President Trump on Friday announced plans to create a council of business leaders as part of a new “Manufacturing Jobs Initiative.”
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, Tesla head Elon Musk and General Electric’s Jeff Immelt will join 25 other executives and labor leaders on the group. One series of meetings has already taken place, The White House said.
The initiative focuses on “how to best promote job growth and get Americans back to work again,” according to the White House statement.
On Wednesday’s earning call, Boeing’s Muilenburg said he was encouraged by Trump’s engagement with business executives and that he’s had excellent conversations with the President.
“I give a lot of credit here to reaching out and directly engaging,” Muilenburg said. “President Trump has to have business leaders at the table. He is listening. He is engaging and making decisions that will help us grow the economy and ultimately grow U.S. manufacturing jobs. So, I’m encouraged by that dialogue, and I think having direct, open dialogue is productive and very good for the future.”
Seattle business leaders are noticeably absent from initiative. Earlier this month, Amazon announced it would create 100,000 new full-time jobs in the U.S. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said the announcement came after Trump met with several tech executives and “urged them to keep their jobs and production in the United States.”
Much of Trump’s campaign focused on keeping and jobs in the United States, and, while the council will focus mainly on job growth, the White House said the agendas will likely change session to session.
