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Forbes
10-07-2025
- Forbes
The Sayre Mansion: An Historic Inn Thrives In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
One of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's finest homes, The Sayre Mansion is a link to the city's industrial past. Credit: The Sayre Mansion Long before we enjoyed our modern swift means of transportation and luxuriated in our new work at home era, living close to the job was the next best thing. Robert H. Sayre knew that well, and wisely built his fine 1858 mansion within short distance of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania's vast steelworks that came to define much of industrial America. As the closest of associates of industrialist Asa Packer, Sayre rose from chief engineer of the Lehigh Valley Railroad to becoming a founding hand at the company that developed into the behemoth Bethlehem Steel. He spent a full half century in his home that is today The Sayre Mansion inn. And just as surely was the case when society ladies were taking tea in the parlor with his wife (there were four Mrs. Sayres over time), your well-behaved dog is most welcome here too. A Member of Historic Hotels of America, the Gothic Revival Sayre Mansion sits on two acres in Bethlehem's Fountain Hill district, many of whose homes built by the elite of the day still stand. The inn overlooks the 101-year-old steel truss Hill to Hill Bridge over the Lehigh tributary of the Delaware River. Spreading itself further uphill in the opposite direction, Lehigh University owes its very existence to Sayre's instrumental development efforts. You might find it hard to leave the Sayre Mansion glass-roofed Conservatory (Room 30). Credit: The Sayre Mansion Like any small property that exudes a proper B&B spirit, the 19-room, four-suite Sayre Mansion encourages guests to gather and strangers to make new friends—it helps that there's always snacks, fresh coffee and port wine on hand. While you recline on antique sofas in front of the fireplace with its original shell or on comfy armchairs by the windows, you might play chess or board games. Your dog lying at your feet will be content to charm and lap up attention from other guests. After Robert Sayre's early-20th-century death, the mansion served for a decade as a Lehigh University frat house before being converted into apartments for half a century. Consequently, the Sayre upstairs holds a warren of smaller rooms than it did in its heyday, a common result for many historic homes that have suffered years of neglect. Happily, it was ultimately saved from demolition in the late 1980s by a couple who restored it and turned it into an inn. Drawing from her fount of historical anecdotes, General Manager Sarah Trimmer will recount how Sayre's widow Martha auctioned off the home's entire contents, including sadly that of his magnificent three-story library, which included among its 15,000 books a copy of Audubon's The Birds of America. The library was an 1898 addition to the home. Its stacks are long gone, but its fine coffered ceiling was rediscovered during renovations and belongs now to Rooms 20 and 21 that were built over the balustrade level. Above those rooms, the Conservatory (Room 30) is flooded in light through its glass roof. The ground floor Room 11 holds Sayre's office; one might wonder, though, if he spent more time in his elegant library consulting with his personal librarian. Robert Sayre, right, in his enormous private library that was part of a later addition to The Sayre Mansion. The coffered ceiling still exists. Credit: The Sayre Mansion The Sayre house's bones are still there, from the owner's wine cellar to the thick granite walls and brick vaulted ceilings in the addition's basement. An enormous carriage house has also been made into suites (with an EV charging station in front). Bit by bit, management has sourced furnishings from earlier eras, some having been donated by local families. Hanging as part of the Room 21 decor, an elaborately-illustrated 1840s baptismal certificate is written in old German Fraktur , a Gothic script that was popular with Pennsylvania Germans. The German text is a reminder of the Bethlehem Moravian origins, the city having been founded by German speakers from what is today the Czech Republic on land that was home to Lenape Indians. The Moravian Church Settlements are part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, while the Central Bethlehem Historic District is on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1758, the Main Street Sun Inn hosted Washington and Lafayette and is today a tavern and small museum. Down by the river, The Wooden Match bar and grill takes up the former train station, and with its mansard roof looks right out of a French village. Their slogan of Beer, Meat, Cigars promises exactly what your options are as soon as you sit down under the covered seating alongside the old train tracks. With its original fireplace shell, The Sayre Mansion parlor has managed to maintain its historic roots. Credit: The Sayre Mansion On the Sayre inn side of the city, the South Bethlehem Downtown Historic District is likewise on the National Register of Historic Places. Vis-à-vis the mansion, the Cathedral Church of the Nativity—another Sayre sponsored construction—is known for its fine collection of stained glass windows. With the Sayre's prime setting on a hillock, guests have a clear view of the intact former Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces a few miles away. Known now as the SteelStacks arts and culture complex, the site includes the nearly-ten-year old National Museum of Industrial History, the first museum to be granted an affiliation with the Smithsonian Institution. The marvelous exhibitions in the steelwork's former electric repair shop is worthy of several hours time, from its massive industrial steam engines down to displays of local silk and textile production. Currently, an ambitious project is underway turning the entire top floor into more exhibit and an event space. At the stacks themselves, the nearly half-mile-long elevated Hoover-Mason Trestle, now lined with garden plantings, was once the railroad line that delivered iron ore to the blast furnaces. Even on a peaceful sunset walk below the 230-foot-tall illuminated stacks, it's not hard to imagine the massive scale of a century's-worth of intensely-hot, ear-splitting dangerous work that tens of thousands of steelworkers endured here. Many of the other steel mill facilities that are still in a state of glorious ruin are owned now by the onsite Wind Creek Bethlehem casino. Just around the corner on the Bethlehem events calendar, the city's Musikfest is held at the SteelStacks and just across the Hill to Hill Bridge among other places, and draws major artists and big crowds for its free concerts (August 1-10). At dusk, the SteelStacks glow along the elevated Hoover-Mason Trestle that is open to the public. Credit: Alexandra Palmieri Guests come to The Sayre Mansion for everything from playing at the area's historic golf clubs to touring Lehigh as part of taking their teens on a college tour. A large white tent outside for weddings attests to the inn's local popularity—as d0 events like a recent speakeasy and flapper themed evening in the cellar. Out front of The Sayre Mansion, an enormous ginkgo tree that Robert Sayre planted still thrives and delights. And every time you go through the inn's heavy wooden and glass front door, still-intact with original brass fittings and an outer pocket doors, you'll appreciate the fortuitous revival success story of an urban icon. Owners of The Sayre Mansion since the early-2000s, the Settlers Hospitality group concentrates on a handful of properties with historically significant roots in the northeastern Pennsylvania Pocono and the lower New York Catskill mountains.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
In this political bellwether, voters feel the impacts of Trump's policies
Todd Harder voted for Donald Trump and knows firsthand his community would benefit if the president can deliver on his promise of a quick American manufacturing renaissance. But Harder doesn't believe he will ever see it. The early evidence, Harder said, is that the tariffs and tough trade talk Trump says will bring back factory boom times is instead leading to hard times. 'My generation, it's not going to (positively) impact. It is going to hurt us,' said Harder, the owner of ProDart, which makes wooden darts and dartboards in an Allentown industrial park. 'In the future, for the next generation, it might possibly help them out. But it's impacting the people that are here now today … in a not-good way.' That skeptical short-term take — from a Trump supporter — is worth noting and tracking: Trump's political standing is down from Inauguration Day, and the economic tumult caused by the tariffs debate is part of his slip. Harder lives in a Pennsylvania and American bellwether: the 7th Congressional District. Trump won it just barely in 2024, and the House seat flipped from Blue to Red. It is already a top target in the 2026 midterms. The Lehigh Valley holds icon status in the history of American manufacturing. Bethlehem Steel and Western Electric were among the valley giants back in the day; Mack Trucks and Martin Guitars are today. Crayola crayons is an Easton landmark whose lineage traces back to a turn-of-the-century company that made the red barn paint that dots the rural countryside. The globalization and trade debates that animate Trump today have defined the Lehigh Valley economy for a generation now. There were more than 66,000 factory jobs in the valley in 1990, just shy of 55,000 a decade later and a low of 35,000 in 2011. By the end of 2024, manufacturing employment had climbed back to 41,000. It has been flat in the four months Trump has been back in the White House. Harder and ProDart have a tiny place in those statistics. Fourteen employees at its peak; five now, including Harder's parents. 'We're kind of slow right now,' said Harder. 'Money is tight. People are complaining rent is really high. A lot of places, just the cash flow isn't there. So, I think everybody's starting to become a little more conservative on spending right now.' Harder only occasionally sources materials from foreign suppliers, so tariffs aren't really a direct hit on his business. But he says other local manufacturers are hurting, to varying degrees, and the tumult of the tariffs debate has hurt consumer confidence. 'Six to a seven, but not more,' is the grade Harder gives Trump on the economy at four months. 'He just got into it. See where it pans out.' Harder just got into it, too. He is 55, but his 2024 vote for Trump was the first time he had cast a ballot. Yes, he was mad about inflation. He thought Trump's tax policies would be better for his family and his business. But that is not what pulled Harder off the sidelines after skipping every previous election since he was first eligible to vote in 1988. 'There's no law and order anymore. The smoking marijuana stuff — that is getting out of hand,' Harder said. 'Go watch TV. You have men kissing and everything else and all the transgenders. You didn't have that before. You know, there is a God. I'm Catholic.' He says there are too many Puerto Rican flags around Allentown, too few schools teaching cursive and beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance. 'I was just so disgusted,' Harder said. 'Just how everything in this world, you know it is going to crap.' The Trump campaign and its allies made a methodical, concerted effort to target infrequent or unreliable voters like Harder; immigration, transgender rights and attacks on 'woke' Democrats were key pieces of that strategy. His decision to vote — to join the MAGA culture wars — also benefited the 7th District's new Republican congressman, Ryan Mackenzie. He defeated the Democratic incumbent by just 4,062 votes. But Harder isn't sure whether he will vote again in 2026. 'If I feel that things are running properly, yes,' he said. 'If I don't see anything changing, then it really doesn't matter what my vote is.' The Lehigh Valley was a repeat stop for our All Over the Map project in the 2024 cycle, and Harder is among the additional voters we hope to stay in touch with through 2026 and beyond, to track the first two years of the Trump term through their eyes and experiences. Michelle Rios is another, a battleground voter on the other side of the MAGA cultural divide. Rios helps run a diversity, equity and inclusion program at a local college, and she gets a mix of angry and amused at how her work is described by Trump and his allies. A normal day, she said, likely includes financial aid advice to a minority student, maybe help navigating campus clubs or social events. Of late, she might be dealing with rumors about lost funding or immigration crackdowns. 'I wanted to help out college students the same way that I was helped out because it made an incredible difference in my life and in my journey,' Rios said in an interview in Bethlehem. She was a student during the first Trump term and recalls always being on edge. She is determined this time to keep calm, while figuring out whether her college program will be impacted, or whether nonprofits she works with in the bustling Latino community here will be impacted because Trump officials view their grants as related to diversity. 'It just instills fear, and I think that is essentially what the last few months have done to people,' Rios said. 'So I try to focus on the action part. Like, this happened, so now what can we do about it?' The action part, to Rios, includes finding ways to win back the growing number of Latinos who left the Democrats to support Trump and other Republicans. 'Sometimes it has a bit to do with Latino culture,' she said. 'Sometimes we don't want to see women in a certain position.' Another effort: 'Just trying to encourage less social media. … I think that's also what made a big difference.' Rios let out long sigh when asked what she would say if she had a minute with President Trump. 'I don't think I would want a minute,' was her first response. Then, 'There's a lot of things that come to mind, but I just don't think I would know where to start.' Gerard Babb has no such hesitation. He would ask President Trump to try to save his job. The irony, he says, is that he sees Trump as at least partially to blame for the fact he will likely lose it soon. Babb works in the assembly line at Mack Trucks, a major employer in the area. But the company announced recently it would slash 250 to 350 jobs from its 2,600-member workforce here. It cited Trump tariffs as a factor, saying the president was softening demand. The United Auto Workers and others, including Rep. Mackenzie, suggest the company is using Trump as a foil and has long wanted to shift some production to Mexico. 'I believe they played a part,' Babb said of the Trump tariffs. 'Donald Trump could have had a little bit more finesse instead of using a blanket policy over everything.' Babb's first vote was for Barack Obama in 2008. But he switched to Mitt Romney in 2012 and then cast three votes for Trump. 'A B+' is how he grades Trump at the four-month mark, despite his jitters about losing his job. But every day is more stressful, as Babb checks seniority charts to see if normal turnover might somehow save him by the time Mack announces an exact number and timing. 'I was a 171 when they first announced,' Babb said. 'Now I am at 218. … If I can get about 350 it would be perfect. But as long as I am past 250, I have a chance.' Babb voted for Mackenzie, too, but says it is far too early to commit to his 2026 midterm vote. The strength of the economy is his top issue, and he said Mackenzie would help his chances if Congress eliminated taxes on overtime or did other things that would help his family. Babb said he is open to voting for the Democrat for Congress if that candidate had better economic policies. 'I haven't seen anything yet,' Babb said when asked about the White House promise to quickly boost manufacturing. 'I would love to see more manufacturing jobs in the area.' Most of his time now, though, is divided between keeping on top of the layoffs news at work and then trying to shake the stress and spend time with his wife and three children. 'It's stressful that I am (likely) going to be out of work in the near future,' Babb said. 'Because I want to provide for my wife and kids. It is the uncertainty that really gets to me.'
CNN
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
In this political bellwether, voters feel the impacts of Trump's policies
Todd Harder voted for Donald Trump and knows firsthand his community would benefit if the president can deliver on his promise of a quick American manufacturing renaissance. But Harder doesn't believe he will ever see it. The early evidence, Harder said, is that the tariffs and tough trade talk Trump says will bring back factory boom times is instead leading to hard times. 'My generation, it's not going to (positively) impact. It is going to hurt us,' said Harder, the owner of ProDart, which makes wooden darts and dartboards in an Allentown industrial park. 'In the future, for the next generation, it might possibly help them out. But it's impacting the people that are here now today … in a not-good way.' That skeptical short-term take — from a Trump supporter — is worth noting and tracking: Trump's political standing is down from Inauguration Day, and the economic tumult caused by the tariffs debate is part of his slip. Harder lives in a Pennsylvania and American bellwether: the 7th Congressional District. Trump won it just barely in 2024, and the House seat flipped from Blue to Red. It is already a top target in the 2026 midterms. The Lehigh Valley holds icon status in the history of American manufacturing. Bethlehem Steel and Western Electric were among the valley giants back in the day; Mack Trucks and Martin Guitars are today. Crayola crayons is an Easton landmark whose lineage traces back to a turn-of-the-century company that made the red barn paint that dots the rural countryside. The globalization and trade debates that animate Trump today have defined the Lehigh Valley economy for a generation now. There were more than 66,000 factory jobs in the valley in 1990, just shy of 55,000 a decade later and a low of 35,000 in 2011. By the end of 2024, manufacturing employment had climbed back to 41,000. It has been flat in the four months Trump has been back in the White House. Harder and ProDart have a tiny place in those statistics. Fourteen employees at its peak; five now, including Harder's parents. 'We're kind of slow right now,' said Harder. 'Money is tight. People are complaining rent is really high. A lot of places, just the cash flow isn't there. So, I think everybody's starting to become a little more conservative on spending right now.' Harder only occasionally sources materials from foreign suppliers, so tariffs aren't really a direct hit on his business. But he says other local manufacturers are hurting, to varying degrees, and the tumult of the tariffs debate has hurt consumer confidence. 'Six to a seven, but not more,' is the grade Harder gives Trump on the economy at four months. 'He just got into it. See where it pans out.' Harder just got into it, too. He is 55, but his 2024 vote for Trump was the first time he had cast a ballot. Yes, he was mad about inflation. He thought Trump's tax policies would be better for his family and his business. But that is not what pulled Harder off the sidelines after skipping every previous election since he was first eligible to vote in 1988. 'There's no law and order anymore. The smoking marijuana stuff — that is getting out of hand,' Harder said. 'Go watch TV. You have men kissing and everything else and all the transgenders. You didn't have that before. You know, there is a God. I'm Catholic.' He says there are too many Puerto Rican flags around Allentown, too few schools teaching cursive and beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance. 'I was just so disgusted,' Harder said. 'Just how everything in this world, you know it is going to crap.' The Trump campaign and its allies made a methodical, concerted effort to target infrequent or unreliable voters like Harder; immigration, transgender rights and attacks on 'woke' Democrats were key pieces of that strategy. His decision to vote — to join the MAGA culture wars — also benefited the 7th District's new Republican congressman, Ryan Mackenzie. He defeated the Democratic incumbent by just 4,062 votes. But Harder isn't sure whether he will vote again in 2026. 'If I feel that things are running properly, yes,' he said. 'If I don't see anything changing, then it really doesn't matter what my vote is.' The Lehigh Valley was a repeat stop for our All Over the Map project in the 2024 cycle, and Harder is among the additional voters we hope to stay in touch with through 2026 and beyond, to track the first two years of the Trump term through their eyes and experiences. Michelle Rios is another, a battleground voter on the other side of the MAGA cultural divide. Rios helps run a diversity, equity and inclusion program at a local college, and she gets a mix of angry and amused at how her work is described by Trump and his allies. A normal day, she said, likely includes financial aid advice to a minority student, maybe help navigating campus clubs or social events. Of late, she might be dealing with rumors about lost funding or immigration crackdowns. 'I wanted to help out college students the same way that I was helped out because it made an incredible difference in my life and in my journey,' Rios said in an interview in Bethlehem. She was a student during the first Trump term and recalls always being on edge. She is determined this time to keep calm, while figuring out whether her college program will be impacted, or whether nonprofits she works with in the bustling Latino community here will be impacted because Trump officials view their grants as related to diversity. 'It just instills fear, and I think that is essentially what the last few months have done to people,' Rios said. 'So I try to focus on the action part. Like, this happened, so now what can we do about it?' The action part, to Rios, includes finding ways to win back the growing number of Latinos who left the Democrats to support Trump and other Republicans. 'Sometimes it has a bit to do with Latino culture,' she said. 'Sometimes we don't want to see women in a certain position.' Another effort: 'Just trying to encourage less social media. … I think that's also what made a big difference.' Rios let out long sigh when asked what she would say if she had a minute with President Trump. 'I don't think I would want a minute,' was her first response. Then, 'There's a lot of things that come to mind, but I just don't think I would know where to start.' Gerard Babb has no such hesitation. He would ask President Trump to try to save his job. The irony, he says, is that he sees Trump as at least partially to blame for the fact he will likely lose it soon. Babb works in the assembly line at Mack Trucks, a major employer in the area. But the company announced recently it would slash 250 to 350 jobs from its 2,600-member workforce here. It cited Trump tariffs as a factor, saying the president was softening demand. The United Auto Workers and others, including Rep. Mackenzie, suggest the company is using Trump as a foil and has long wanted to shift some production to Mexico. 'I believe they played a part,' Babb said of the Trump tariffs. 'Donald Trump could have had a little bit more finesse instead of using a blanket policy over everything.' Babb's first vote was for Barack Obama in 2008. But he switched to Mitt Romney in 2012 and then cast three votes for Trump. 'A B+' is how he grades Trump at the four-month mark, despite his jitters about losing his job. But every day is more stressful, as Babb checks seniority charts to see if normal turnover might somehow save him by the time Mack announces an exact number and timing. 'I was a 171 when they first announced,' Babb said. 'Now I am at 218. … If I can get about 350 it would be perfect. But as long as I am past 250, I have a chance.' Babb voted for Mackenzie, too, but says it is far too early to commit to his 2026 midterm vote. The strength of the economy is his top issue, and he said Mackenzie would help his chances if Congress eliminated taxes on overtime or did other things that would help his family. Babb said he is open to voting for the Democrat for Congress if that candidate had better economic policies. 'I haven't seen anything yet,' Babb said when asked about the White House promise to quickly boost manufacturing. 'I would love to see more manufacturing jobs in the area.' Most of his time now, though, is divided between keeping on top of the layoffs news at work and then trying to shake the stress and spend time with his wife and three children. 'It's stressful that I am (likely) going to be out of work in the near future,' Babb said. 'Because I want to provide for my wife and kids. It is the uncertainty that really gets to me.'
CNN
22-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
In this political bellwether, voters feel the impacts of Trump's policies
Todd Harder voted for Donald Trump and knows firsthand his community would benefit if the president can deliver on his promise of a quick American manufacturing renaissance. But Harder doesn't believe he will ever see it. The early evidence, Harder said, is that the tariffs and tough trade talk Trump says will bring back factory boom times is instead leading to hard times. 'My generation, it's not going to (positively) impact. It is going to hurt us,' said Harder, the owner of ProDart, which makes wooden darts and dartboards in an Allentown industrial park. 'In the future, for the next generation, it might possibly help them out. But it's impacting the people that are here now today … in a not-good way.' That skeptical short-term take — from a Trump supporter — is worth noting and tracking: Trump's political standing is down from Inauguration Day, and the economic tumult caused by the tariffs debate is part of his slip. Harder lives in a Pennsylvania and American bellwether: the 7th Congressional District. Trump won it just barely in 2024, and the House seat flipped from Blue to Red. It is already a top target in the 2026 midterms. The Lehigh Valley holds icon status in the history of American manufacturing. Bethlehem Steel and Western Electric were among the valley giants back in the day; Mack Trucks and Martin Guitars are today. Crayola crayons is an Easton landmark whose lineage traces back to a turn-of-the-century company that made the red barn paint that dots the rural countryside. The globalization and trade debates that animate Trump today have defined the Lehigh Valley economy for a generation now. There were more than 66,000 factory jobs in the valley in 1990, just shy of 55,000 a decade later and a low of 35,000 in 2011. By the end of 2024, manufacturing employment had climbed back to 41,000. It has been flat in the four months Trump has been back in the White House. Harder and ProDart have a tiny place in those statistics. Fourteen employees at its peak; five now, including Harder's parents. 'We're kind of slow right now,' said Harder. 'Money is tight. People are complaining rent is really high. A lot of places, just the cash flow isn't there. So, I think everybody's starting to become a little more conservative on spending right now.' Harder only occasionally sources materials from foreign suppliers, so tariffs aren't really a direct hit on his business. But he says other local manufacturers are hurting, to varying degrees, and the tumult of the tariffs debate has hurt consumer confidence. 'Six to a seven, but not more,' is the grade Harder gives Trump on the economy at four months. 'He just got into it. See where it pans out.' Harder just got into it, too. He is 55, but his 2024 vote for Trump was the first time he had cast a ballot. Yes, he was mad about inflation. He thought Trump's tax policies would be better for his family and his business. But that is not what pulled Harder off the sidelines after skipping every previous election since he was first eligible to vote in 1988. 'There's no law and order anymore. The smoking marijuana stuff — that is getting out of hand,' Harder said. 'Go watch TV. You have men kissing and everything else and all the transgenders. You didn't have that before. You know, there is a God. I'm Catholic.' He says there are too many Puerto Rican flags around Allentown, too few schools teaching cursive and beginning with the Pledge of Allegiance. 'I was just so disgusted,' Harder said. 'Just how everything in this world, you know it is going to crap.' The Trump campaign and its allies made a methodical, concerted effort to target infrequent or unreliable voters like Harder; immigration, transgender rights and attacks on 'woke' Democrats were key pieces of that strategy. His decision to vote — to join the MAGA culture wars — also benefited the 7th District's new Republican congressman, Ryan Mackenzie. He defeated the Democratic incumbent by just 4,062 votes. But Harder isn't sure whether he will vote again in 2026. 'If I feel that things are running properly, yes,' he said. 'If I don't see anything changing, then it really doesn't matter what my vote is.' The Lehigh Valley was a repeat stop for our All Over the Map project in the 2024 cycle, and Harder is among the additional voters we hope to stay in touch with through 2026 and beyond, to track the first two years of the Trump term through their eyes and experiences. Michelle Rios is another, a battleground voter on the other side of the MAGA cultural divide. Rios helps run a diversity, equity and inclusion program at a local college, and she gets a mix of angry and amused at how her work is described by Trump and his allies. A normal day, she said, likely includes financial aid advice to a minority student, maybe help navigating campus clubs or social events. Of late, she might be dealing with rumors about lost funding or immigration crackdowns. 'I wanted to help out college students the same way that I was helped out because it made an incredible difference in my life and in my journey,' Rios said in an interview in Bethlehem. She was a student during the first Trump term and recalls always being on edge. She is determined this time to keep calm, while figuring out whether her college program will be impacted, or whether nonprofits she works with in the bustling Latino community here will be impacted because Trump officials view their grants as related to diversity. 'It just instills fear, and I think that is essentially what the last few months have done to people,' Rios said. 'So I try to focus on the action part. Like, this happened, so now what can we do about it?' The action part, to Rios, includes finding ways to win back the growing number of Latinos who left the Democrats to support Trump and other Republicans. 'Sometimes it has a bit to do with Latino culture,' she said. 'Sometimes we don't want to see women in a certain position.' Another effort: 'Just trying to encourage less social media. … I think that's also what made a big difference.' Rios let out long sigh when asked what she would say if she had a minute with President Trump. 'I don't think I would want a minute,' was her first response. Then, 'There's a lot of things that come to mind, but I just don't think I would know where to start.' Gerard Babb has no such hesitation. He would ask President Trump to try to save his job. The irony, he says, is that he sees Trump as at least partially to blame for the fact he will likely lose it soon. Babb works in the assembly line at Mack Trucks, a major employer in the area. But the company announced recently it would slash 250 to 350 jobs from its 2,600-member workforce here. It cited Trump tariffs as a factor, saying the president was softening demand. The United Auto Workers and others, including Rep. Mackenzie, suggest the company is using Trump as a foil and has long wanted to shift some production to Mexico. 'I believe they played a part,' Babb said of the Trump tariffs. 'Donald Trump could have had a little bit more finesse instead of using a blanket policy over everything.' Babb's first vote was for Barack Obama in 2008. But he switched to Mitt Romney in 2012 and then cast three votes for Trump. 'A B+' is how he grades Trump at the four-month mark, despite his jitters about losing his job. But every day is more stressful, as Babb checks seniority charts to see if normal turnover might somehow save him by the time Mack announces an exact number and timing. 'I was a 171 when they first announced,' Babb said. 'Now I am at 218. … If I can get about 350 it would be perfect. But as long as I am past 250, I have a chance.' Babb voted for Mackenzie, too, but says it is far too early to commit to his 2026 midterm vote. The strength of the economy is his top issue, and he said Mackenzie would help his chances if Congress eliminated taxes on overtime or did other things that would help his family. Babb said he is open to voting for the Democrat for Congress if that candidate had better economic policies. 'I haven't seen anything yet,' Babb said when asked about the White House promise to quickly boost manufacturing. 'I would love to see more manufacturing jobs in the area.' Most of his time now, though, is divided between keeping on top of the layoffs news at work and then trying to shake the stress and spend time with his wife and three children. 'It's stressful that I am (likely) going to be out of work in the near future,' Babb said. 'Because I want to provide for my wife and kids. It is the uncertainty that really gets to me.'
Forbes
13-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Yesteryear's Industrial Sites Become Today's Economic Engines
The Brooklyn Navy Yard has become a 300-acre industrial park housing more than 550 businesses and ... More employing 13,000 people. New York City's Brooklyn Shipyard was once known as the 'Can Do Shipyard,' based on its reputation for rapid ship production and repair during World War II. Pennsylvania's Bethlehem Steel forged steel girders used in erecting the Golden Gate Bridge and Empire State Building. Kansas City, Kan.-based Fairfax Industrial District was where World War II B-25 bombers were cobbled together. And Pittsburgh, Pa.'s Hazelwood Green steel mill stood as a powerful 20th Century symbol of the city's industrial brawn. Today, these once-humming industrial complexes have seen remarkable comebacks and have become vital cogs in their cities' respective economies. The roles they serve today, however, are very different than those they played early last century. For instance, the Brooklyn Navy Yard has become a 300-acre industrial park housing more than 550 businesses, employing 13,000 people and generating more than $2.5 billion each year in economic impact. The Yard shines in workforce development, training the next generation of skilled workers through its CNC operator training program. Its lively Market@77 community-focused food hall gives Brooklynites and visitors to the borough a place to meet each other while supporting local vendors. Almost all of the more than 100-year-old buildings that were part of the Brooklyn Navy yard – and nearly all of them brick-clad -- have been retained intact. That includes preservation and active use of Dry Dock 1, the third dry dock to be built in the U.S. in the 19th Century, and since 1975 a New York City landmark. Bethlehem Steel ended its manufacturing operations in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley in 1994, but the site is now again serving the valley's modern economy. Lehigh Valley Industrial Park 7 blankets more than 1,000 acres, and is home to three dozen industrial, manufacturing, office and retail businesses. More than 4,300 jobs have been created by the complex, which has attracted more than $650 million in private investment. K.C.'s Fairfax Industrial District, established 103 years ago, is now home to more than 130 businesses, employs 10,000 workers and annually generates more than $5.4 billion in sales. Enterprises within its borders range from one-person companies to enormous corporations such as Kellogg's, CertainTeed, Owens Corning and General Motors. And Hazelwood Green in Pittsburgh has been reborn as an advanced biotechnology manufacturing hub that supports innovation and economic development. Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Innovation Center is housed there, as is an innovation hub and incubator spearheaded by OneValley, a Silicon Valley-based platform that links entrepreneurs, startups and organizations across the globe. If turning these 20th Century relics into modern economic powerhouses sounds easy, it has been anything but. Within Brooklyn Navy Yard, for instance, rehabilitating for modern use legacy buildings and infrastructure originally intended for Naval shipyard purposes proved an immensely daunting undertaking, says Lindsay Greene, chief executive officer and president for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. 'Many of the buildings, roads, and waterfront infrastructure – like piers, berths and dry docks – were uniquely constructed, requiring us to have to creatively adapt and transform the campus for modern industrial uses,' she said. 'Following a period of approximately 30 years of strategic investment and deliberate tenanting strategies in partnership with the City of New York, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation has been able to rehabilitate, restore and reinvent the industrial hub for modern manufacturing needs.' Support for the project began during the mayoralty of Rudy Guiliani in the late 1990s, and gained momentum, along with private and public funding, during the tenure of Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 'In the last 15 to 20 years, much of that city funding has been supplemented by a boost in state and federal grants,' Greene said. 'We've also creatively leveraged historic tax credits to rehabilitate some of the historic properties.' If everything old really is new again, Brooklyn Navy Yard, Lehigh Valley, Fairfax Industrial District and Hazelwood Green are some of the best examples, demonstrating what's possible when fresh innovation takes root within legacy manufacturing sites.
