Business owners concerned ahead of Republican National Convention

MILWAUKEE (CBS58) -- In just under 100 days, 50,000 visitors will be coming to the city of Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.

The city is working to ensure it’s a safe and secure week, but some business owners downtown have a lot of questions and concerns.

On Thursday, there was an information session for businesses affected by the convention’s security zone.

The Republican National Convention is 94 days (about three months) away, and there are a lot of questions for businesses in the RNC’s perimeter.

We spoke today with two women that own a boat company. They are starting to book cruises for the summer, their busiest time of the year. When they asked if the river will be open during the RNC, they were told, "we don't know.'

“Businesses should sign up for the resources available, whether it's on the host committee website, MKE2024host.org, we’ve got info that goes out regularly, we will be doing information sessions that are informal to get the word out, and they should just expect, even though it can be hard, that there will be more information,” said Allison Prange, chief operating officer, MKE 2024 Host Committee.

The host committee encourages Milwaukeeans to not stay away during the week of the RNC.

“We want people to be in Milwaukee. Go to a bar or restaurant you like, enjoy the lakefront, don’t stay away because our city businesses are going to get great business, but they also need the people that are here regularly to impact and to come spend money. That's what they rely on, to drive the economic benefit for their business. They are small businesses, it’s a hard job,” said Prange.

The RNC and the host committee are looking for 6,000 volunteers. If you're interested, click here.

According to Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s chief of staff, city operations (trash pickup, libraries being open) will not change the week of the RNC.

We should know more details by mid-June when security maps and checkpoints are finalized.

If you have any questions about the RNC, click here.