The Business Council

The Business Council is the only venue for the world's top CEOs to gather and engage in professional, intellectual, and leadership development.[5] 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][6][7]

Marlene Colucci serves as executive director of The Business Council.[8] 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.[8] She describes the organization as "an important voice for the business community with a high level of personal engagement by its members.”[8][9]

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][10] 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][10]

It was renamed The Business Council as an organization independent from the Department of Commerce in 1961, under President John F. Kennedy.[1]

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]

• 1933: Gerard Swope, General Electric.
• 1934: S. Clay Williams, R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.
• 1934–35: Henry P. Kendall, Kendall Company.
• 1936: George H. Mead, Mead Corporation.
• 1937–39: W. Averell Harriman, Brown Bros. & 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, J.P. Stevens and Company.
• 1953: John D. Biggers, Libbey–Owens–Ford.
• 1954–55: Harold Boeschenstein, Owens Corning.
• 1956–57: Eugene Holman, Jersey Standard.
• 1958–59: Stephen Bechtel, Jr., Bechtel.
• 1960–61: Ralph J. Cordiner, General Electric.
• 1961–62: Roger Blough, U.S. Steel.
• 1963–64: F. R. Kappel, AT&T.
• 1965–66: W.B. Murphy, Campbell Soup Company.
• 1967–68: Albert L. Nickerson, Mobil Oil.
• 1969–70: Fred J. Borch, General Electric.
• 1971–72: William M. Batten, J. C. Penney.
• 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.
• 1985–86: Ruben F. Mettler, TRW Inc..
• 1987–88: Stephen Bechtel, Jr., Bechtel
• 1989–90: Roger B. Smith, General Motors Corporation.
• 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 Inc..
• 2011–12: James Dimon, JPMorgan Chase & Co..
• 2013–14: Andrew N. Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company.
• 2015–16: Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon.com.

• The Business Council