The Business Council is an organization of business leaders headquartered in Washington, D.C.[1][2][3][4] It holds meetings several times a year for high-level policy discussions.[5]
Mission
The Business Council allows global CEOs to gather and network in private.[6] Membership is by invitation-only.[7] The organization is guided by the belief that the business community's contributions to public discourse and governance are in the interest of the common good of the American people.[5][8][9]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Business Council helped global companies navigate the public health crisis.[10]
Leadership
Marlene Colucci serves as CEO of The Business Council.[11] Appointed in 2013, Colucci has held leadership positions in public policy at the White House, U.S. Department of Labor, and American Hotel and Lodging Association.[12] She describes the organization as "an important voice for the business community with a high level of personal engagement by its members.”[12][13]
Prior to Colucci, Philip Cassidy served as executive director of The Business Council for more than two decades.[14]
History
The Business Council was founded by Secretary of Commerce Daniel C. Roper and investment banker Sidney Weinberg as the Business Advisory Council for the United States Department of Commerce in 1933, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.[1][2][3][15] It formed the Industrial Advisory Board for the National Recovery Administration during the Great Depression.[1] It also established committees to discuss the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Banking Act of 1935 and the Social Security Act.[1][15]
According to the Detroit Free Press, the organization was designed “for corporate titans to offer counsel and advise to the federal government.”[16] It was renamed The Business Council as an organization independent from the Department of Commerce in 1961, under President John F. Kennedy.[1] The group is now “more about camaraderie and exchanging of ideas for time-pressed CEOs.”[17]
Membership is limited to 200 active members, all of whom are CEOs of leading multinational businesses personally selected by fellow members of The Business Council.[1][5]
The organization is strictly nonpartisan.[5] It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.[2][3]
Current executive committee
The executive committee is composed of the following people:[18][19]
Chairman
- Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft
Members
- Corie Barry, CEO, Best Buy
- Jeff Bezos, Founder & former CEO, Amazon.com
- Ana Botín, Executive Chairman, Santander Group
- Gail K. Boudreaux, President & CEO, Elevance Health, Inc.
- Mary Dillon, Former Executive Chair and CEO, Ulta Beauty
- Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- John Donahoe, President and CEO, Nike
- Arnold Donald, President and CEO, Carnival Corporation
- Roger Ferguson, Former President and CEO, TIAA
- Alex Gorsky, Chairman & CEO, Johnson & Johnson
- Henry R. Kravis, Executive Co-Chairman, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
- Dave MacLennan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cargill
- Shantanu Narayen, Chairman, President, and CEO, Adobe Systems
- David M. Solomon, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs
- Carol Tomé, CEO, UPS
- Lisa Wardell, Executive Chairman, Adtalem Global Education
- Kathy Warden, Chairman, CEO, and President, Northrop Grumman
- Emma Walmsley, CEO, GlaxoSmithKline
- Mike Wirth, Chairman & CEO, Chevron Corporation
Former chairs
- 1933: Gerard Swope, General Electric
- 1934: S. Clay Williams, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company
- 1934–35: Henry P. Kendall, Kendall Company
- 1936: George H. Mead, Mead Corporation
- 1937–39: W. Averell Harriman, Brown Brothers & Co.
- 1940–41: William L. Batt, War Production Board
- 1942–43: R. R. Deupree, Procter & Gamble
- 1944–45: Thomas B. McCabe, Scott Paper Company
- 1946: George M. Humphrey, National Steel Corporation
- 1947–48: John L. Collyer, Goodrich Corporation
- 1949–50: James S. Knowlson, Stewart-Warner
- 1951–52: Robert T. Stevens, JP Stevens & Company
- 1953: John D. Biggers, Libbey-Owens-Ford
- 1954–55: Harold Boeschenstein, Owens Corning
- 1956–57: Eugene Holman, Standard Oil of New Jersey (today ExxonMobil)
- 1958–59: Stephen Bechtel, Jr., Bechtel
- 1960–61: Ralph J. Cordiner, General Electric
- 1961–62: Roger Blough, US Steel
- 1963–64: F. R. Kappel, AT&T
- 1965–66: W.B. Murphy, Campbell Soup Company
- 1967–68: Albert L. Nickerson, Mobil (today ExxonMobil)
- 1969–70: Fred J. Borch, General Electric
- 1971–72: William M. Batten, JCPenney
- 1973–74: David Packard, Hewlett-Packard
- 1975–76: Edmund W. Littlefield, General Electric
- 1977–78: John D. deButts, AT&T
- 1979–80: Reginald H. Jones, General Electric
- 1981–82: Walter B. Wriston, Citicorp
- 1983–84: Clifton C. Garvin, Jr., Exxon (today ExxonMobil)
- 1985–86: Ruben F. Mettler, TRW
- 1987–88: Stephen Bechtel, Jr., Bechtel
- 1989–90: Roger B. Smith, General Motors
- 1991–92: John F. Welch, Jr., General Electric
- 1993–94: Robert E. Allen, AT&T
- 1995–96: Edgar S. Woolard, Jr., DuPont
- 1997–98: Larry Bossidy, AlliedSignal
- 1999-00: Ralph S. Larsen, Johnson & Johnson
- 2001–02: William T. Esrey, Sprint Corporation
- 2003–04: Charles O. Holliday, Jr., Bank of America
- 2005–06: Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric
- 2007–08: W. James McNerney, Jr., Boeing
- 2009–10: James W. Owens, Caterpillar.
- 2011–12: Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase
- 2013–14: Andrew Liveris, Dow Chemical Company
- 2015–16: Jeff Bezos, Amazon
- 2017-18: Henry R. Kravis, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
- 2019-20: John Donahoe, Nike
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Business Council, Official website, Background Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- 1 2 3 Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris Elected Chairman, The Business Council Archived 2012-10-22 at the Wayback Machine, dow.com, October 19, 2012
- 1 2 3 Press Release: The Dow Chemical Company, Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris Elected Chairman, The Business Council, Yahoo!, October 19, 2012
- ↑ Dow Chief To Head National Business Organization Archived 2013-12-19 at the Wayback Machine, WSGW
- 1 2 3 4 "Amazon's Jeff Bezos appointed chairman of Washington-based Business Council". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
- ↑ Gangitano, Alex (2020-09-15). "Quarterly report: Lobbyist's slide decks take off". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ↑ Cain, Carol. "Gilbert's growing profile puts him in exclusive business company". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ↑ "VTB brings Bolshoi ballet to Kennedy Center". POLITICO. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
- ↑ "About Us – The Business Council". businesscouncil.com. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
- ↑ Gangitano, Alex (2020-10-08). "Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to lead global CEO group". The Hill. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ↑ "Exploring the World of CEOs with Marlene Colucci - Be EPIC Podcast". be-epic-podcast.captivate.fm. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- 1 2 "Colucci to lead Business Council". POLITICO. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
- ↑ "Marlene Colucci-Renna Named Executive Director of the Business Council". www.businesswire.com. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
- ↑ Tau, Byron. "Colucci to lead Business Council". POLITICO. Retrieved 2022-07-13.
- 1 2 Barack Obama, Remarks by the President to The Business Council, The White House: Office of the Press Secretary, February 13, 2009
- ↑ Cain, Carol. "Gilbert's growing profile puts him in exclusive business company". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ↑ Cain, Carol. "Gilbert's growing profile puts him in exclusive business company". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
- ↑ "KKR & Co. LP: Henry Kravis Elected Chairman of The Business Council – The Wall Street Transcript". The Wall Street Transcript. Retrieved 2017-08-12.
- ↑ Admin. "About Us". The Business Council. Retrieved 2022-07-13.