The Honorable John Engler
John Engler is President and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the largest industry trade group in America, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. A former three-term Governor of Michigan, John became NAM President on October 1, 2004.
As NAM President, John is a leading advocate for the nearly 14 million Americans employed directly in manufacturing, educating the public and policymakers on issues that affect this critical sector of the U.S. economy. He promotes a broad-based agenda for maintaining U.S. competitiveness by lifting unnecessary burdens on manufacturing: excessive taxation and regulation, the high cost of health care, expensive litigation, and soaring energy costs.
Recognizing that manufacturing provides the bulk of U.S. exports, John promotes opening of foreign markets to this country’s manufactured goods. Under his leadership, the NAM helped win adoption of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2005 and actively promotes other beneficial trade agreements. In September 2005, John was named Vice Chairman of the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN), the U.S. Government’s senior trade advisory panel. U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez appointed John to serve on the Deemed Export Advisory Committee in August 2006, reviewing technology transfer policies to promote U.S. competitiveness while ensuring national security.
During his tenure at the NAM, John has emerged as one of the nation’s top advocates for developing the U.S.’s abundant domestic energy supplies to meet the needs of a growing economy. The NAM helped create the Consumer Alliance for Energy Security to promote exploration and development of natural gas and oil resources in the Outer Continental Shelf, and John is a strong supporter of expanding renewable energy and clean-coal technology and revitalizing America’s nuclear power industry.
Under John’s leadership, the NAM has also gained national recognition for its support of rebuilding and expanding U.S. infrastructure, critical to industry’s ability to compete in the global marketplace. In 2007, the NAM formed the Alliance for Improving America’s Infrastructure to promote investment and modernization in the nation’s roads, rails, shipping, air and other transportation systems.
John also focuses on competitiveness through innovation, focusing on research and development, implementation of information technology – including in the area of health care – intellectual property rights, visas for skilled foreign workers, and education and training. In line with these goals, the NAM chairs the Compete America Coalition, representing more than 200 corporations, universities, research institutions and trade associations.
John sees the looming shortage of skilled manufacturing employees as a growing threat to American competitiveness in the 21st century’s high-tech global economy. He is a member of the Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, formed by the National Center on Education and the Economy to chart a course for U.S. education and workforce.
As Governor, John signed thirty-two tax cuts into law – saving Michigan taxpayers some $32 billion – and helped create more than 800,000 new jobs during his tenure, taking Michigan’s unemployment rate to a record low. The top priority of John’s administration was improving education, with a focus on high standards, equity and accountability.
Prior to becoming Michigan’s 46th Governor in 1991, John had served for twenty years in the Michigan Legislature, including seven years as State Senate Majority Leader. When first elected in 1970, he was the youngest person ever elected to the Michigan State House of Representatives. In 1990, he became the first sitting legislator elected Michigan Governor in more than 100 years.
John serves on the boards of Northwest Airlines, Universal Forest Products, Munder Capital Management and the Wolf Trap Foundation and is a past Chairman of the National Governors’ Association.
Born in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, in 1948, John graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor of science in agricultural economics. Later, he earned a law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing.