California Governor Gavin Newsom had named former governors, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Disney Chairman Bob Iger, and other business executives and politicians to help guide the state’s economic recovery from the coronavirus outbreak. Unemployment continues to climb, and millions of Californians are seeking financial support.
The governor said his chief of staff, Ann O’Leary, and billionaire climate activist and former Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer would head the new Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery. They will help develop recommendations for the government and companies to improve the economy, create jobs, and help Californians get back on their feet.
In an interview with KABC-TV Los Angeles, Iger spoke about the obstacles he sees in getting people back to work.
“Clearly, making people feel safe from getting the virus is the biggest obstacle and it’s clearly complicated,” Iger said. “It’s not just about — as far as we know — social distancing. It’s about taking a number of steps, implementing a number of procedures to make sure that people feel safe.”
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has appointed nearly two dozen lawmakers and business leaders to form a task force to work on re-opening the state’s economy. Josh D’Amaro, President of the Walt Disney World Resort, is among the business leaders joining the state task force in Florida.
DeSantis said the task force would create short, medium and long-term recommendations for reopening the state after weeks of shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In addition, Orange County, Florida Mayor Jerry Demings announced that Thomas Mazloum, senior vice president of Walt Disney World Resorts and Transportation Operations, Rich Costales, executive vice president of Universal Orlando Resort operations, and Brad Gilmour, vice president of operations at SeaWorld, are among of list of people who will come up with ways to restart the local economy in Central Florida amid COVID-19.
“These are some of the best and brightest minds in our community, and the public-private Task Force will come up with recommendations to reopen Orange County using the most safe and sensible avenues possible,” Demings said in statement to My News 13 in Orlando.
The task force will meet to work on ways to reopen Orange County, including a phased approach to easing restrictions.
Restaurants, hotels, theme parks and other businesses in California and Florida have been fully or partially closed because of the pandemic. The closures have caused businesses to furlough thousands of workers.
