Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend-August 15th, 2020

the virus this week. In fact, Bloomberg Business Week this week is a special vaccine issue, looking at the biggest challenges and promising solutions on the path to a COVID vaccine. It's a must read to understand the many headlines we get every day on the virus and how close we are to get in control of it, and the many moving issues surrounding the virus. What's radical about some of these vaccine approaches, Where is the manufacturing going to come from,

and what are the political implications? Also where we are in the process. Why work is pursuing a slow and steady approach and vaccine nationalism. Yes, it's a thing that dominated our coverage this week, so too did this. I have no doubt that I picked the right person to join me as the next vice president the United States of America. Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate. Bloomberg News political contributor Jeanie Zano on what a Biden

Harris ticket means come November. We begin this hour with the magazine's deep dive into the path to a COVID nineteen vaccine. Bloomberg Business Week editor Joel Weber and Bloomberg News US healthcare reporter Riley Griffin talked with us about the issue and coverage, as well as Riley's story and drug giant MERK taking its time to develop a vaccine and approach that's paid off. Before Joel kicks it off, there's got no Biggert story in the world right now,

and that's sayings have been considering. You know, we've seen social unrest, we're about seeing an election, but uh that that clearly a lot of hingers on. But you know, I think we've all been fixated on um on everything around the vaccine to the point that you know, we're we're all becoming sort of better scientists and understanding, Um, how even approaches to vaccines can work, let alone you know,

the trials that all of them entail. So we figured, let's like look at this on the biggest level that we can, but not just look at it in terms of like the companies and the horse races, so much as all the other things that have to happen around a vaccine. It's like getting a vaccine is ultimately getting a formula, right, but you have to get production distribution, there's politics, there's a whole bunch of other stuff. So we've really devoted a lot of this issue to looking

at all these facets. But let's not forget the foot race either, right. Thing that Um was really captivating about Mark in this context is a lot of the big vaccines that have come to civilization in the past decades have actually come from murk. And while other approaches are racing, like you said, Carol, to get this thing done quickly, Marcus in you know, we're not gonna be the first out of the gate, but we're we know what we're

doing when it comes to vaccines. Uh. And that's what Riley was able to write about Um and Reley talk to us more about what Mark Why Mark sets the bar where it sets it when it comes to vaccine development. Yeah. Absolutely, Well, I'd love to take you back a few months actually, to the final weeks of Mayo and Mark first announced they would be pursuing two coronavirus vaccines and an anti viral treatment to be frank. News came rather late at

the time. The coronavirus had already swept the US, and within days of that announcement we marked more than one hundred thousand deaths in this country. UM. At the time, though we were thinking through Mark, which has more than a hundred years dominating the vaccine space, it had to have something brewing. In fact, I had UM. It's spoken with the director of the National Institutes of Health at the time, Francis Collins, who it's said to me, don't

count Mark out quite yet. And I think you'll find that those who know the vaccine world well always hold that opinion. Don't count Mark out because though they might take a more conservative approach to vaccine development, they have quite the track record, as you mentioned. And to talk about that track record briefly, I mean Mark is responsible for the first US inoculations for chickenpox, marbella, measles, and months.

In fact, that month's vaccine is the quickest to go through the development to market in a matter of four years. Nobody has since beaten that record. Most American kids now get Mark produced vaccines for all four of those things. And to top it off, the company of Pioneers Vaccines for HPV and Justice has December bibola and that was the first vaccine ever approved for that virus. So they have scheme in the game. They know how to do

this work. And even though there are more than a hundred and sixty vaccines in various stages of development for the coronavirus, twenty six of those which have entered human trials. Mark is coming later. But you've got to watch Mark closely because they know what they're doing. So when we talk about like a slow roll of slow rolling vaccines, like, what what does that mean? Do they just like do

more testing? Is it more trials? Yeah. So we've spoken with top researchers and executives at the company and their goal right now is to have global impact. So they started their development process later, but they're taking a threefold approach. They want to have a shot that's effective in a single dose. That's notable because some of the front runners that we see today they take a two dose approach,

a vaccine plus a booster. They also want to make sure it can be easily distributed around the world, and last they want to rely on tread in true technology. So they're employing this kind of old school approach that they have for decades um now augmented with genetic engineering to add COVID specific proteins are arena. They've settled on these two candidates, once based on their epola vaccine and the other based on an existing measles vaccine. So it's

a at that in perspective. In terms of timeline, the measles vaccine is going to launch into human trials later this month. The e BOWLA trial, meanwhile, will kick start in the fall. And again the fall is when we're hearing some companies say they're gonna gonna seek an emergency youth authorization. The market is just starting some of their

human trials at that point in time. One executive, speaking in a congressional hearing said we shouldn't expect them to come to market with a vaccine until at the earliest, but their goal here isn't to be first, it's to be best. And that story by Riley Griffin and Robert Langworth includes Mark CEO noting that those who suggest that any vaccine candidate might be broadly available before the end of the year is doing the public a disservice, a

reality check, you might say. Coming up, Business Week Economics editor Peter Coyd goes all weird science on us as he looks into what it will take to beat the virus. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week and this is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. This week a special vaccine issue, and we are highlighting some of the stories in Bloomberg Business Week magazine as it looks at the biggest challenges, the promising solutions, and really the weirdest science from the molecular level on up. We go really, really deep when it comes to the path to a COVID nineteen vaccine, as does Bloomberg Business Week Economics editor Peter Coy. He makes us all so much smarter. He writes about where

we are in the process to a vaccine. Business Week editor Joel Webber joining us once again as well. Obviously, we have many, many different attempts under way here, and it's all on attempt to really just have something that sticks, because the especially in the US, we have utterly failed at containing this thing, and the vaccine is really starting

to basically be the only way out of this madness. So, Peter, you talked to many, many, many people um for this article, and I'm just curious, like, what were the what were the things that really stood out to you when you spoke to people who work on vaccines for a living,

Just the creativity that's going on now. Vaccines have been around for centuries, really going back to the cow pox vaccine that stopped smallpox, and yet in the last few decades, thanks to biotechnology, genetical engineering, there's just a profusion of new concepts, entirely different ways of producing a vaccine. One of them, I think is so cool, actually take some of the nucleic acid UH that produces the the vacs, the virus when it reproduces itself, and you put that

into the human body. The human body produces a portion of the vaccine, just some of the proteins, which is not harmful but does stimulate the immune system, so the body becomes the factory for making the vaccine. I want to know the question that I can ask Peter Core that he won't know the answer to. Oh no, no, no,

I don't have it. I never have it, right, So, Peter, I guess when we try and look at the vaccine through then the economic lens and through the market lens, Like what's the reality of one in a company says, hey, this vaccine works in phase three and then all of a sudden, everyone's great and everyone's good and we can travel in life is normal again. Well, today, I guess, if you believe what came out of Russia, we already have a vaccine. Uh well, it hasn't even started phase three,

So maybe we take a pause. Yeah, exactly. So I think we're going to probably see more of these popping up in different countries around the world. Thing, we got one to go out in my gotlin, and we're just gonna have to step back and say, is this trustworthy? Because you really want to see a vaccine go all the way through phase three for both efficacy and say before you're gonna want to like put it into yourself or your kids or your parents. Yeah, and that's gonna

be months. That's gonna be months, probably twenty either late this year or early next year. Now, the hope is that there are so many of them that even if no one of them is perfect, they'll collectively give us the amount of protection we need to be back this pandemic. You know, Peter, the part of this that I think, you know goes to what you're saying Alex about you know, a timeline and stuff, is is that there's a cost associated with the pandemic. And obviously that is what's generating

headline after a headline every day. And it's also what's you know, allowing UM scientists to sort of expedite some development. And you know, Peter, do you have a big number here which I think, what was it, three hundred and seventy five billion dollars, billion dollars for every month. That is an insane amount. So when you think about the economic implications of this and why vaccine is so relevant, can you kind of help help make sense of that

for us? Yeah, So if you're thinking why should we put money into this looney idea as somebody's got um the answers you probably should because even if there's only a small chance of its paying off, it's it's enough to justify a fairly big expenditure. And the same thing goes for manufacturing. Why would ever build a factory to make a vaccine if we don't even know if it's going to work well, because if it does work, you don't want to be having to wait around while the

factory gets built. You want to be able to go into production right away. And this whole attitude, I don't think there's quite enough of it. I think the scientists understand. I don't think funders fully grasped it. There is some pretty generous funny, but we could afford to be doing even more, and it's unleashed, just as I said before, a profusion of creativity, which this makes this sort of

a golden age for vaccinologists. So, for everything that we've gotten wrong here in the U. S. Peter, perhaps the strategy of of actually throwing billions of dollars around it, or millions of dollars at various companies is maybe the right way. Yeah, it actually it is billions. Uh it is.

It is exactly the right thing to be doing. So that's one case where um I mean, as I said in the article, someday, when there is a vaccine or actually probably multiple vaccines, assuming that they actually do what they're supposed to do, We're gonna look back on this as these these scientists all over the world, from India to China to the US to Germany, We're going to thank them. We're gonna thank them for essentially saving our society.

Would be a happy day. Well. I don't want to be a Debbi downer, but I mean you do point out and the magazine, the magazine has talked about this before that we still don't have a vaccine against HIV. So yeah, I mean, this is a complicated virus that impacts people differently. That is so true. All right, So I guess you did kind of bring down the optimism I was trying to inject into the conversation just thirty seconds to to react to that debut down. Very true,

we still don't have an HIV vaccine. This several other viral diseases for which there are no vaccines. This one is looking though, as if it does seem amenable to a vaccine, and uh, in fact, again multiple vaccines using different avenues. So something's probably going to work, maybe not as well as say a small box actually maybe more like the influenza vaccine, but it will have something, probably

within a year. And as Peter mentions, of course, we're hoping to have some kind of vaccine, hopefully by the end of the year. Many of the guests that we talked to on our daily radio show, we get all kinds of scenarios. Some are optimistic, like Peter and his reporting, and that we will have something but the end of a lot of others say, though, it's more like a

one story. And keep in mind that experts warn, as Peter reminds and his story, that the new vaccines may provide only some protection and only temporarily, more like the annual flu vaccine that we get, rather than a knockout vaccine that we have for polio and measles, So something to keep in mind. Also, as Peter noted, there's still no vaccine against HIV, so getting a vaccine for COVID nineteen it's not an easy path, as we all know. That,

of course, was Bloomberg business Week editor Joe Webber. Also Business Week Economics editor Peter Coy highly recommend you check out peter story, as I mentioned we all get smarter when Peter stops by coming up next. What we're seeing is countries really having this in general, just this resurgence of nationalism. We talked about vaccine nationalism. Yes, it's a thing, and it is making this deadly disease even worse. You're

listening to Bloomberg Business Week, and this is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Our special issue of the magazine continues. We're looking at the path to a vaccine, a COVID nineteen vaccine, something we covered throughout the week on our

daily radio show. These stories important even as news about the virus continued to cross the Bloomberg and evolved, and that included a story about another disturbing aspect of COVID nineteen, and that is vaccine nationalism. Bloomberg News Projects and Investigations reporter Vernon Silver joined us from one of the hotspots

when it came to the virus. We're talking about Italy Rome specifically, and he talked with us about how the race for a vaccine has resulted in the jockeying of governments to secure doses of promising candidates for their citizens. He joined us along with Bloomberg Business Week editor Jill Weber. What we're seeing is countries really having this in general, just this resurgence of nationalism, and that's now manifesting itself

around how they're approaching the vaccine. And as countries are digging their heels in to sort of do everything by themselves, it actually makes the whole situation worse because through collaboration, we might have been able to pull resources and maybe maybe reach a cure or vaccine quicker than we otherwise might and benefit more people. And what I think Vernon really found that was so interesting was being in Rome, you know, which was one of the first places affected

by the pandemic. Uh. It really felt like Italy was at sort of the forefront of this conversation. So so Vernon, what was the Italian perspective on all of this? I mean, what we did was started following the vial literally of how the vaccine were being produced. And the first strand came in just ten little vials that were sent from Oxford, UH to Rome to this company that was going to make over ten thousand doses for the trials. The very first large scale trials of the vaccine in the world, um,

and by happenstance um. The you know, the initial supply of that vaccine was within the borders of Italy, and the politicians here latched onto it and it kind of it kind of steam, you know, it was a snowball where you had more deals being made and more kind of nationalist rhetoric coming out of the mouths of the leaders here who needed a redemption from having been the worst hit at the outset um and the the end result is that we've got about, you know, a quarter

of the supply of the Astra Zeneca Oxford vaccine now being bottled within Italy's borders. And how it plays out in the end is one of the questions that that's been left open as they balanced, you know, let's all cooperate with well, we do have it here. Well, I'm glad you brought that part up because I was wondering what the nationalism part means. Does it mean that you provide the money to the company to make the scene

that you then buy all the vaccine. Does it have to be a local company that's making the vaccine, or is it the distribution like the vials and the manufacturing part. Like, there are lots of different angles to it. Yeah, and the best way to understand it is it breaks down into two areas that the bad actors and the bad planners. And the bad actors are, you know, the accusations against the Chinese and Russian governments that they've been hacking the

Western efforts. The bad actors are. We already saw it in March when protective equipment was being blocked by different countries. Ninety different countries blocked equipment that would have been of use during the pandemic. Those are the Those are the bad actors, and we kind of know about those the bad planners. It's sort of just the splintering of where, you know, are you going to throw a lot of

money at it? You know, the Trump administration is throwing ten billion dollars at this operation warp Speed that sucks up supply poorer countries. Then you are trying to pull money to buy their own supplies. That drives up prices. And these come pans that are trying to you know, save the you know, save the world and also makes

the money or trying to find solutions. And Astra Zeneca was a great example, because they've decided they need to fight the nationalism by creating the supply chains on four different continents. If everyone's going to fight over it, give everyone their own darned supply chains. The Russia has a supply chain of the Oxford vaccine, and Brazil will have one, and there's the one in Italy, and there's a billion

doses being made in India. Okay, best laid plans, right, we create vaccine or vaccines and the world has equal access to it. And then there's reality. Is there vernon the possibility the likelihood that we're going to see people ordering the vaccine, but then there's going to be countries who are not going to let it cross their borders. Absolutely, that's what That's what the companies are planning for. That's

what the governments are planning for. That's why you try to get a clear idea of how these these orders are. Who goes first? You know, in the UK said, you know it's been developed at Oxford, We're going to get the first doses for our people. How does play out in the end, And that's that's sort of what we're looking at next, is that borders have become the battle lines in this nationalism of the vaccines. That's Bloomberg Business We get it. Or Joe Weber and Bloomberg News P

and I reporter Vernon Silver. What Vernon had to say about borders becoming battle lines. It's a reminder that this really is a war, a fight against the virus, and some troubling and disturbing aspects as concerns about access to a vaccine or something we might have to deal with in the future. One more note, I want to point out in Vernon's story that Astra Zenica has committed to creating autonomous supply chains for the Oxford shop that it

is working on on four continents. It's a frank acknowledgement that it isn't counting on a normal flow of goods and really looking to create independent supply chains that will enable full access to the vaccine around the world. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Still to come the head of the largest healthcare provider in New York State on getting through the crisis and making sense of the NonStop news of COVID nineteen north while Healths President and CEO

Michael Dowling is straight ahead. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Hi, I'm Carol Master. My co host Jason Kelly is off joining me this week. Bloomberg Television and Radio anchor Alex Steele plenty ahead for you in this hour of the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week, as the world continues to deal with the problems and inequalities revealed anew we don't want to hand out, we do

want to hand out. Solomon Alee, head of the advisory firm bearing his name, on why black wealth matters, Food insecurity is on the Rise, the CEO of Feeding America on the country's growing hunger crisis. Plus Roun CEO and co founder Nate check It's on how digital main streets are evolving amid our new world order. We begin with the top story this week, Democratic President nominee Joe Biden

choosing California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate. Bloomberg News political contributor and professor of political science at Iona College, Genie Zano, has more in the reality of a running mate on election outcomes. These picks don't tend to change a lot of votes. But what they do is they really give voters a sense as to the decision making of the person at the top of the ticket. And I think in that respect, Joe Biden has done himself

a favor here. He made a sober pick after a very intensive screening process, and I think he has now made it very difficult for the President's team to attack somebody like Kamala Harris in the way that they want to. Um. We were just looking at some of the attack videos that have come out from the Trump campaign on Harris. Then they try to painter as being far left, and of course that doesn't fit very nicely for somebody like

a Kamala Harris. So I think he's made it tough for them to attacker, but they think more important than that, he has sort of done what he promised to do, which is picked somebody who was prepared to govern if needed at at a moment's notice, who would do no harm for the ticket, because he is leading in many of the wing states at this point, and whom he personally has a relationship with that goes back many years, and of course, given his age, somebody who brings in

a new generation at fifty UM Kamala Harris obviously, um is you know, several decades younger than Joe Biden, and you know one of the things he would like to do is bring in some younger voters. So from those perspectives, I think it was a strong pick on his part. So do we I mean, are we going to be looking at Kamala Harris on the top of the ticket and the Democratic Party? And I'm just wondering how Wall

Street thinks about that. I do think it's possible. You know, Joe Biden at one point indicated he is a one term president should he win. Then he later pulled back on that and talks about himself more as a transitional person, transitional candidate. So I think there are many people who suspect he may do one term if he does win, which would mean Kamala Harris would be at the top

of the ticket. Um And I do think there are questions about what, you know, what Wall Street, for instance, is going to think about a pick like Kamala Harris. We you know, when we think about her relationship with Joe Biden, a lot of that was built on her relationship with his late son, Bo Biden and what they did together was really take on the big banks in the wake of the housing crisis, and she talked about

that in her book. UM. And so not only the story of her relationship with bo Biden as Attorney General, but also the work she did in terms of challenging the big banks. I think that wall Street is going to have a lot to say about that. I think also she is somebody who has done particularly well fundraising on behalf of the president and who has a record in the Senate. UM. So there's a lot to chew

on when it comes to Kamala Harris. And she also has somebody who has slipped on a few issues that are key to people, including the issue of healthcare, which made her you know, really was a challenge for her during her campaign. So there's a lot to look at in terms of her record as both a prosecutor an attorney general and also in the Senate and as a candidate herself. Repress, Jennie, what about the Trump campaign do

we anticipate? I know that there was some talk at one point that maybe, you know, Mike Pence wouldn't be on his ticket. Should we assume that he will be or does you know Biden's pick maybe maybe push the Trump campaign to reconsider having a different running mate. Yeah, I mean it's such a good question. I think we thought, you know, initially, that maybe he would move away from Mike Pence. I think it is becoming very late to imagine that he does that at this point. So I

think he's going to stick with Mike Pence. But to your point, you know, there is quite a difference between a Kamala Harris and a Mike Pence, both substantively in terms of their policy perspectives. I just want to see the debate debate, I mean, that's exactly. I mean, it's so fascinating. They're just two people who are completely different, you know, areas, and so that's going to be fascinating. But I think it's too late for Trump to move to somebody else at this point. You never say never

with Trump. But well, I don't want to see the debate. I want to see Stephen Colbert's monologue about the debt. So I guess I guess my question we were trying to get it this earlier too. Is it if I'm a voter and I voted for Trump last time, and I'm considering voting for Biden this time does this mean anything for me? I, you know, I am of the old school that I don't think you we see historically a lot of movement among voters because of a vice

presidential pick. Now she is that, you know, we have to say, she is, you know, the fourth woman historically on this kind of ticket. She would be the first vice president female obviously vice president if elected, the first African American, the first um, you know of of of Asian descent. Um. So there she does, you know, hit a lot of those first that maybe would make her attractive to people to move to her, But we don't

usually see that. Usually people judge the ticket on the top of the ticket, and that's still going to be Biden versus Trump. So I think she helps people give him the second look if they're not quite certain, But I'm not sure they move over because of her. I do feel like Genie two, it's a political campaign. Listening to what's going on among the broader Public's good point. Yeah, absolutely, and I think you know, for that reason, she you know,

really does fits some of the time here. But again, I'm not certain that that makes people in terms of voting, say, oh I did vote for Trump, but now I'm over to Biden's corner. I don't see that. I think, if anything, it would be something like his handling of, say the pandemic, that would get independence, saying in Michigan or Wisconsin. Maybe

to give Biden the second look. That's Bloomberg News political contributor and professor of political science at i own A College, Genie Zano, reminding us that the running mate maybe not so important to voters come November. It's more about the issues. But keep in mind Biden's trace of a running mate. Another step toward more representation of women in politics. Coming up next, upping the representation of blocks when it comes to wealth creation. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week, and

this is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. This week a special COVID nineteen vaccine issue, and one thing that came up during one of our daily radio conversations between Alex Steele and myself was a reminder of the inequalities that we saw once again because of the virus, with minority communities being hit the hardest. It was a reminder too of how minorities and blacks in particular have been left

behind when it comes to wealth creation. In an environment where not a single CEO of a major US bank is black. Solomon A Lee who has his own advisory firm, is taking steps to reverse inequalities and create black wealth. Access to capital for minority so people that look like me is system it UM. It's been allowed for a very long time, and when you block us out or deny off access to capital, it just makes it a

little bit more difficult. When you look at from the other side, we are the largest consumers in the United States out of all the various UM nationalities, so we have a lot to contribute UM to business and we do a lot of the work, but unfortunately we're just not being given the opportunity to get capital. So one of the things that we tried to do is demystified UM access to capital and what that actually means and what it looks like and how to actually get it

for people of color. So what's the transmission mechanism that's broken that's preventing that from happening right now? Basically the whole are trying to fix. Well, the whole we're trying to fix is very simple. We have a lot of legislation that's been done many years ago before you and I UM, and we weren't included. People who look like

me weren't included. And when they began to try to include us, they had people who were making policies that were i will use the words not sensitive to who we were and what our needs were, because they didn't want us to live next door to them. They didn't want us to have access to capital because they felt like we would be competing for the same capital that

they were trying to achieve. And that's why you have approximately thirteen thousand publicly played the companies and you have fewer than fifteen black own managing um publicly traded companies. And you would say, well, how could that even be in the day's age. Well, so talk to us a little bit about that and what's happened and why it hasn't opened up more. Hello, it hasn't opened up more because they don't want it to open up. Now. Who they are is very simple. The establishment has a set

of rules together. It's not the bank's fault, it's not even current policymakers falk. But at some point these rules have to be revisited that they are actually inclusive. UM, so that we included because if you want minorities to have access to capital, UM, you can get minorities to have access to capital by regulating very simple. You know, you give us. We don't want to hand out, we do want to hand up. So if you could just

simply imagine UM helping someone up to create jobs. According to the U. S. Government, most jobs are created by people who look like themselves. So if I'm an employer, I'm hiring someone that looks like me, and that's why unemployment amongst blocks or so is so high, especially amongst

black males. So I can totally see then how you're connecting all the dots right, because if you don't have minority own, black owned businesses, then you're not going to have the people who hire other people who look like them, which then creates more wealth in the community. Getting the government to do anything right now on this except for rhetoric, I just I can't imagine that's going to happen. So you're actually putting your money where your mouth is and

you're actually trying to help support that. What kind of concrete steps have you been able to take to help give access to capital UM to black owned businesses. Well, we've put a group of various investors together and we helped to fund different deals and transactions. Recently, we helped to find a lab out of Georgia energy company technology companies. So we go through the whole gaming. We don't go in to borrow, mine or anything of that nature. We use our own resources and we rely on our own

network UM to do this. And so what we look for is companies that have between three to five million dollars that will be very much overlooked and a poise to actually grow, but they lack the capital and sometimes even a strategicness to actually develop and grow the company and take it to the next level. So we come in and we provide the capital and some strategious planning

to help them to grow and scale their business. Solomon, help me understand though, how you get to that three million dollar thresholds, Like, what about the people under that? How do you help them? Well, basically what we do is we help provide to provide a strategic planning for their merger's, acquisitions and just strategies on how to grow and scale their companies. And then we work with a group of investors um that will loan them money and things of that nature. I've been doing this for about

thirty something years, being an entrepreneur and accessing finance. So again we try to domestify what that actually looks like and brain companies in minority companies, people that look like me, and just help them to buy strategic planning and by getting them access to capital and arranging for funding so that they can grow and normally what that will allow

them to do. It helps to provide them with the working tools that they need for that strategic planning, for exit strategy out because as we know, before, the largest investments that most Americans had, especially African Americans with their homes, and now that we have even less homeownership than we did previously, the largest investment that they have is their savings.

And African Americans are saving far less than their counterparts of whites and things of that nature, so we have less disposable income, we have less income them, and so trying to teach them, one business at a time how to make the shift and redirect some of their resources into their business so that they can also hire people that look like Bill that Solomon Ali, head of Solomon RCLI Corporation, And as he told us, blacks don't want to hand out, they want to hand up, and that

requires many including the federal government, realizing it's been unjust. He kept reminding us too that you know, blacks, they are a huge consumer community in the U s. They have a lot to contribute, and they are a group that really need to have more recognition. Check out that full conversation. It's on our podcast feed. You're listening to

Bloomberg Business Week coming up. If things don't change, we're on a trajectory to see food insecurity rates in the country go all the way up to fifty four million people. Feeding America is out with a new report on hunger in the United States and it's not good. We'll hear from CEO Claire Babineaux Fontaneau. This is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from

Bloomberg Radio. Nearly thirty million in the US recently reported to the Census Bureau that they did not have enough to eat, and according to Feeding America, child hunger is at an all time high due to COVID nineteen and rising unemployment. Feeding America goes on to predict that over the next few months, eighteen million children could be food insecure. Long term harm results when kids do not have enough to eat, while that includes adverse educational, health, and economic outcomes.

Feeding America CEO Claire babinel Fontano talked with us and gave us the startling statistics and situation of so many If things don't change, we're on a trajectory to see food insecurity rates in the country go all the way up to fifty four million people. Um. Beneath that huge number is that there are certain uniquely vulnerable communities who are being really really hard hit right now, um by this food crisis that's come along with the health crisis

that we're all uh having to deal with. So how do you deal with it? Well, uh, they say, how do you eat an elephant? Gotta be one bite at a time, right, So, UM, we're doing lots of things as a network. I'm really proud of of our members who are out there on the front line making certain that even at the risk to their own safety. Uh. And we put in place some precautions to try to make it safer. But the reality is that there are

risk associated with the work that they do. They get out there consistently improvide this food to people when they need it. The reality though, is that this has to be an all in fight. So we've done some some recent a recent study with Mackenzie. Even with all of the interventions that have already happened, there's been some good news in terms of bipartisan support for some assistance to our network. We've put that in play, factored it into

this number. We still have a gap over the next twelve months that we're estimating unless something serious changes, it's going to be an eight billion meal gap for people side of that. I mean, they're almost twenty million children are caught up inside of that gap. I mean, it's pretty extraordiny. I have to say, like it just it gets me so upset because here we are, you know,

a very origination. We've all seen the stories during the pandemic of milk being you know, spilled out, and I understood why there weren't workers necessarily, you know, or there was just overproduction, but it was just hard to get my head around that happening. Wasting food, throwing it out versus people not having meals to eat on a daily basis, how do we fix this? Claire, Yeah, so I think it's there's more than one thing to do. So the

first thing, let's talk about that which you just described. Um. One of the one of the good things that probably frustrates all of us is that our issue in this country isn't that we don't have the wherewithal to produce enough food to feed our people. We just there's been a significant matching challenge though, so part of what's happened

and you've seen fewer headlines around milk being wasted. One of the reasons why it's because we have a long, deep relationship with farmers and in in the immediate aftermath of the health pandemic, Uh, there was a big, big mismatch. We've done a much better job of coming together and matching that food up with people who need it. But we're gonna need policy changes, that's the bottom line. So

I am. I hope that everyone within the sound of my boys were to reach out to their members of Congress and tell them get back at that bargaining table, because there are some people who are in desperate need of help, and Congress is uniquely positioned to help them.

If I could just tie up something. A conversation Alex and I had yesterday and we talked about farm subsidies specifically, and we talked about you know, money, tax money, various subsidies and programs that come through the government's uh, federal and I guess other you know, state maybe in local

to that support various industries. And are you talking about things like farm subsidies that you know we have government support and yet you know, when we need people who need to be fed, you know, somehow that chain needs to be kind of completed. Yeah, that's a part of it.

So a part of it is certainly we do already have relationships with with farmers that includes some of the subsidies go towards food purchases that then go into the charitable food system UM and their issues around making making that easier, and we're going to continue to work with USDA and with farmers to try to make that easier. But there's some other policy interventions that that really for

me are no brainers. And in this climate where everything themes partisan, this is something that shouldn't be And it's the Settle Nutrition program that includes initiative like snap. Snap is formally referred to as food stamps. So we know for a fact that's SNAP for every one meal that our remarkable network can provide, SNAP can provide nine. We know from the pre from the previous recession that it

is highly stimulative to the economy. If you provide someone who have such limited means with the resource that's only valuable to them if they use it, it's going to have a stimulative impact providing resources. That's something we've heard from a lot of our guests here at Bloomberg Business Week and how that really impacts their life in so many different ways and something that ultimately is important to the overall economy that's feeding America. CEO Claire Babineau Fontano,

you're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up, we check into consumer habits how they are changing during the pandemic. We'll do that with ROHWN CEO and co founder Nate Checkets. This is Foomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. There have been lots of stories about what it means to dress for work today, especially with all of us working from home.

You know, we've heard about the Zoom shirt, that's that shirt that's always hanging nearby on a hangar from where you're working at home, just in case a virtual meeting with your boss or perhaps a client comes up. There's also a lot of yoga ware and athletisia ware being worn at home t shirts. And you know, our next guest knows about all of this firsthand. He's a friend

of the show. He's rown CEO and co founder Nate check Its, and he joined us to talk about how consumer habits are changing and what they are seeing in terms of trends, what people have been buying since they've been home. He began though, with how his world has been upended too because of COVID nineteen. Like everyone, this is a roller coaster that feels like it's been UM two years uh and and in some ways, you know,

it feels short, in some ways it feels long. But you know, when when the pandemic initially started, it was a very scary time for not just people with health, but you know for us as as retailer and as a as a young growing brand in the consumer space. UM caused us to look at just about everything and certainly, you know, we've we've come a long way, and categorically, I think we're insulated in a lot of ways. But yeah, it's been it's been quite the experience navigating this so

so literally, like what are people gonna wear? I mean, I joked about David Weston. So he's an anchor here Bloomberg Television. He covers politics, I mean, and he would wear a suit every day, uh, and used to be ahead of ABC News. He's that way, um, And I'll say that with a lot of love, Like he'd take his jacket off when he would get at his desk and then he'd literally get up to go to the bathroom, he puts the jacket on, like he's that kind of guy,

and he's rangeans to work. So like, what's my new uniform? Well, I I think there's no way, you know, let's let's say that we could snap our fingers and we were back at our everybody was back at an office tomorrow. There's no way that the last few months won't impact wardrobes in the future of work, attire, etcetera. You know, people are this is a this is a very long sustained level of comfort and kind of wearing whatever you feel like we're wearing. And so you're gonna see dress

codes be relaxed across the board. Um, and people are gonna there's gonna be a continue to push for comfortable work attire. And you know that's what Rome has always been about. Um, you know, not just making great stuff active for the gym, but making stuff that you can wear to and from work and and look great and so you know, performance fabrics and the work sweatpants, so to speak. But I do think that you're going to see some yeah, some relaxation of dress standards, even for

a guy David. I'm gonna say, we're going to actually mention it to David. I've got to say I would like this conversation. Well, and I mentioned I've been living in jeans and yoga gear and a few Rowan items as well, because they are incredibly comfortable. I want to also ask you, because I want to get into, um, maybe any of the pivots that you've done. But one thing that you have done is, and forgive me if I don't say it correctly, is it brands times better?

You have brands for better. Yeah, tell us a little bit about this movement. Well, so you know, in the early stages, I was, I was looking around, and uh. It really started with the fact that I sat my three boys down in the room and I said, all right, we get to spend this amazing time together. It could be a couple of weeks, it could be uh, you know, even as much as a month. And of course I was dead wrong on my long term estimates. But is

there something that you guys? I want you to pick a skill that you want to learn, and we're going to go and learn it together. And ultimately we landed on skateboarding. I ever really learned how to skateboard. They wanted to learn how to skateboard. Um. And so I went and I looked, and I tried to find, you know, a skateboard brand that was part of this kind of

new digitally native movement. UM. I did not want to go to Amazon and just buy something, because you had heard that all of online transactions were shifting towards Amazon, Walmart and these big players of what I called lowest common denominator shopping platforms. And this new digital main street that had been built up because regular main street and retail main street had really been killed off. But the digital main street that had evolved with these amazing brands UM,

we're being challenged in a very real way. And so I wanted to go and find a skateboard brand and I searched for like thirty four five minutes online and I couldn't find one and UM. But what I did see in that process of looking at all of my peers in this digital main street is everybody across the board was doing what they could to contribute UM positively, to to you know, to fight this pandemic. Whether it was encouraging employees and their team and their retail teams

to to be safe. UM. You know, some were shifting their supply chains to make masks. Many were giving a percent of their sales to UM to nonprofits even as

their sales were declining. And I thought, you know, it would be great to stand in solidarity with a lot of these brands, and so I just started reaching out to friends in the space and we accumulated over a hundred and fifty brands, digitally native brands, and everybody agreed to donate UM two plus percent of their sales or ten plus percent of their proceeds to a nonprofit fighting

the pandemic. And UM over the course of two months, we raised you know, three and a half million dollars um to to to fight and you know, to contribute to PP. And it also gave consumers a choice because we said, you know, we're brands that stand for treating our employees better, stand for treating our supply chains well, and we will always try and do what's right first, you know, above and beyond simply trying to turn a profit. And uh and it was a great, great initiative and

we had a great experience in building it well. Interested that you said that, because I wonder also how much are you thinking differently about all of that now? Like you have the relief effort, you've over a hundred forty brands who all helped raise that money. But as a company, are you also rethinking how you do stuff either sustainably or how you deal with workers, or any kind of work life balance that exists in any part of the world like does does Did COVID make you rethink any

of those things? I think it's made us. I think it's made us at the very least examine everything. Um And you know, in particular, I will say, you know, we have a very flexible PTO policy relative to most of corporate America in the fact that we don't have a formal um, you know, vacation days. If you join our company tomorrow, we don't say all right, it's your first year, you get ten vacation days. It's you know, it is unlimited p t O as we as we

describe it, um. And it's actually worked very well for us. But you know, part of the challenge that has come with that, and especially in this consistently connected environment, people are not taking enough time off where they're just you know, eliminating screens and walking away. And so we've had times

where we are forcing screen breaks um and uh. And you know, there's you know, there's been there's certainly been ways where we're thinking about what does collaboration looked like when we come back is it is it a five day work week in the office? Um? And there's you know, again, forever is a very long time. So when I hear people say that the you know, we're never ever going back to an office, well, forever is a very long time. But I do think the workplace will be changed for uh,

for a considerably long time in the coming years. I did want to ask you that, Nate, because it's interesting. We had a CEO on last week, Who's who's a die hard New Yorker lived there, work their offices. UM has created, like you, has a great heart and you know, giving back to the community, and basically said we're done, we're done with New York and we've been working so well and he's got a company that can work really

well virtually, and and so on and so forth. But he said, we're done with New York, but you don't. And I think you make a really good point. I think right now it's easy for us all to say we're done. But but long forever is a long time. Yeah. I mean, look, you know they going back and looking at the Spanish Flu and the you know, the Roaring twenties that followed it. You know, it's it's certainly easy to to think that this is you know that this is going to be forever impact. But there's there is,

there is an impact, and we have to acknowledge that. Um, I will never be done with New York. Um. We love we love the city, and I think it's going to take I think New York is going to come back better and stronger, and um, but you know, when it comes to being in the office at least, as far as I can see, for the next two years, we will not have five day a week office days. I can. I can envision a scenario where it goes down even to to office day week and the rest

because our team is so effective. Brune CEO and co founder Nate Check it's and Check got that full conversation in case you missed any of it, that is on our podcast. Fore you gotta say, I love what he's doing. I love what he's doing when it comes to Brands for Better, which is a new movement in how brands are more thoughtful in their treatment of customers, teams, and suppliers.

So if you go to their website, he's really put together these like minded brands and they've gotten together and they're actually giving back to those affected by Good nineteen. You heard Nate talk about it, but it's really a great movement. All right. That wraps up the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week from Bloomberg Radio. Thanks so much

for joining us. I'm Carol Masser. Be sure to tune into Bloomberg Business Week Radio Live Monday through Friday starting at two pm Wall Street Time, And if you can't catch us live, get our daily Bloomberg Business Week podcast wherever you get your podcasts, and of course you can get the full conversations such as the ones we had with Northwell Health CEO Michael Dowling and also Feeding America

CEO Claire Babineau Fontane. And be sure to check out our extra podcast for full interviews you will not hear anywhere else. And this week it's kiss We President CEO Mike Shable on helping ESPN, the p g A and the NBA and many more create inclusive fan experiences through streaming and the cloud. We just always thought that, gosh, there's a lot of people at home. They watch this content all the time. They're getting you know, the younger

people are mostly on a digital based platform. They want experiences. They don't want to just lean back and watch. They want to get in, they want to participate, They want to be with each other. Our company is and just focused on creating the platforms that enable that. Here that conversation wherever you get your podcasts, and you can also

watch the show live on YouTube. Just search for Bloomberg Global News and you can get this week's edition of the magazine that is on newsstands now we'll be back next week. At the same time, this is Bloomberg