President Barack Obama said Wednesday that heavy-equipment maker Caterpillar has informed him it will rehire some of the thousands of workers it has laid off in recent weeks if Congress passes an economic stimulus bill.
“The time for talk has passed,” Obama said.The president’s travel to pitch the urgency of the stimulus plan was his third day in a row to leave Washington. On Thursday, he goes to Peoria, Ill., to visit a Caterpillar manufacturing plant.
The world’s largest maker of mining and construction machinery announced more than 22,000 job cuts last month amid waning demand for its products.
But Obama said the company told him Wednesday it would hire back some of those workers if the legislation passes. As House and Senate negotiators worked to reconcile differences between competing versions of the legislation, Obama spoke during a visit to a highway construction site here just outside of Washington.
“You don’t need to travel very far from that debate to see why this plan is both urgent and essential for our recovery,” he said.
Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment, will build a factory in China to produce mini hydraulic excavators, the company said in a statement.
Construction will begin in Wujiang, near Shanghai, at the end of 2010 and the facility should be ready in 2012 to begin production of mini excavators of less than eight tons, the company said Tuesday.
Caterpillar did not say how much the project will cost.
It is part of a long-term plan for investments in China that will make Caterpillar one of the leading manufacturers of construction equipment in the country.
“China is the world’s largest market for excavators in the below eight ton class, and the development of this new facility will better position Caterpillar to provide our customers in China with solutions that will help them succeed,” said Mary Bell, a Caterpillar vice president.
Yet another company takes the stimulus money and runs.
Thank you so much, Mr. President.