Obama convenes meeting to seek advice from CEOs

Company executives including UBS Chairman for the Americas Robert Wolf and Honeywell International Chairman David Cote opened a discussion with President Barack Obama today aimed at fostering cooperation and finding ways to spur US economic growth.

The meeting at Blair House across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House was convened by the president as part of an outreach to business and to confer on issues such as education, exports, regulation and the budget deficit. It comes as his administration works to heal a strained relationship with the business community and collaborate on ways to boost jobs, with the nation’s unemployment rate at 9.8 per cent.

Obama is generating more optimism among CEOs after a series of business-friendly overtures, including a deal to extend Bush-era tax cuts and efforts to boost exports such as a US-South Korea free-trade agreement and a loosening of controls on some technology sales.

“Things were said on both sides that shouldn’t have been and did not further the opportunity to work together,” Cote said as he arrived at Blair House. “This is our chance to do that. I give the president a lot of credit for being the man big enough to say let’s restart, let’s work on how do we create a more vibrant economy.”

The discussions will cover “our shared mission of building a strong economy for the long run,” Obama said before heading into the meeting. The topics include the tax code, government regulations and what can be done to encourage them to spend and invest “when they’re holding nearly $2 trillion on their books.”

In addition to Cote, several of the executives said they were ready to work with the administration toward the goal of boosting the economy.

“I think we need private and public sector working together to move this country forward,” Wolf said as he arrived. “I’m looking forward to hearing an engaging conversation,” Wolf added.