Peosta prepares for President Obama

DUBUQUE -The Presidential buzz is building at Northeast Iowa Community College in Peosta.

President Obama will host a rural economic summit there on Tuesday, and there's no doubt people are excited to hear what the president has to say. But some people in Peosta say it's more important for the President to listen to them.

"There will be an opportunity for him to sit and listen directly to what people have to say," said N.I.C.C's Curt Oldfield.

White House staff invited 100 people to the event. They will split into groups to discuss rural jobs, agriculture, small business and rural poverty.

Don Mathis is the President of the National Community Action Partnership. He wants President Obama to listen to the rural residents who've been hardest hit in the struggling economy.

"It's disproportionately effecting rural areas. This is where the food gets grown. This is where the clean air gets made," said Mathis. "This is where life and social cohesion are important and we can't abandon rural areas."

The White House is billing Obama's stop as a "rural economic forum" where he'll be joined by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. He'll wrap up Wednesday with town halls in Atkinson in northwestern Illinois, and then in nearby Alpha, Ill., before returning to Washington.