RV Industry, Economy Recover In Elkhart, Ind.

06:28

Updated January 15, 2014

Workers at the Jayco factory in Elkhart, Indiana, assemble a recreation vehicle (RV) on a fast-moving assembly line on March 15, 2011. Once idle factories are ringing again with the welcome sounds of motor homes being built. Elkhart is known as the RV capital of the world and more than half the jobs in the area are in manufacturing -- four times the national average. (Mira Oberman/AFP/Getty Images)

While Congress debates the budget, President Obama is traveling to North Carolina to deliver a speech about the economy at North Carolina State University.

He’s expected to continue his push for an extension of long term unemployment benefits. Another place he’s visited several times is Elkhart, Indiana.

Elkhart is famous for it’s production of recreational vehicles, or RVs, but RV sales took a hit during the recession. As a result, Elkhart's economy also declined, reaching an unemployment rate of 20 percent. President Obama even visited Elkhart in 2009 to highlight the need for an economic stimulus bill in Congress.

But in recent months, RV sales have been going strong, as the economy and housing markets rebound.

Elkhart’s mayor Dick Moore, says that the tough times during the recession would be a lesson for the future.

“I think we got through that, and we learned a lot of lessons," Moore tells Here & Now's Jeremy Hobson. "I don't think these things will have the same effect on us again if they happen again. We’re not going to go without because of the same things that happened before.”

Guest

Dick Moore, mayor of Elkhart, Indiana.

This article was originally published on January 15, 2014.

This segment aired on January 15, 2014.