Carthage foundry is backdrop for Mitt Romney campaign stop

CINCINNATI - On a normal day, the Epcor Foundry of Seilkop Industries is buzzing with activity.

Trucks come and go from the facility on West North Bend Road in Carthage.

Furnaces are fired up creating an extreme amount of heat.

Fans are everywhere -- in the walls -- in the ceiling -- on the floor -- to try and keep things cool for the 40 employees who make aluminum parts for the auto industry in sand castings.

Fork lift trucks move to and from to get finished products from the assembly line ready for shipping.

However, Thursday is not a normal day day for the company.

Production has been put on hold.

The furnaces are in idle mode, though still producing plenty of heat.

Portable air conditioning units sit behind the facility with large tubes carrying cool air inside.

It actually feels quite pleasant.

A stage and hundreds of chairs have been set up in an open area at the rear of the plant.

Why such a radical departure from the usual routine?

Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is due to make a speech on the economy and painstaking efforts have been made to make sure the backdrop represents his view that small businesses can thrive if government gets out of the way.

The former Massachusetts Governor is due to speak shortly before 2 p.m. and will continue to maintain that his business experience in the private sector makes him the better choice for The White House than the current occupant, President Barack Obama.

Why is Romney coming to Carthage?

Seilkop Industries, Inc., President Ken Seilkop has long championed the idea that manufacturing should be done in the United States and if it's overseas in places like China it should be brought back to America.

In fact, Seilkop has often lobbied Congress in Washington to try and get his point across.

His views are similar to Romney's.

Romney wants to cut government red tape and change the tax code to let businesses grow on their own.  If they grow, the theory goes, more people will be employed and paying taxes. That, in turn, can produce more revenue for the government and drive the economy toward full health.

Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou said Romney needs to make sure he lets people know that the November election is a referendum on President Obama's three years in office.

On the other side, Hamilton County Democratic Party Chairman Tim Burke said Obama will continue to position himself as the champion of the middle class in order to create jobs.