Washington – President Obama will visit the Twin Cities on Wednesday to discuss the economy, marking his first trip to Minnesota in more than a year.
A White House official said more details about the visit will be released in the coming days.
Obama has toured the country in recent weeks, pitching the economic plans he unveiled in his State of the Union address.
The president has visited a Costco in Maryland, a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh and a GE Gas Engines facility in Wisconsin to call on Congress to hike the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, extend emergency unemployment benefits, approve fast-track authority for trade deals and boost infrastructure spending.
While in Michigan to sign the $1 trillion farm bill this month, he touted "Made in Rural America," a new administration plan to connect rural businesses with federal resources that can help sell their products and services overseas.
Obama's visit will come at a time when a growing number of Minnesotans have expressed dissatisfaction with his performance as president.
A Star Tribune Minnesota poll conducted last week found his job approval in the state has dropped to 43 percent. The numbers represent a sharp departure from April 2009, when 62 percent of those polled said they liked how Obama was running the country.
Obama's trip to the Twin Cities will also come a week after Vice President Joe Biden visited Minneapolis on Wednesday to attend a Democratic fundraiser and meet with residents to discuss the Affordable Care Act.
Obama last visited Minnesota in February 2013 to push his plans to reduce gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. The president's proposal has not gained traction in Congress.
The president also used Minnesota as a backdrop to discuss the economy during a May 2012 visit to Honeywell's Golden Valley campus.
Corey Mitchell is a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington Bureau. Twitter: @C_C_Mitchell
