Economy takes center stage at RNC
Members of Donald Trump’s family and corporation spoke Tuesday at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, hoping to convince delegates and the nation that he’s the best man to send the economy in the right direction.
Ironically, the host city is among the areas that could use a boost the most.
Cleveland and other midwestern cities have suffered in recent years as industries shut down or move overseas, eliminating thousands of jobs.
Along with Detroit, Toledo, and a handful of smaller cities, it is experiencing a population decline, while most others are seeing growth.
Downtown restaurant worker Michael Kotnik believes his city, and the rest of the country, is still suffering from the recession nearly a decade ago.
He says the loss of plant jobs forced a large amount of people into lower paying jobs in the service industry.
But Michael Deemer with the Downtown Cleveland Alliance says the area’s economy is slowly diversifying.
“We’re transitioning from a very heavily manufacturing focused economy to one within the city that’s much for focused on health and education,” he says.
According to Deemer, 50 businesses either relocated to downtown or expanded their downtown operations in the past year, creating roughly 5,000 new jobs and creating a shortage of housing space.
However, an abundance of vacant office space indicates the need for much more growth.
He says about 18% of all downtown is office space is vacant, when it should be around 15% or lower.
Donald Trump has promised to bring jobs back to America, by reforming taxes, renegotiating foreign trade agreements, and other strategies.
Jefferson County, Colorado delegate Libby Szabo also hopes her new nominee pushes for for less government regulation.
“The number one thing, let government get out of the way. The government seems to try to have a role where they want to walk into every business and tell them how to run it and they can’t even do their role,” she said.
The latest polls show Trump trailing Hillary Clinton overall, but the favorite among registered voters when asked who’s more qualified to handle the economy.
