Business leaders offer insight into how Trump’s win affects local economy

PERMIAN BASIN, Texas (KMID/KPEJ) – Mickey Cargile, a Midland investment analyst, said Donald Trump winning the presidential election means a more friendly environment for oil drilling in the Permian Basin. However, that's not the only way the election results would affect the local economy.

Cargile said changes to the tax cuts signed by then-President Trump, which expires after 2025, could be on the table.

"The expectation is that the new president will want to continue those tax cuts and make them hopefully permanent and keep tax rates low," he said. "Having an extension of the Trump tax cuts, that will give us more money to reinvest in the local economy."

The president of Cargile Investment Management also said small businesses might benefit from a second Trump administration because of potentially fewer regulations on businesses.

"There's a cost of regulation to local businesses," he said. "And by removing some of that regulation, you help remove that cost, which increases profits."

Odessa Chamber of Commerce CEO Renee Earls offers a different view, suggesting the immediate economic impact is unknown.

"It takes a while for any economy to change," she said. "Everyone who works here is basically in the oil business because we all deal with the customers and the people who are in that business."

Earls also said the Federal Reserve lowering its interest rates by a quarter point, which it announced Thursday, should "trickle down" and help lower the cost of goods.