Less than 24 hours after his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama toured a fluorescent lighting factory in Manitowoc Wednesday to talk about the promise of American industry in the face of intense industrial competition worldwide.
Speaking to a group of Orion Energy Systems employees, the president reiterated the goals from his State of the Union address, to update America's infrastructure and advance technological innovation.
""That's how we'll create the jobs of the future,"" Obama said in his speech at the factory. ""That's how we're going to build the industries of the future, because we make smarter products using better technology than anybody else. That's how we'll win the future in the 21st century.""
Manitowoc offered symbolic significance to what Obama called the ""Sputnik moment"" in his State of the Union speech, because of the 1962 crash of Korabl-Sputnik 1 in the city. The Soviet satellite Sputnik 1 is said to have started the space race in 1957 when the USSR was the first nation to put a man in space.
""It turns out that it was part of a satellite called Sputnik that landed right here,"" Obama said. ""And that set the space race into motion. So, I want to say to you today that it is here, more than 50 years later, that the race for the 21st century will be won.""
The president presented Orion, which produces energy-efficient lights for factories, as an example of how government support can help renewable energy companies prosper while creating jobs and strengthening the economy.
Obama said the company has grown from one employee in 2004 to more than 250 today and should have more than 300 by the end of the year because of the Department of Agriculture, the Small Business Association and various tax cuts and awards. Orion has installed its lighting in 3,700 facilities and prevented 4.5 million tons of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere, according to the company's website.
""And these aren't just good jobs that can help you pay the bills and support your family,"" Obama said. ""These jobs are good for all of us because they make everybody's energy bill cheaper; they make the planet safer.""
Gov. Scott Walker, who attended the speech, expressed openness toward working with Obama to create jobs, so long as it didn't come at the expense of fiscal discipline.
""When you're the chief executive office, the buck stops,"" Walker said. ""You've got to get the job done. For us, if they care about jobs and putting people to work in the state, we're going to work together.""
Despite lamenting the Chicago Bears' loss in the NFC Championship Game the president wished the Green Bay Packers luck in the Super Bowl, and Walker presented Obama with a Packers jersey upon his arrival in Wisconsin.
Obama used Sunday's game as an example of the competitiveness he said the U.S. needs to show in the global economy.
""If we're on the defensive, if we're playing not to lose, somebody else is going to lap us, because there are a lot of hungry folks out there, a lot of countries that are gunning for us,"" Obama said. ""So we've got to play to win. We've got to play to win the future.""
