Five of the world's most influential business leaders were in Pittsburgh Monday for the taping of CNBC's
"Meeting of the Minds: Rebuilding America," a thoughtful, lively conversation that takes a hard look at the nation's struggling manufacturing industry.
Maria Bartiromo, co-anchor of CNBC's "Closing the Bell," hosted the program and fielded questions from the studio audience at Carnegie Mellon University, including many Carnegie Mellon students and steelworkers from the region.
"We've come today to the heart of America looking for jobs. Where will the next ideas and innovations come from?" asked Bartiromo. "From the steel in our cars to the skyscrapers that define out our cities, it was here that the soul of America was forged."
The powerhouse lineup of panelists included : Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric; Hilda Solis, U.S. Secretary of Labor; Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company; John Engler, former Governor of Michigan and National Association of Manufacturers president; Dan DiMicco, chairman, president and CEO of NuCor and Leo Gerard, International President of United Steelworkers.
"Meeting of the Minds" sparked a friendly, if not heated, debate that addressed everything from the loss of steel manufacturing jobs to the increasing influence of Chinese products and innovation. That included lackluster research and development spending, the need to repurpose industrial America and a need to generate excitement and purpose among students today for engineering and manufacturing jobs, a subject that drew applause from the Carnegie Mellon students in the audience.
"The attitude in the country needs to change. We need to value manufacturing and engineering. We're not getting enough people coming into the industrial base," said Ford
"If we put manufacturing and R&D together, we'll make great things," added Gerard. "But we need a national plan. All the major countries of the world have a plan."
"We've got to be a hungrier, more competitive country and sell our products in every corner of the world," noted Immelt. "We need to turn this country into an exporter again."
"Meeting of the Minds" will air tonight, Dec. 2, at 8 p.m. on CNBC.
Writer:
Debra Diamond SmitSource: CNBC
Sign up to receive Pop City each week!
Panelists at Carnegie Mellon during the commercial break: (from left to right) Hilda Solis, Jeffrey Immelt, Leo Gerard, Bill Ford and Dan DiMicco.Photograph copyright of Debra Diamond Smit