Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney Visits Chamber

as part of the “San Diego Good Government” series

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, one of the top GOP candidates seeking the presidency of the United States, spent over an hour discussing vital domestic and international issues with key members of the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce on April 30, 2007, continuing the Chamber’s new “San Diego Good Government” series.

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Romney, who served one term as Massachusetts’ Governor from 2002 through 2006, spoke about how he focused on several issues during his term in office…the only political office he has held to date. He presided over statewide economic expansion and balanced the budget every year of his administration without raising taxes or increasing debt.  His presentation to the chamber members outlined how his administration eliminated waste, streamlined the government, and added approximately 60,000 jobs in the last two years of his term.

Governor Romney's spoke of how his top priorities as Governor were similar to his intent as President, including the reforming of the education system so that young people could compete for good paying jobs in the global economy of the future.  In 2006, he proposed and signed into law a private, market-based reform that ensures every Massachusetts citizen will have health insurance, without a government takeover and without raising taxes.
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Those in attendance noted Gov. Romney’s considerable business experience and history. From 1978 to 1984, Mr. Romney was a Vice President at Bain & Company, Inc., a leading management consulting firm. In 1984, he founded Bain Capital, one of the nation's most successful venture capital and investment companies. Bain Capital helped launch hundreds of companies on a successful course, including Staples, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Domino's Pizza, Sealy, Brookstone, and The Sports Authority. He was asked to return to Bain & Company as CEO several years later in order to lead a financial restructuring of the organization.
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He first gained national recognition for his role in turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics, which were mired in controversy and facing a financial crisis when he left Bain Corporation to take over as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.
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The hour-long meeting at the Chamber, attended by the heads of over two dozen small and large companies, provided a rare opportunity for a presidential candidate to meet privately with business leaders to discuss issues of mutual interest.  It was the fourth such event as part of the San Diego Good Government series, following similar meetings with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Congressman Bob Filner, and U.S. Department of Commerce Deputy Secretary for Policy Tyler Duvall. Several more events are planned, including one with California State Senator Christine Kehoe on May 25.

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