ERIE, Pa. (AP) — It wasn’t much money when he bought it, but Michael Fuchs has made an old garage his haven. And the city of Erie knows it. One afternoon in October, half a dozen cars honked their horns as he drove by, with people hanging out of their windows and waving to greet him.
About a dozen cars are waiting to be serviced inside the store, as the dog Fuchs adopted the day before barks in its new cage. The kitchen, located on the side of the renovated building, is adjacent to exercise equipment, motorcycles and power tools, where his wife cooks meals. Fuchs, 6 feet 2 inches tall and well-built, has a graying beard and curls on his head, which he says could be covered in snow at this time of year.
“I have to be one of the only black businesses on this street,” he says, noting that his repair shop is on Peach Street, one of the city’s major transportation arteries. did. He appreciates the greetings from passersby. But he says many of the people who know him from the area where he grew up will never set foot in the store. Most of his customers are white.
Fuchs, 58, is part of a coveted demographic in this year’s election: a Black man and business owner in a battleground state. Both presidential campaigns target messages to black entrepreneurs, and both offer a variety of economic policies and bills that they claim will improve the careers and lives of African Americans.
The leadership of the White House may be determined by how Erie business owners and voters such as Mr. Hook view each candidate’s economic vision. Erie County has supported the candidate who won Pennsylvania in every presidential election since 1992. Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris have visited the city of 94,000 in recent weeks.
“Erie is the linchpin,” said Rhonda Matthews, co-founder of Erie Black Wall Street, a business group that supports local Black entrepreneurs. From population rates to entrepreneurship, Erie’s economic and political future shows where the country is headed. “If you want to know what’s going on economically in this country on a large scale, I think all you have to do is look at what’s going on in Erie.”
Concerns about “lack of predictability”
Harris announced a series of economic proposals aimed at tackling affordability and boosting small businesses. President Trump promised sweeping tariffs, new corporate tax cuts and an unprecedented crackdown on illegal and legal immigration into the country.
Local leaders are weighing the impact of each topic on plans to revitalize the Rust Belt.
“The lack of predictability would be the worst thing that could happen,” said Drew Whiting, CEO of the Erie Downtown Development Authority, which is directing more than $100 million in private investment into downtown. .
Whiting said federal policies such as Qualified Opportunity Zones, created as part of the Trump administration’s 2017 tax reform aimed at boosting economic development in low-income areas, and bipartisan infrastructure legislation make this possible. He praised federal policies such as investment in Erie. Democratic President Joe Biden.
But Whiting said Trump’s proposed “crude” policies, such as 20% tariffs on all foreign goods, would be “inflation bombs that would crush small businesses” like the companies he works with. He added that there is a fear. Whiting saw Harris’ proposed investment in small businesses as a potential boon. A tip tax exemption, which both Harris and Trump support, would be a welcome innovation for workers, he said.
What you need to know about the 2024 election
The Harris campaign has focused on affordability as a key concern for voters as inflation rises. Her proposals to punish companies that gouge prices and her pledge to expand support for health care and child care are issues that her campaign believes will lower costs for working families. By contrast, President Trump would lower the corporate tax rate to 15%, extend tax cuts, and further reduce other individual and family taxes, including eliminating the Social Security tax.
Most mainstream economists agree that: President Trump’s proposal would worsen inflation.
Local business owners interviewed by The Associated Press expressed cautious optimism about Harris’ proposal to help small businesses, but most were mostly skeptical about how federal policy would affect their lives. .
“There are so many factors, and there are things to consider here as well as global factors,” said Gus Palioulas, owner of local diner New York Ranch. Palioulas’ family immigrated to the United States from Greece and purchased the diner in 1970. At the time, the diner was one of dozens of busy businesses built above post offices, schools, and churches. Today, Palioulas’ Diner is the only business left on the block.
“I try to keep it like Geneva,” he said of the famously neutral Swiss city. “In this town, Trump, Kamala and Kennedy supporters could sit next to each other at a bar,” said independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was in the race until August. He subsequently suspended his campaign and endorsed Trump.
A business owner looks at the sections of his city.
Fuchs considers himself a survivor.
Born and raised in Erie, Fuchs grew up in poverty and had little choice, support, or direction in life. At age 23, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison for marijuana trafficking. He served eight years in prison, calling the experience “the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Prison was Fuchs’ first introduction to scriptures such as the Bible and Koran, as well as stories about travel, business, and history.
Although he has turned his circumstances around and overcome “trials and tribulations that have made me a better person,” he believes the distinctions some people draw between poor working people and the middle class are meaningless. I feel that there is.
“That’s because there are people in this country who want to be better than others,” he said in a recent interview. “You drive a Toyota Camry, I drive a Lexus. It’s the same…car. Just a different name, but higher status.”
“For example, (Harris) wants to give us a $50,000 tax cut or something,” he added, referring to the vice president’s proposed tax credits for new small businesses. “But that’s never going to happen for people who think they’re better than someone else. But you live next door to me and your sign says Trump.”
In addition to running a car care company, Fuchs currently owns a catering business. On weekends, he returns to his hometown and works to feed, clothe and cut children’s hair for free. His philanthropy focuses on ensuring that no child ever goes through what he once faced.
Fuchs says he will vote for Harris even though he is skeptical of politicians’ ability to change the fundamental issues facing everyday Americans.
Fuchs said Trump had a chance to be great, but called Trump’s first term a “disaster.” “I prefer to go with someone who is at least willing to help this little guy,” Hook said.
