President Obama make midday visit to Columbus

President Obama make midday visit to Columbus, touts stimulus money as boon for South Side, milestone for Recovery Act

Hot as it may have been during President Barack Obama’s visit to Columbus today, a nice splash of cold cash made the occasion more palatable for beneficiaries of the federal stimulus money.

During his brief visit, the president visited a construction site along Livingston Avenue near Parsons Avenue, where a $15 million expansion of the streets and other infrastructure work is taking place.

The work was celebrated as the 10,000^th project launched under the National Recovery Act.

“What you’re starting here is more than just a project to repair a road, it’s a partnership to transform a community,” President Obama said.

That transformation includes not only the city and its use of the federal money to rebuild infrastructure, but also supports the expansion of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, thus creating more jobs at the hospital and the surrounding neighborhood.

“So together you’re creating more than 2,300 new jobs and sending a powerful message that this neighborhood will soon be a place where more families can thrive, more businesses can prosper, economic development that’s being sparked today is going to continue into the future,” the president said.

Instead, upgrades and expansion must be done to give America the edge in 21^st century technology.

“We can’t let other countries get the jump on us in broadband access,” Obama said. “There’s no reason that Europe or China should have the fastest trains instead of the United States. There’s no reason that Germany or other countries in Europe should have the newest factories that manufacture clean-energy products instead of us right here in the United States.

"That’s why the Recovery Act has been making unprecedented investments in clean energy, spurring American to build some of the largest wind and solar projects right here in the United States of America.”

Reiterating part of his State of the Union address, he said, “America does not settle for second place, and we are going to make sure we are first in the future, not just in the past.”

Such things as clean energy, high-speed rail and other infrastructure improvements justify the Recovery Act spending because of their vital role in the country’s development, Obama said.

He gave shout-outs to several incumbent Democratic officeholders on hand, including Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Cong. Mary Jo Kilroy, and Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher, who is seeking the state’s other U.S. Senate seat.

Improvements in the neighborhood will benefit the hospital, even though it receives none of the stimulus money, said Dr. Steve Allen, president of Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Kilroy said she wants to public to recognize that the Recovery Act is working, and that more jobs are coming to the South Side as part of the revitalization project.

“It’s a perfect example of partners with the hospital, with the city, the Columbus Housing Partnership, Church for All People all working together to improve housing stock, to improve hospital services, and this Recovery Act money is going to improve utility lines and improve the streets and put a lot of people to work,” she said.

Gov. Strickland said that the private sector is starting to gain confidence and to create jobs.

“There was a period of time a few months ago when the private sector was basically paralyzed,” he said. “It was public expenditures that stopped this economy from totally going into the tank.

Brown said, "We’ve got to continue doing these projects. They’re good in two ways, they put people to work right now and they build infrastructure so we can do better economic development."

One of the things he talked about with the president was the importance of manufacturing to Ohio, citing clean energy and railroad cars as prime examples.

“We know how to make things in Ohio, and we need more opportunities to do that,”

Although politicians garnered much of the spotlight, Obama’a appearance brightened the day for selected workers from Nickolas Savko & Sons Inc., contractor for the milestone project.

Shawn Maughmer, a concrete worker with Savko, thought his co-workers were playing a joke on him when they told him Wednesday night that he would be among a handful of workers invited to shake hands with President Obama today.

“I guess that will make me a “ghetto superstar,” Maughmer, 36, said.

Before today’s introduction to the president, the high point in Maughmer’s life had been “waiting in line four hours to vote for him."