President Obama is giving an economic speech in eastern Iowa this afternoon. The president will speak inside the Alcoa Aluminum manufacturing plant in Bettendorf.
The stage is set up in front of several massive rolls of aluminum and underneath large overhead cranes that move the product around the plant for the manufacturing process. Information from the company media relations department says the plant produces aluminum for all major types of aircraft, including panels for the president’s plane, Air Force One.
The plant employes 2,200 people, including several who were laid off during the recesssion and later recalled. That is one of the reasons the president is speaking at the plant. The president is supposed to speak around 1 o’clock.