Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry said bringing a portion of the Republican National Convention to Northeast Florida in August will be a boost for local small businesses.
He held an early morning virtual news conference Friday, just hours after the Republican National Committee announced President Donald Trump would accept the 2020 GOP presidential nomination in Jacksonville.
WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Recordreports Curry said restaurants, breweries and small retailers, which were shut down by social distancing and crowd restrictions early in the COVID-19 pandemic, should benefit from the RNC. Larger businesses should too, he said.
“Many (business owners) tell me the reopening is happening and they’re starting to get back on their feet, but they’re struggling,” Curry said. “This is a tremendous opportunity for them and their families and their customers to get money back in the economy and get people back to work.”
Trump was to deliver his speech in Charlotte, North Carolina, but disagreements with officials there over COVID-19 capacity restrictions led to Trump and RNC officials teasing Jacksonville as a “top contender” for an alternate site, the Florida GOP said in a June 9 tweet.
Read the rest of this story at JaxDailyRecord.
