Hammack talks to Toledo leaders, participates in unique tradition

Participants shared the challenges they face in finding skilled trade workers and in navigating economic uncertainty, largely due to federal funding, tariff, and immigration questions. Some leaders also discussed possible opportunities for Northwest Ohio, including the potential for new businesses, like data centers, to come to the region. One business owner went so far as to say that no one should ever “bet against the American entrepreneur.”

One of the roundtable attendees, Jimmy Harmon, is the chief executive officer of Tony Packo’s, a Toledo institution with four restaurants in Northwest Ohio. He is also a member of a Cleveland Fed Business Advisory Council.

Over lunch at the original Tony Packo’s, Harmon explained the challenges that the restaurant industry is currently facing. He said that industry traffic is down, but the amount of money people spend when they do go out to eat remains about the same. He said that Tony Packo’s restaurant is continually innovating to get customers in the door.

Over the past 50 years, Tony Packo’s has invited thousands to sign hot dog buns, which are then showcased on the walls of the restaurants. The tradition was started by actor Burt Reynolds, Harmon said.

While the early signatures may have been applied to regular hot dog buns made of bread, those early buns started to fall apart, so today people of note—including Hammack—sign replica hot dog buns.

About President Beth M. Hammack’s Around the District tour

President Hammack is visiting communities across the Fourth District as part of her Around the District tour to meet and connect with the people who live and work in all corners of the region and to gain a better understanding of how the economy is working in different communities. The Cleveland Fed, with branches in Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, serves an area that comprises Ohio, western Pennsylvania, eastern Kentucky, and the northern panhandle of West Virginia. Hammack will use this information to inform her policy views and better represent the Fourth District around the Federal Open Market Committee table.