Delaware awaits Trump's economic policies

Donald Trump campaigned heavily on his ability to create jobs and grow the national economy – promises tied to his business acumen as head of a multi-billion dollar conglomerate.

But hours after the Republican’s astounding victory in Tuesday’s president election, local trade groups and business leaders said they still have no clear idea what a Trump presidency will mean for Delaware’s economy.

“There’s an enormous difference between campaigning and governing,” said Bob Perkins, executive director of the Delaware Business Roundtable.  “And this was not a campaign focused on many specifics.”

For instance, Trump could have a huge impact on the state’s banking and financial services industries, which employ more than 37,000 people.

During coming years, the new president will appoint the next heads of four major regulatory agencies that oversee the industry.

Trump also has suggested his administration would look at repealing federal regulations imposed in response to the Great Recession, along with reiinstituting separations between commercial and investment banking repealed in 1999.

“It’s really too soon to tell what might happen and we’re trying to figure it out just like everybody else,” said Sarah Long, president of the Delaware Bankers Association. “To be honest, not a lot of his banking policy has come out yet.”

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Other industries across the state are hoping for lower taxes and are bracing for major regulatory reforms. They’re also waiting to see how Trump’s promises to repeal Obamacare and strike new trade deals will play out.

“It’s just too early to tell what any of that actually means,” said Bob Older, president of the Delaware Small Business Chamber.

“Trump made a lot of promises, many of which I’d like to see come to fruition,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean any of them are actually going to get done in the first 100 days, the first year or ever.”

Obamacare, for instance, has forced small businesses to swallow ever-expanding costs to cover their employees. Those higher costs mean fewer jobs are created by the small businesses that employ about half of the state’s private workforce. Even solopreneurs are facing double-digit premium hikes.

“But you can’t just repeal a program without replacing it with something,” Older said. “And noone knows yet what that something is going to look like.”

A full repeal may not even be necessary, said Carrie Leishman, president of the Delaware Restaurant Association.

 “We’ve been talking to our elected officials for years about easing the regulations, not repealing the law,” she said. “Our hope is Trump looks at what’s not working for businesses and gives us relief, but it has to be done carefully.”

Many small business owners also are hoping Trump undoes some of Obama’s executive orders, specifically new overtime rules that take effect Dec. 1.

The new policy unveiled last spring will mean more than 15,000 workers in Delaware classified as managers could be eligible for overtime pay. Nationwide, the measure is expected to raise aggregate pay by $1.2 billion a year over the next decade.

A Trump presidency also is expected to impact everything from immigration to energy policy – both of which could impact Delaware’s workforce and startup community.

“I think we’re going to see a renewed focus on fossil fuel consumption and not as much to do about renewables and alternative energy sources,” said Bryan Tracy, president of the Delaware Sustainable Chemistry Alliance. “And I think we’re going to step away from the positive ground we’ve made in caring about carbon emissions.”

He said that could mean federal funding for research and development in those fields is redirected, a development that would hamper efforts to spin new technology developed at Delaware’s university into tomorrow’s companies.

For now, translating Trump's experience into fully vetted policies remains a work in progress.

“Trump and every official elected official now has to move from generalities to putting forward specifics that will move the nation forward,” Perkins said. “I think it’s going to be fascinating to see how that plays out.”

Reporter Jeff Mordock contributed to this article.

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.