With Jobs in Mind, Ohio Democrat Takes Venture Capitalists on Midwest Road Trip

(Cross posting from GD, https://www.democraticunderground.com/100210286208 )

DETROIT—Standing before a group of Michigan entrepreneurs, Rep. Tim Ryan introduced more than a dozen venture capitalists from Silicon Valley and New York who were on a three-day road trip the Ohio Democrat organized to try to boost businesses in cities that need a comeback.

He referenced T-shirts heralding their destination cities.

In the Motor City, it was “Detroit Against the World”; for Cleveland is was “Believeland”; and in Youngstown, Ohio, the motto was “Defend Youngstown.”

Mr. Ryan asked why people in these cities felt they were fighting for survival in their own country.

“We’re all in this together,” he said.

“How do we create a government or Department of Commerce that helps you become great again? How did we end up in this spot where Detroit feels like it’s against the world or Cleveland feels like it’s against the world? I mean, that’s unacceptable to me,” he said.

The road trip took mostly Democratic venture capitalists from California and New York to beleaguered cities in the Midwest that collapsed with the decline of U.S. manufacturing and have struggled to recover after the recession 10 years ago. These were all cities in 2016 with median household income below the U.S. average of $55,000 by $20,000.

On Wednesday, the group went to meetings in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio. Thursday took the band to Detroit and Flint, Mich., a city facing a public-health crisis over lead poisoning in the local water supply and where 41.9% of residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census. On Friday, the group headed to South Bend, Ind.

At times, the lawmakers said they were on a “diplomatic mission” to introduce investors from the nation’s investment capitals to entrepreneurs in towns that lost luster when steel mills and auto factories closed.

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For Mr. Ryan, who is considered a possible presidential candidate in 2020 and who challenged Nancy Pelosi for the House minority leadership post in 2016, the trip was an opportunity to illustrate how Democrats can focus on creating jobs and bridging the skills gap without holding the White House. He recruited Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents California’s Silicon Valley, to come along and deepen the link between coastal Democrats and those in the industrial Midwest where presidential elections are often decided.

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For many on the bus, it was their first meeting with Mr. Ryan and first visit to the Midwest... Later, beyond backing startup companies, the investors discussed the idea of encouraging companies in their portfolios to open second offices in places where the cost of living is lower and talented employees don’t demand high salaries and fancy perks.

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One potential outcome is to have several investors—from the Midwest and elsewhere—join together to create a fund focused on these industrial states that is led by people with connections to the communities they want to help.

More..

https://www.wsj.com/articles/with-jobs-in-mind-ohio-democrat-takes-venture-capitalists-on-midwest-road-trip-1519396730