Chief Executive Officer of General Electric and College Trustee Jeffrey Immelt '78 will serve as the chair of the newly-created Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, President Barack Obama announced in Schenectady, N.Y., on Friday.
The council, formed by an executive order, will replace the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board, of which Immelt was a member. The Recovery Board, which is currently led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, will expire on Feb. 6, Obama said.
Immelt laid out his plans for the new council in an op-ed published Friday in The Washington Post, in which he called for an expansion of manufacturing and exports, the creation of more free-trade agreements with international markets and government incentives for investment in innovative technologies.
"The president and I are committed to a candid and full dialogue among business, labor and government to help ensure that the United States has the most competitive and innovative economy in the world," he wrote. "My hope is that the council will be a sounding board for ideas and a catalyst for action on jobs and competitiveness."
The council will include representatives from a wide variety of businesses, members of the labor sector, economists and government officials, Immelt wrote in The Post.
The formation of a diverse advisory group focused on creating jobs and increasing competitiveness represents a shift in focus from economic recovery to economic growth, The Times reported.
"The past two years were about pulling our economy back from the brink," Obama said in his announcement. "The next two years, our job now, is putting our economy into overdrive. Our job is to do everything we can to ensure that businesses can take root and folks can find good jobs and America is leading the global competition that will determine our success in the 21st century."
The new council is part of Obama's larger strategy to reach out to businesses for economic advice in response to Republican gains during the November midterm congressional elections, according to government professor Linda Fowler.
Obama also published a pro-business op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Jan. 18 and met with Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss trade deals this past week in an attempt to gain the support of business leaders, Fowler said.
"If [Obama] wants to run for re-election with 9.5 percent unemployment in 2012, he will very likely lose," she said. "The organization [of the new council] may be symbolic, but the need to focus on jobs is very real, and I think the administration understands that."
Immelt also accompanied Obama to Mumbai in November to secure business deals between American and Indian companies, The Times reported.
Immelt has held several global leadership positions within GE in the company's plastics, appliance and medical businesses as well as within the capital division, according to GE's website. GE is one of few businesses that had positive earnings each year during the recent financial crisis.
"[Immelt] is somebody who brings a wealth of experience to the table," Obama said. "He is one of the nation's most respected and admired business leaders, and that's a reputation he earned over 10 years at the helm of [GE]."
Many business leaders have publicly criticized Obama for "creating an unfavorable business climate," Fowler said.
By selecting advisors from the business world, Obama is reaching out to businesspeople and asking them to help spur economic growth through a savvy business environment, according to Fowler.
Immelt joins several other presidential advisors drawn from the business world, including William Daley, a board member of JPMorgan Chase, who will become Obama's next chief of staff.
"I think the appointment of [Immelt] is a particularly good one, not just because I think he's a very talented manager, but also because he has a company that makes things," Fowler said. "And the administration the businesspeople in the administration have been heavy on finance. Immelt's company not only makes things, it's actually divested itself of its financial investments. This sends a pretty strong signal that if we're going to pull the economy together, we need to start making things that we can export."
During his time at the College, Immelt majored in applied mathematics, played varsity football and was a member of Phi Delta Alpha fraternity. He later received an MBA from Harvard University, The Dartmouth previously reported.
Immelt was unavailable for comment by press time.
