Bloomberg Campaign Press Release - Mike Bloomberg Introduces His "All-In Economy" Agenda; Will Create Jobs and Income Growth for People Short-Changed by President Trump

Democratic presidential candidate to make stops in Illinois, Minnesota, and Ohio to highlight plan based on his unique record of job creation as the Mayor of New York City and an entrepreneur

Chicago, IL — Wells, MN — Akron, OH —  Today, Mike Bloomberg is unveiling the first components of his "All-In Economy" agenda, a series of initiatives that will bring jobs and income growth to people and communities that have been short-changed by President Trump. His plan puts more Americans to work in better paying, higher-quality jobs, reinvigorates communities through strategic investments and public-private-academic partnerships, and provides education and training to millions of community college students. This includes sending billions of dollars to communities across the nation to help create jobs and grow incomes by investing in research, talent, and infrastructure, and turning communities into engines for tomorrow's economy. Mike's plan builds on his record creating jobs as an entrepreneur and as a three-term mayor of New York City, where he led the city to economic recovery from the recession faster than the rest of the country and created 400,000 jobs.

The plan calls for a raise in the minimum wage to $15/hour, labor protections, collective bargaining rights for American workers, and pilot programs to provide portable benefits for independent workers. Mike's priorities around job creation will be coordinated with a broader investment in upgrading America's infrastructure, and with his plan to quadruple R&D aimed at catalyzing the transition to a 100% clean-energy economy. These and other plans to broaden opportunities for others will be unveiled in the coming weeks.

Mike will highlight his agenda during campaign stops in Illinois, Minnesota, and Ohio on Wednesday.

• At Olive-Harvey Community College on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, Mike will talk about his plans to prioritize education and training programs to ensure that millions of Americans can learn valuable skills and obtain good jobs in the competitive global workforce. The South Side is a neighborhood that has long suffered from high poverty rates – in one of the world's wealthiest cities. The plan includes investments in community college partnerships, apprenticeships, and other quality career training programs that partner with employers.
• In Wells, Minnesota, Mike will meet with Darin Johnson, who runs a soybean farm that has been in his family for four generations. The Johnson farm, like so many others, has been hit hard by President Trump's trade war. Mike will hear about the challenges faced by rural communities and discuss his plan to expand broadband access and protect family farms from monopolies.
• In Akron, Ohio — at the Bounce Innovation Hub, located on the site of a former B.F. Goodrich tire plant — Mike will detail his major initiative to revitalize communities throughout America. Akron used to be the "rubber capital of the world," but over the years lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Today, there are new industries emerging in Akron, thanks to strong partnerships across sectors, which Mike sees as a potential model for other cities. Mike's plan includes significant investments in research and development that allow communities to build on their local assets and history, and turn them into industries of the future. This includes investments in education and skill-building for residents, infrastructure, and housing to ensure people living in these communities today directly benefit.

In his speech announcing the plan, Mike will make clear that too many people are struggling to get by with only low-paying jobs, and many lack the skills that will help them move up and transition from one job or career to another. Further, their prospects of success are being undermined by an outdated system that has allowed some to thrive while millions struggle, especially those hit hardest by shifts in the global economy. Mike will call for a major commitment to all people and communities to ensure Americans are equipped with the skills necessary to thrive in good local jobs. As president, Mike will make the skill-building a national priority and a major focus of his vice president.

"President Trump is counting on the economy to lift him to victory – and he's hoping to face a career politician who's never created any jobs. Well, I will take him on over the economy – and I won't let him get away with selling the American people more empty promises," said Mike Bloomberg. "We need to elect someone who can actually deliver real change – not just talk about it – and create more good jobs, with good salaries, all across America. That's what I've done running my company. It's what I did leading the largest city in the country. And it's what I'll do if I have the honor of serving as the next President of the United States."

Unique among the candidates, Mike Bloomberg has a proven track record of increasing job opportunities – as a successful entrepreneur, three term mayor of New York City, and global philanthropist – and has built on this success to inform his national strategy. He has created hundreds of thousands of jobs, built and supported training programs that benefit workers of all types, and championed workers' rights and opportunity throughout his career. In his first term as Mayor, Mike launched the city's first ever Five Borough Economic Opportunity Plan, which diversified the City's economy away from just one industry – finance – located in one section of the city, lower Manhattan. His programs resulted in robust community-level diversification that made the city's economy more resilient and led to the creation of nearly half a million new jobs in New York City and the support of more than 10,000 small businesses. He also increased the number of minority- and women-owned businesses that could do business with the New York City government by 450%.

By contrast, President Trump has over-promised and under-delivered on his pledges to create jobs, undermining the economic security of working families across the country and leaving American workers underprepared for future employment challenges. Additionally, Trump's tariff war with China and other nations has cost American businesses and consumers billions of dollars in increased costs.

Additional Quotes

Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, SC, Mike Bloomberg 2020 National Co-Chair:

"I'm a big believer in capitalism and I admire anybody who can create good jobs. Mike Bloomberg has done this impressively – through his businesses and his twelve years as New York's mayor. There's no substitute for hard work, but people need opportunities to work hard. I know Mike will bring good jobs to communities in every region of our country. It's what he does. Mike has the skills and experience to bring good jobs and opportunity to people, and he has a plan. He supports job training and retraining programs. He believes in local communities and local talent. He'll put federal dollars behind these initiatives. People won't have to move to find good jobs, and we'll be able to keep our communities intact."

Mayor Greg Fischer of Louisville, KY, and Mike Bloomberg 2020 Campaign Co-Chair:

"Americans need good-paying jobs. And while the economy may be roaring for some, far too many Americans are not seeing its benefits. Mike is a proven business leader and jobs creator. He knows how to bring people together to get things done, and he'll bring that get-it-done approach to Washington. The job market is changing, jobs are becoming more automated. Mike will help our workers find their place in the ever-changing economy. I know Mike Bloomberg will bring jobs and opportunities to communities. He's been doing it for decades. He created hundreds of thousands of jobs as an innovator, mayor and employer. It's not rhetoric, it's reality. Mike has always walked the talk and he'll do it again, with good-paying jobs and federal funds for job training to get the entire nation sharing in the economic success."

Rob Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation and respected thought-leader on economic, science and technology policy:

"Mayor Bloomberg's new jobs plan includes a welcome initiative for the federal government to help create jobs and income growth in more areas of the country. The United States cannot tackle inequality or lagging U.S. competitiveness if most innovative and well-paying jobs continue to be clustered in a select few cities – especially when there are dozens of communities across the country that are ripe for investment. They just need the support of an innovative federal initiative of the type Mayor Bloomberg is proposing."

Seth Bornstein, Executive Director of Queens Economic Development Corporation in Queens, NY:

"For nearly ten years, the Entrepreneur Space has helped launch more than 600 startup food businesses in Queens, and it wouldn't have been possible without Mike Bloomberg's support. Mike knows what it takes to build a successful company from the ground up. And as New York's mayor he made sure entrepreneurs across the city had the right resources to start new businesses and create good-paying jobs for their fellow New Yorkers. Based on his strong record in New York, I'm confident Mike will expand economic opportunities for all Americans. He has the right combination of leadership and experience to deliver on his bold plan to put more Americans to work in better-paying and higher-quality jobs."

Shiv Dass, president of the Jackson Heights Merchants Association in Queens, NY:

"After 9/11 the New York economy slowed dramatically. We represent about 200 businesses in a three-block radius in Jackson Heights, Queens. Our members are primarily South Asian business owners and they are the proprietors of restaurants, groceries, retail shops, business services, and more. Mike Bloomberg listened to our concerns and he took them seriously. Support from him allowed our member businesses to grow stronger, and helped our community thrive. Nobody has faced these tough issues like Mike Bloomberg and I think the country would be lucky to have such a seasoned leader in the White House."

Jeff Nordhaus, Former Executive Vice President of Broadband and Innovation at Empire State Development. Nordhaus oversaw the $500-million New York State Broadband initiative, the largest state-led broadband program in the country:

"Rural communities need access to broadband services so they can participate fully in our economy. Broadband enables entrepreneurs to start new companies, small businesses to find new customers, and local residents to apply for new jobs and learn new skills online. Mike Bloomberg knows that by investing in broadband access we can turn the tide for rural communities that are struggling right now. Mike understands broadband isn't a luxury – it's a necessity. With broadband, farmers can connect with new buyers, and they can set up online stores to sell directly to consumers. Farmers also can start using new precision agriculture technology to grow more and better crops at less cost. Connecting rural communities to broadband is a smart investment, and it will benefit all Americans."

Gregory T. O'Connell, Managing Partner at the O'Connell Organization in Brooklyn, NY:

"As Mayor, Mike Bloomberg was always supportive of the growth of Red Hook, Brooklyn as a business and retail district. There was no better and more significant display of this support than his mobilization of recovery assistance after the impact of Hurricane Sandy on Red Hook. This immediate response allowed our local businesses and stores to get back online quickly, allowing access to services and retail to Red Hook residents, and saving numerous local jobs."

Paul Savage, CEO of Nextek Power Systems in Detroit, MI:

"I worked in financial services in New York City in the late eighties and nineties. Even then, Mike Bloomberg impressed me with his vision creating his company and then later on as he diligently delivered on his campaign promises as the mayor of New York City. The common threads were his ability to see ahead and his sound judgment. He just did smart, thoughtful things and got terrific results. Technology has brought so much to public life. It's really only the beginning. Our economy and our society have so much more to reap from technological innovation. These advances are being hamstrung in the current national environment. We need a leader who understands how to implement and foster great ideas. Mike understands this: he's a great coach of others and a star player. That's why I'm voting for Mike."

Peter Tu, president of the Flushing Chinese Business Association, a non-profit organization that fosters commercial and economic development in Queens, NY:

"Mike Bloomberg is a verified job creator and his smart policies made a huge difference to immigrant communities like the Chinese community in Queens. Every corner of America needs jobs. Mike delivered them to us and I saw businesses form, grow, and succeed. Mike is a doer. His All-In Economy plan will help Americans from every corner of the country train and retrain themselves to participate in the economic future. Isn't that what everyone wants? A chance to put food on the table and to live a meaningful, productive life."

Andrew Kimball, Industry City a historic innovative shipping, warehousing, and manufacturing complex in Brooklyn, NY:

"As Mayor, Mike Bloomberg didn't give up on manufacturing, and as part of his vision to create opportunity in every part of the city he invested in rebuilding the Brooklyn Navy Yard, transforming it into a national model for urban industrial transformation focused on the innovation economy and modern manufacturing. That model has now been embraced by private sector developments like Industry City creating thousands of new accessible jobs in growth sectors for New Yorkers."

Eddie Zheng, General Manager of the Flushing restaurant, Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao in Queens, NY:

"I'm a big Mike Bloomberg fan. I own and manage one of the most popular restaurants in Queens, and I serve thousands of happy people who come from all over to taste our famous soup dumplings. Mike knew that my community deserved a neighborhood we could be proud of. By investing in Queens, Mike put Flushing on the map, and made it easier for me to attract the customers we needed to succeed. I did the work, but Mike made it count for more."