Obama visit to Triangle to highlight energy sector

Credit: AP

Barack Obama

Cree website

By: Dane Huffman | NBC17.com
Published: June 10, 2011

DURHAM, N.C. --

President Barack Obama’s visit to lighting manufacturer Cree on Monday in Durham is intended to highlight a focus on jobs in the energy sector, a senior White House advisor said Friday in a teleconference.

Obama will tour Cree’s facilities in Durham and speak Monday afternoon as part of a four-hour trip to the Triangle.

NBC-17 will carry the speech live and will post information on Obama’s visit all day on NBC17.com.

Cree is a leader in LED lighting, which is a more efficient technology than traditional lighting.

“The energy sector has enormous potential,” said Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the president. “That’s exactly why we are going to this particular company.”

Obama’s Jobs and Competitiveness Council will hold five “listening and action” sessions around the Triangle Monday morning, then meet at Cree for a meeting with Obama. Obama has asked the 22-member council, comprised of business and labor leaders, to come up with new ideas for increasing hiring and boosting economic growth.

Obama will not hold a news conference on his visit.

It’s easy to see why Obama and his administration want to highlight successes like Cree. The U.S. unemployment rate was 7.6 percent in January of 2009, the month Obama took office. The unemployment rate in May was 9.1 percent, according the U.S. Department of Labor.

Cree stock, meanwhile, has zigzagged up and down but basically doubled over that time span. Cree closed at $16.49 on Jan. 20, 2009, the Obama day took office, and closed Friday at $38.33.

“What the Jobs council and the President can do is highlight what is working,” Jarrett said. “And there is so much around our country that is working.

“As the President often says, this is what he wakes up thinking about every day.”

The Jobs Council will have five “listening and action” sessions in the Triangle focused on job growth. Those five will hold their sessions at 8:45 a.m. Those five are:

Entrepreneurship

Location: McKinney ad agency, American Tobacco, Durham