Eight top executives of Georgia-based companies are among dozens of CEOs, economists and scholars President Donald Trump has appointed to look for ways to smoothly reopen a U.S. economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.
Members of the advisory group represent a variety of industries from agriculture and banking to transportation and sports.
Georgia appointees include Southern Co. CEO Tom Fanning to represent the energy sector and David Abney, CEO of UPS Inc., to represent the transportation sector.
From the food and beverage industries, Trump tapped James Quincey, Dan Cathy and Walt Ehmer, CEOs of Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-A and Waffle House, respectively.
Three current or former executives at The Home Depot Inc. – CEO Craig Menear, co-founder Ken Langone and co-founder and former CEO Bernie Marcus – will represent the retail sector.
When and how to reopen America for business has been a major point of debate in recent weeks. Public health leaders – including members of the president’s coronavirus task force – have cautioned Trump and the nation’s governors that dropping shelter-in-place orders and social distancing guidelines prematurely could cause a new spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths.
At the same time, conservative and business groups have been pushing to at least start the process of reopening the economy and getting laid off and furloughed workers back on the job.
“It is time to start how we will safely get Americans back to work,” said U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga. “Georgia is home to many businesses that are known worldwide as industry leaders. President Trump is absolutely right to take advantage of that expertise as his administration plans how to reopen our economy.”
While some states, notably New York, appear to have hit a peak in COVID-19 cases and deaths, Georgia is not expected to reach its peak until late this month or early in May. As of noon Wednesday, 14,987 Georgians had tested positive for coronavirus, and 552 had died from the virus.
