Machinist Brian Higdon works on a turbine component on a horizontal lathe Monday at the Chattanooga Alstom plant.COMPETITIVENESS MEETING
Bill Booher, Council on CompetitivenessMargaret Brooks, CA TechnologiesTim Brown, AlstomChuck Cantrell, UTCJohn Cohen, AlstomLulu Copeland, Chattanooga StateWayne Cropp, Enterprise CenterKimberly Dalton, Tennessee American WaterTerry Denniston, UTCDenis DesRosiers, ITC HoldingsKhoi Do, Underwriters LaboratoriesJayesh Doshi, eSpin TechnologiesJim Frierson, Chattanooga Green CommitteeJeffrey Gaynor, American Resilience ConsultingPierre Gauthier, AlstomJim Hall, Hall & AssociatesRandy Hatcher, MAU Workforce SolutionsMark Hartline, Shaw IndustriesDon Jackson, VolkswagenBill James, JPodsLawrence Jones, AlstomDale Langley, US XpressHenry Lodge, Lodge ManufacturingMichael Kirkland, DuPontChrista Mannarino, UTCJack McDougle, Council on CompetitivenessBrandon Miller, Hoenigsberg & Duevel Corp.Bruce Moffat, AlstomMary Ollie Newman, UTCPhilip Oldham, UTCJim Philips, NanoMechRobert Philips, Chattanooga Technology CouncilMichele Pleso, AlstomBlake Poole, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community DevelopmentJeff Prater, IBMTim Spires, Chattanooga Regional Manufacturers AssociationEllen Struck, UL EnvironmentWilliam Sutton, UTCTerry Urbanek, United Association of Plumbers and PipefittersDavid Wade, EPBDeborah Wince-Smith, Council on Competitiveness
The head of a key national business group said here Monday that a bipartisan plan on the massive U.S. budget deficit is needed to help ensure future investment in the nation’s infrastructure.
“If we don’t [control government deficit spending], in a very near term, 90 percent of our entire fiscal resources will be used for the debt and entitlements and not for any of the investments we need to create the future,” said Deborah Wince-Smith, chief executive of the Council on Competitiveness.
Alstom and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are hosting a meeting of about 40 Chattanooga-area business and education leaders this week with the Council. The group is a nonpartisan, nongovernmental collection of CEOs, university presidents and labor leaders working to ensure U.S. prosperity.
The meeting is one of a series the Council is having across the country to help prepare a manufacturing strategy for President Barack Obama, Congress and the private sector at a summit in December in Washington.