President Barack Obama will travel to Newton Wednesday for his first trip to Iowa since being elected. Obama will meet with workers at Trinity Structural Towers, the business located in the former Maytag plant, which now builds towers for wind turbines.
Newton Mayor Chaz Allen says the president’s stop in Newton is a testimonial to what’s been accomplished in the community since the loss of Maytag. Allen says the community has focused on the three "E’s." He says employment, entrepreneurship, entertainment and education are the four E’s they focus on to bring business and development to Newton.
Allen says there are already a lot of examples of the development efforts. He says the Iowa Speedway is entertainment, there’s D-MACC (Des Moines Area Community College) for education, and they are proactively trying to get people let go from Maytag to "take a chance and start their own business" as a way to push entrepreneurship.
Trinity and another wind energy company, T.P.I. , have created 700 jobs in the city. Obama will hold an invitation only event at Trinity where he will discuss his comprehensive energy plan.