is among those ranks. The father of seven was laid off from Monaco Coach Corp. on Sept. 17 after 32 years on the job. Two of his daughters and two sons-in-law also lost their jobs.
"We don't want to be there," he said. "There are too many people in our community whose ways of life are at risk."
Obama said the stimulus plan was part of an economic recovery pledge he made during a campaign stop here in August, when the unemployment rate was 8.9 percent.
"I have not forgotten. I intend to keep my promise," he said to wide applause.
Most attending Monday's forum appeared eager to grasp the offer of hope.
"Elkhart is leading the country when things are going down and leading when things are going up," said Stan Rupnow, 67, who owns Matzke Florist in Elkhart. "If we can get a couple of these RV businesses working again, you'll be surprised how fast it turns."
Rupnow said his business is down more than 25 percent because people don't have money to buy extras like flowers. Even Valentine's Day will fall flat, he predicted.
"This is our big week. It will be big compared to the rest of the year but it won't be big compared to prior years. Not with 15 percent unemployment in Elkhart," he said.
Rupnow, who didn't vote for Obama, said he favors his stimulus package.
"I support what he's trying to do. I hope he can get the credit market going," he said.
Some, though, doubted the plan will work.
"I don't think it's going to help enough of the right people," said Sue Wyatt, 64, of Bristol, who works as a hotel manager and a hair stylist. "I think it's going to give more to the rich and a lot less to the poor."
Another woman drew boos when she asked Obama why she should trust him given that some of his Cabinet nominees have run into trouble for failing to pay taxes.
Obama said it was a "legitimate criticism."
"You can't expect one set of folks to not pay their taxes when everybody else is paying theirs," he said.
But in this struggling industrial city of about 50,000, most seemed encouraged by the new president's words.
"I like what he had to say about our economy and getting on a roll again. It's been on a setback for too long," said Dennis Givens, a pastor at New Horizons Outreach Ministries in nearby South Bend.
"I believe we will see a change. It will be a slow change, but it will be a change."
