The Business Council is an organization of business leaders headquartered in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The Business Council, Official website, Background
Dow Chairman and CEO Andrew Liveris Elected Chairman, The Business Council
, dow.com, October 19, 2012Press Release: The Dow Chemical Company

''

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...

'', October 19, 2012Dow Chief To Head National Business Organization
, '' WSGW'' It holds meetings several times a year for high-level policy discussions.

Mission

The Business Council allows global CEOs to gather and network in private. Membership is by invitation-only. 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. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, The Business Council helped global companies navigate the public health crisis.

Leadership

Marlene Colucci serves as CEO of The Business Council. Appointed in 2013, Colucci has held leadership positions in public policy at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

U.S. Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploym ...

, and

American Hotel and Lodging Association The American Hotel and Lodging Association (formerly American Hotel and Motel Association, and before that American Hotel Association) is an industry trade group with thousands of members including hotel brands, owners, management companies, Real E ...

. She describes the organization as "an important voice for the business community with a high level of personal engagement by its members.” Prior to Colucci, Philip Cassidy served as executive director of The Business Council for more than two decades.

History

The Business Council was founded by Secretary of Commerce

Daniel C. Roper Daniel Calhoun Roper (April 1, 1867April 11, 1943) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 7th United States Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was the 5th United States Ambassador to Canada from Ma ...

and investment banker

Sidney Weinberg Sidney James Weinberg (October 12, 1891 – July 23, 1969) was a long-time leader of the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs, nicknamed “Mr. Wall Street” by ''The New York Times''Whitman, Alden"Sidney J. Weinberg, Known as 'Mr. Wall Street,' Is De ...

as the Business Advisory Council for the

United States Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...

in 1933, under President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

Remarks by the President to The Business Council

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

: Office of the Press Secretary, February 13, 2009 It formed the Industrial Advisory Board for the

National Recovery Administration The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was a prime agency established by U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in 1933. The goal of the administration was to eliminate "cut throat competition" by bringing industry, labor, and governmen ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. It also established committees to discuss the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (also called the Exchange Act, '34 Act, or 1934 Act) (, codified at et seq.) is a law governing the secondary trading of securities (stocks, bonds, and debentures) in the United States of America. A landma ...

, the

Banking Act of 1935 The ''Banking Act of 1935'' passed on August 19, 1935 and was signed into law by the president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, on August 23. The Act changed the structure and power distribution in the Federal Reserve System that began with the '' Banking ...

and the

Social Security Act The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...

. According to the ''

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...

'', the organization was designed “for corporate titans to offer counsel and advise to the federal government.” It was renamed The Business Council as an organization independent from the Department of Commerce in 1961, under President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

. The group is now “more about camaraderie and exchanging of ideas for time-pressed CEOs.” 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. The organization is strictly nonpartisan. It is headquartered in

Current executive committee

The executive committee is composed of the following people:

Chairman

Satya Nadella Satya Narayana Nadella (, ; born 19 August 1967) is an Indian-American business executive. He is the executive chairman and CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014 as CEO and John W. Thompson in 2021 as chairman. Before becoming CE ...

, Chairman and CEO,

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

Members

* Corie Barry, CEO, Best Buy *

Jeff Bezos Jeffrey Preston Bezos ( ;; and Robinson (2010), p. 7. ''né'' Jorgensen; born January 12, 1964) is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former preside ...

, Founder & former CEO, Amazon.com *

Ana Botín Ana Patricia Botín-Sanz de Sautuola O'Shea, DBE (born 4 October 1960) is a Spanish banker who has served as the executive chairman of Santander Group since 2014. She is the fourth generation of the Botín family to hold this role. Prior to th ...

, Executive Chairman, Santander Group * Gail K. Boudreaux, President & CEO, Elevance Health, Inc. * Mary Dillon, Former Executive Chair and CEO, Ulta Beauty *

Jamie Dimon James Dimon (; born March 13, 1956) is an American billionaire businessman and banker who has been the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase – the largest of the big four American banks – since 2005. Dimon was previously on ...

, Chairman & CEO, JPMorgan Chase & Co. *

John Donahoe John Joseph Donahoe II (born April 30, 1960) is an American businessman who is the CEO of Nike. Early in his career he worked for Bain & Company, becoming the firm's president and CEO in 1999. He is on the board of directors at Nike, The Bridgespa ...

, President and CEO, Nike * Arnold Donald, President and CEO, Carnival Corporation * Roger Ferguson, Former President and CEO, TIAA *

Alex Gorsky Alex Gorsky (born 1960) is an American businessman and the executive chairman of Johnson & Johnson. He is the seventh person who served as chair and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson since it became a publicly traded company in 1944. Go ...

, Chairman & CEO, Johnson & Johnson *

Henry R. Kravis Henry R. Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.Dave MacLennan David W. MacLennan (born 1958/59) is an American businessman, the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cargill. MacLennan received a BA in English from Amherst College, followed by an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago. MacL ...

, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cargill *

Shantanu Narayen Shantanu Narayen (born May 27, 1963) is an Indian-American business executive. He has been the chairman, president, and chief executive officer (CEO) of Adobe Inc. since December 2007. Before this, he was the company's president and chief ope ...

, Chairman, President, and CEO, Adobe Systems *

David M. Solomon David Michael Solomon (born c. 1962) is an American investment banker and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Goldman Sachs, a position he has held since October 2018. He has also been chairman of the bank since January 2019. Before assuming hi ...

, Chairman and CEO, Goldman Sachs * Carol Tomé, CEO, UPS * Lisa Wardell, Executive Chairman, Adtalem Global Education *

Kathy Warden Kathy J. Warden is an American business executive who serves as chief executive officer and president of Northrop Grumman, as of 2019. Education Warden graduated from Smithsburg High School. She then earned a bachelor's degree at James Madison U ...

, Chairman, CEO, and President, Northrop Grumman *

Emma Walmsley Dame Emma Natasha Walmsley (born June 1969) is the chief executive officer (CEO) of GlaxoSmithKline. She succeeded Sir Andrew Witty, who retired in March 2017. Before GSK, she worked for L'Oréal for 17 years, and was a non-executive director ...

, CEO, GlaxoSmithKline *

Mike Wirth Michael Wirth (born 1960) is an American businessman who ihas been the chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation since 2018. Previously, he was the vice chairman of the company. Early life After graduating from high school, Wirth attended the ...

, Chairman & CEO, Chevron Corporation

Former chairs

*1933: Gerard Swope,

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

*1934: S. Clay Williams,

RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company The R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) is an American tobacco manufacturing company based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and headquartered at the RJR Plaza Building. Founded by R. J. Reynolds in 1875, it is the second-largest tobacco compan ...

*1934–35: Henry P. Kendall, Kendall Company *1936:

George H. Mead George Herbert Mead (February 27, 1863 – April 26, 1931) was an American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded a ...

Mead Corporation Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteri ...

*1937–39:

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...

, Brown Brothers & Co. *1940–41:

William L. Batt William Loren Batt (July 31, 1885 – 1965) was an American mechanical engineer, and president SKF Industries, Inc., awarded the Order of Vasa in 1923, the Henry Laurence Gantt Medal in 1940,''Electrical Engineering,'' Vol. 60, 1941. p. 308 and th ...

War Production Board The War Production Board (WPB) was an agency of the United States government that supervised war production during World War II. President Franklin D. Roosevelt established it in January 1942, with Executive Order 9024. The WPB replaced the Sup ...

*1942–43:

R. R. Deupree R. or r. may refer to: * ''Reign'', the period of time during which an Emperor, king, queen, etc., is ruler. * '' Rex'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning King * ''Regina'', abbreviated as R., the Latin word meaning Queen * or , abbreviat ...

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

*1944–45: Thomas B. McCabe,

Scott Paper Company The Scott Paper Company was the world's largest manufacturer and marketer of sanitary tissue products with operations in 22 countries. Its products were sold under a variety of well-known brand names, including ''Scott Tissue'', ''Cottonelle'', ...

*1946:

George M. Humphrey George Magoffin Humphrey (March 8, 1890January 20, 1970) was an American lawyer, businessman and banker. He served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury for President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Early life Humphrey was born on March 8, 1 ...

, National Steel Corporation *1947–48: John L. Collyer, Goodrich Corporation *1949–50: James S. Knowlson,

Stewart-Warner Stewart-Warner was an American manufacturer of vehicle instruments (a.k.a. gauges and lubricating equipment) and many other products. History The company was founded as Stewart & Clark Company in 1905 by John K. Stewart. Their speedometers wer ...

*1951–52:

Robert T. Stevens Robert Ten Broeck Stevens (July 31, 1899January 31, 1983) was an American businessman and former chairman of WestPoint Home, J. P. Stevens and Company, which was one of the most established textile manufacturing plants in the US. He served ...

, JP Stevens & Company *1953: John D. Biggers, Libbey-Owens-Ford *1954–55: Harold Boeschenstein,

Owens Corning Owens Corning is an American company that develops and produces insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites and related materials and products. It is the world's largest manufacturer of fiberglass composites. It was formed in 1935 as a partn ...

*1956–57:

Eugene Holman Eugene Holman (May 2, 1895 – August 12, 1962) was an American geologist and oilman. Holman's career began in 1917 when he worked briefly for Texaco. After serving in the United States Army in World War I, Holman joined the United States Geologi ...

, Standard Oil of New Jersey (today

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

) *1958–59:

Stephen Bechtel, Jr. Stephen Davison Bechtel Jr. (May 10, 1925 – March 15, 2021) was an American billionaire, businessman, civil engineer, and co-owner of the Bechtel Corporation. He was the son of Stephen Davison Bechtel Sr. and grandson of Warren A. Bechtel, w ...

Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia. , the ''Engineering News-Record'' ranked Bechtel as the sec ...

*1960–61:

Ralph J. Cordiner Ralph Jarron Cordiner (March 20, 1900 - December 5, 1973) was an American businessman. He served as president of General Electric from 1950 to 1958, and as its chairman and chief executive officer from 1958 to 1963. Biography He was born in 1900 ...

*1961–62:

Roger Blough Roger M. Blough (January 19, 1904 October 8, 1985) was the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the United States Steel Corporation for 13½ years, from May 1955 through January 1969. In this position, he is best known for servin ...

US Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

*1963–64: F. R. Kappel,

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

*1965–66: W.B. Murphy,

Campbell Soup Company Campbell Soup Company, trade name, doing business as Campbell's, is an American processed food and snack company. The company is most closely associated with its flagship canned soup products; however, through mergers and acquisitions, it has gro ...

*1967–68: Albert L. Nickerson,

Mobil Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

(today ExxonMobil) *1969–70:

Fred J. Borch Fred J. Borch (April 28, 1910 – March 1, 1995) was an American businessman who was chairman and CEO of General Electric from 1967 to 1972 and president and CEO from 1963 to 1967. He served as chairman of The Business Council The Business Council ...

*1971–72: William M. Batten,

JCPenney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Gir ...

*1973–74: David Packard,

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

*1975–76: Edmund W. Littlefield, General Electric *1977–78:

John D. deButts John D. deButts (1915–1986) was an American businessman. He served as the chairman and chief executive officer of AT&T from 1972 to 1979.Eric N. BergJohn D. deButts, Ex-Chairman of A.T.&T., Is Dead ''The New York Times'', December 18, 1986

, AT&T *1979–80:

Reginald H. Jones Reginald H. Jones (11 July 1917 – 30 December 2003) was the chairman and CEO of General Electric from 1972 to 1981. Biography Jones was born in Stoke-on-Trent, England, United Kingdom. After graduating from the Wharton School of the Universit ...

, General Electric *1981–82:

Walter B. Wriston Walter Bigelow Wriston (August 3, 1919 – January 19, 2005) was a banker and former chairman and CEO of Citicorp. As chief executive of Citibank / Citicorp (later Citigroup) from 1967 to 1984, Wriston was widely regarded as the single most influe ...

, Citicorp *1983–84: Clifton C. Garvin, Jr., Exxon (today ExxonMobil) *1985–86: Ruben F. Mettler, TRW *1987–88:

, Bechtel *1989–90:

Roger B. Smith Roger Bonham Smith (July 12, 1925 – November 29, 2007) was the chairman and CEO of General Motors Corporation from 1981 to 1990, and is widely known as the main subject of Michael Moore's 1989 documentary film ''Roger & Me''. Smith seemed t ...

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

*1991–92: John F. Welch, Jr., General Electric *1993–94: Robert E. Allen, AT&T *1995–96: Edgar S. Woolard, Jr.,

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

*1997–98:

Larry Bossidy Lawrence Arthur "Larry" Bossidy (born March 5, 1935) is an American author and retired businessman. He served as CEO of AlliedSignal (later Honeywell) in the 1990s, prior to which he spent more than 30 years rising through executive positions at ...

AlliedSignal AlliedSignal was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and Signal Companies. It subsequently purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and thereafter adopted the Honeywell n ...

*1999-00:

Ralph S. Larsen Ralph S. Larsen (November 18, 1938 – March 9, 2016) was an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Johnson & Johnson from 1989 to 2002.

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational corporation founded in 1886 that develops medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and consumer packaged goods. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company i ...

*2001–02: William T. Esrey,

Sprint Corporation Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it Merger of Sprint Corporation and T-Mobile US, merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 ...

*2003–04: Charles O. Holliday, Jr.,

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

*2005–06:

Jeffrey R. Immelt Jeffrey Robert Immelt (born February 19, 1956) is an American business executive currently working as a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates. He previously served as the CEO of General Electric from 2001 to 2017, and the CEO of GE's Medi ...

, General Electric *2007–08: W. James McNerney, Jr.,

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

*2009–10:

James W. Owens James W. Owens is an American economist and manufacturing executive. He is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Caterpillar Inc., the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines ...

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

. *2011–12:

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...

*2013–14:

Andrew Liveris Andrew N. Liveris (born 5 May 1954) is an Australian former CEO and chairman of The Dow Chemical Company of Midland, Michigan. Liveris has been a member of Dow's board of directors since February 2004, CEO since November 2004 and was elected as ...

Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company, officially Dow Inc., is an American multinational chemical corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company is among the three largest chemical producers in the world. Dow manufactures plastic ...

*2015–16:

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...

*2017-18:

Henry R. Kravis Henry R. Kravis (born January 6, 1944) is an American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

*2019-20:

, Nike

References

External links

The Business Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Business Council Organizations established in 1933 Lobbying organizations based in Washington, D.C. 1933 establishments in Washington, D.C.