I’m a third generation New Hampshire manufacturer. Growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, my father and grandfather ran shoe factories in Pittsfield, Newmarket, and Laconia. Like many Granite Staters, I saw first-hand the “boom” of the 20th-century manufacturing economy.
But like so many friends and neighbors, I also lived through the “bust” as our 20th-century global economy shifted and manufacturers left, gutting so many communities in the process. I will never forget seeing first-hand the painful results of that collapse in my own family and so many thousands of others – bankruptcy, joblessness, addiction, divorce, and desperation.
Sadly, New Hampshire wasn’t alone in suffering the pains of a changing global economy. Indeed, there are thousands of towns like ours across the country still struggling to adjust to a world of cheaper overseas labor. And there are more challenges ahead – climate change is already hitting agricultural and coastal communities hard. I have colleagues who operate food plants in Florida and farms in the Midwest that now routinely flood and close down. And the increased climate-related economic disruption we now see across the country – fiercer storms and floods, prolonged droughts and fires – promises only more dislocation and economic insecurity for our communities.
The towns and cities that did recover from the recessions of my youth, did so not because of Democrats or Republicans, or even government for that matter. The innovation that brought jobs and vibrancy back was spawned by bipartisan and public-private initiatives, bringing together community and business leaders from across the political spectrum. We united in fighting for our economic lives, as so many are today.
21st-century challenges require 21st-century thinking. That’s why I am proud to have helped build and lead a company that has provided hundreds of well-paying jobs with excellent benefits, while demonstrating that good business can also be good for the planet, supporting thousands of family farmers on millions of chemical-free acres.
Across the US and around the world, leaders are emerging who reject the notion that we can or should return to the past, and are forging a newfound prosperity by bringing their communities together to reimagine their future. One such leader is Pete Buttigieg.
Pete returned to serve his Midwestern hometown labeled as one of America’s “dying cities” decades after the loss of its main manufacturer. Under Pete’s leadership, South Bend has seen an economic revival with new jobs, new businesses, and young people returning to settle – a dramatic transformation from industrial devastation just a few years ago..
Though climate change will challenge many communities’ economic stability, I believe it also presents us with the greatest economic opportunity to reinvigorate and reinvent towns on a massive scale across the country — like Pete has done in South Bend.
As we’ve proven at Stonyfield in hundreds of ways, fighting and reversing climate change is actually good for the economy and creates jobs. We can do this on a national scale — but only if we have the right leader in the White House.
Pete’s climate plan is bold and achievable. It is all about creating jobs and economic development. And it comes from the real world on-the-ground experience of dealing with these issues. But to tackle something as big as climate change, we must come together as a country, and reach across partisan divides. We need to reduce the influence of large fossil fuel firms, which is why Pete does not take money from them or corporate PACs. Pete has called for a new national project — one that calls on every American, from big cities to rural communities, to engage climate action to drive the next economic revolution.
But it’s not just about who has the best plan. The presidency is an executive job, not a legislative one. So we need someone who has done the work and understands the role that Washington DC must play out here in the real world.
After three decades as a CEO, I know the buck stops at the chief executive’s desk — and as a mayor, so does Pete. In emergencies and crises, people looked to him for leadership. And as our president, Pete will be guided by science, maintain an executive temperament and listen to reason. Pete Buttigieg will bring new energy, turn the page on the division and dysfunction of our current politics and bring a fresh, inclusive approach to government that works for us all.
Gary Hirshberg is an environmental advocate, entrepreneur, and the co-founder and former CEO of Stonyfield Farm.