President Barack Obama is in Baltimore on Friday where he will discuss jobs while highlighting one of the manufacturing companies still thriving in the city by speaking at Ellicott Dredges.

The company makes equipment for excavation under water and on beachfronts around the world.

President Obama also plans to visit a community center that provides job skills to parents and an elementary school that provides early childhood education, according to the Associated Press. Obama has proposed that public preschool be available for all 4-year-olds from low-income families.

In a speech later today Obama plans to announce he's signed a presidential memorandum "to cut timelines in half for major infrastructure projects," such as roads and bridges, to speed creation of jobs, according to a White House statement issued today. That would augment an earlier executive order directing multiple agencies to review construction projects at one time.

"As mayor, I am proud that President Obama has chosen to visit Baltimore to showcase policies that can succeed and to remind Congress that the federal government has an important role to play in ensuring that our economy moves forward," wrote Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the mayor of Baltimore in a column piece for the Baltimore Sun.

"It is local Baltimore businesses like Ellicott Dredges that are on the front line of our nation's drive to become world leaders in industrial innovation. For almost 130 years, Ellicott Dredges has built the machines that allow commerce to travel by boat to every port in the world. Recently, it invested millions to retain its competitive edge and to continue providing good-paying jobs," she added.