Adam Sege/Globe Correspondent

Protesters chanted, “Shame on Romney, Shame on Bain,” when he arrived at the Roxbury business.

By Adam Sege and Matt Woolbright Globe Correspondents

As Mitt Romney’s motorcade pulled up to a Roxbury truck repair company Thursday, a group of about 60 protesters across the street offered a boisterous welcome.

“We’ve got to feed our children!” they chanted. “We’ve got to pay our rent! Ask Mitt Romney where the jobs went!”

In addition to spurring a protest, the campaign stop at Middlesex Truck & Coach also brought reporters from across the country, as well as political operatives from both parties, to a quiet sidestreet lined with garages and warehouses.

The stir amused Bob Cormier, who works at a lumber yard down Gerard Street from Middlesex.

“I don’t see too many votes on this street,” said Cormier, 69.

That didn’t stop politicians from trying to score quick points, however. City Councilor Tito Jackson, who represents Roxbury, stood with protesters and offered Romney a sarcastic welcome.

“I’m very happy that the former governor found his way back to Roxbury,” Jackson said in a sidewalk interview. “He was here very few times when he was governor. And what we found when he was governor was broken promises.”

Protesters said they had mobilized quickly after learning of Romney’s early afternoon appearance in the late morning. The hasty nature of the demonstration didn’t seem to daunt protesters like Nicholas Smith, a Roxbury resident who said Romney’s economic strategy would hurt the neighborhood.

“He wants to get rid of teachers and firefighters and police officers and social services that people in Roxbury need,” said Smith, a community organizer. “People in Roxbury go to work every day, and they’re willing to work, but if there’s no jobs, we’re going to be a community that’s hurting.”