Honored by USCIB, Dow CEO Calls for New Partnership to Rejuvenate U.S. Manufacturing

L-R: USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, former President Bill Clinton, Dow CEO Andrew Liveris, USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III.
L-R: USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson, former President Bill Clinton, Dow CEO Andrew Liveris, USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III.

New York, N.Y., November 17, 2011Andrew Liveris, chairman and chief executive officer of The Dow Chemical Company, was honored for global leadership last night by the United States Council for International Business, a pro-trade group representing America’s top global companies.  At a gala dinner in New York, former President Bill Clinton was among those paying tribute to Mr. Liveris’s support for expanded trade and enhanced U.S. competitiveness.

In remarks accepting USCIB’s International Leadership Award, Mr. Liveris called for stepped-up partnerships between business and government to rejuvenate American manufacturing.

“At a time when international business has never been more dynamic, it is essential for all of us – citizens, businesses and our government – to embrace the new reality that we have to make strategic choices about our future and how we want it to unfold,” Mr. Liveris told hundreds of business executives, government officials and diplomats gathered at the Waldorf-Astoria.  “We must, without hesitation, venture to build bold public-private partnerships that will enable us to achieve the necessary transformation – because we cannot accomplish this alone.”

Mr. Clinton applauded Mr. Liveris’s can-do attitude and his willingness to address political, economic and business challenges head-on.  “I want to congratulate Andrew on receiving the award tonight, he certainly deserves it,” said the former president.  “I have been an admirer of Dow Chemical for a long time.  I am grateful that an American company with an Australian president and two-thirds of its sales overseas has found a competitive way to keep 40 percent of its employees in this country.”

USCIB Chairman Harold McGraw III, chairman, president and CEO of The McGraw-Hill Companies, said: “We are thrilled to honor Andrew for his commitment to global business and to reviving the American manufacturing sector as a pathway to job growth and long-term prosperity.  Andrew’s leadership at Dow and on important public policy issues has distinguished him as one of the global business community’s leading voices.”

In his remarks, Mr. McGraw reflected on his experiences attending the recently concluded G20 summit meeting in France, and called for urgent measures by political leaders in the United States and around the world to revive economic growth and job creation.  “It is simply not acceptable that we have almost no growth in the global economy today,” he said.  “We know we can do better.  No one government alone can solve the challenges we face, nor can one business solve these challenges alone.  We need to work together to help restore public confidence.”

An advocate for the critical importance of manufacturing for the long-term health of a nation’s economy, Mr. Liveris was appointed co-chair of President Obama‘s Advanced Manufacturing Partnership in the United States.  He is the author of the book Make It in America, published earlier this year, which presents policy solutions and business strategies to foster an “advanced manufacturing” economy.

Mr. Liveris is the 31st recipient of USCIB’s International Leadership Award, which has been most recently presented to George Buckley of 3M and Muhtar Kent of Coca-Cola.  More information on the event is available at www.uscibgala.com.

Founded in 1945, USCIB promotes open markets, competitiveness and innovation, sustainable development and corporate responsibility, supported by international engagement and prudent regulation.  Its members include top U.S.-based global companies and professional services firms from every sector of our economy, with operations in every region of the world.  With a unique global network encompassing leading international business organizations, USCIB provides business views to policy makers and regulatory authorities worldwide, and works to facilitate international trade and investment.  More at www.uscib.org.

Contact:
Jonathan Huneke, VP Communications, USCIB
(212) 703-5043 or jhuneke@uscib.org

More on USCIB’s International Leadership Award Dinner

Dow website

Staff Contact:   Kira Yevtukhova

Deputy Director, Marketing and Communications
Tel: 202.617.3160

Kira Yevtukhova manages USCIB’s print and online publications, including the website, e-newsletter and quarterly magazine, and serves as the organization’s digital media strategist. Prior to this role, Kira worked for over five years within USCIB’s Policy Department, focusing on climate change, environment, nutrition, health, and chemicals related policy issues. She is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and has an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
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