Last edited 2:23 p.m., March 8, 2012In preparation for the March 17 Missouri Republican caucus, U.S. presidential hopefuls Ron Paul and Rick Santorum have scheduled March 10 campaign stops in Springfield.
Rick Santorum, a former Republican senator for Pennsylvania, has planned a 2 p.m. "Rally for Rick" at Digital Monitoring Products, 2500 N. Partnership Blvd. within Partnership Industrial Center, according to his
Web site. He also has scheduled a visit to Cape Girardeau later that day, where he is slated to keynote the 6:30 p.m. Cape Girardeau County Lincoln Day Dinner and hold an 8 p.m. rally at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.
U.S. Congressman Ron Paul, R-Texas, will host a 7:30 p.m. town hall meeting in the gymnasium of Hillcrest High School, 3319 N. Grant Ave. It is the second of two Missouri stops for Paul Saturday, as he also is scheduled to visit Lindenwood University in St. Charles at 3 p.m., according to his
Web site.
Mark Hillenburg, executive director of marketing for Digital Monitoring Products, said officials with the Santorum campaign contacted the company earlier this week about setting up the campaign stop.
"When they contacted us, they explained part of his economic campaign for America is about made-in-America manufacturing - about bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. and highlighting manufacturing jobs," Hillenburg said. "As a manufacturer here in Springfield, manufacturing products for the security industry, we're happy to be selected.
"We're not necessarily endorsing any candidates at all, but we think it's important to highlight manufacturing in the U.S., and especially here in Springfield."
Hillenburg said the event would last about an hour, and Digital Monitoring Products has room for up to 1,200 attendees.
Digital Monitoring Products, which was established as a research-and-development branch for Atlas Security Systems, is fresh off a $1.5 million, 35,000-square-foot
expansion in 2011 that was funded through industrial revenue bonds secured by the Springfield Business Development Corp.
Gary Howard, press secretary for Paul's campaign, said via e-mail that Hillcrest is a fitting spot for a town hall style meeting.
"It's a great location in Missouri for undecided voters and supporters to meet for the event," he added, noting the event would last about an hour.
Springfield Public Schools spokeswoman Teresa Bledsoe and Hillcrest High School Principal Jay Rush could not be reached for comment by deadline.
Officials with the Santorum campaign also did not respond to an interview request.[[In-content Ad]]
