ELKHART COUNTY — News of new jobs coming to the area brought lots of promise this week. But there's growing concern that the economy is once again slowing. Some businesses are pulling back on spending and manufacturing is slowing down.
June unemployment numbers show the number of people without jobs is creeping up a bit, and economists aren't expecting an improvement when local July numbers come out in two weeks.
Monaco Corporation announced Tuesday it is bringing 400 jobs to Elkhart County next year, but some local businesses are actually laying workers off right now. Alongside those workers are also tens of thousands of people who have been looking for steady work for three years now.
The laid off, then Monaco Coach RV worker who introduced President Obama to a crowd of thousands in Wakarusa back in February 2009, Ed Neufeldt, became a poster child of the recession.
During that town hall meeting, Obama told the cheering crowd, “I promised you back then that if elected, I'd do everything I could to help this community recover. And that's why I came back today, because I intend to keep my promise.”
But did the president keep that promise?
“I don't know if he had anything to do with [getting me back to work] or not,” said Neufeldt. “I think it was just me pursuing different jobs to try to get back to work.”
These days, the 65 year old is working hard to support his family. He is thankful to have two part-time jobs, working seven days a week cleaning the WaNee Medical Walk-in Clinic and delivering bread.
“It's pretty stressful because just like right now my daughter wants a computer, she wants a cell phone, and we just feel like we just can't afford to have those things,” he said. “And she’s like, ‘Well, everybody else has got them.’ And to keep food on the table I eat a lot of peanut butter now instead of meat to save money. But, you know, that's ok. That's ok.”
Neufeldt is always on the lookout for full time work and he’s hopeful about this week's announcement that Monaco is bringing 400 jobs back to Wakarusa in 2012 – a town he didn’t leave when the jobs did.
Neufeldt told WSBT he's considering applying for one of those jobs at Monaco in order to have a steady full time job and not have to work Sundays. You might remember when he introduced Obama, Neufeldt talked about his two daughters and two son-in-laws who all lost their jobs in the recession. Three of them are back to work and one is actually back in school.
In spite of everything he's been through, you won't find a guy like Neufeldt being anything but optimistic.
“Well, we need to be,” he laughed.
