U.S. Chamber's Campaign for Free Enterprise Launches Nationwide 'Jobs Week'

U.S. Chamber's Campaign for Free Enterprise Launches Nationwide 'Jobs Week'
Takes 'Strategy for New American Jobs' on the Road With Events & National Ad Blitz

WASHINGTON, D.C.—On the heels of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue's State of American Business address, the Chamber is taking its jobs agenda on the road this week with a series of dialogues with state and local chambers across the country, a national ad campaign, and the release of a Strategy for New American Jobs plan.

"Our nation's top priority must be putting Americans back to work," Donohue said. "Businesses across the country want to—and are ready to—start hiring. They need some certainty from our leaders in Washington in order to believe the economy will continue to grow. That's why we're heading beyond the Beltway to bring our members a plan for government and businesses to work together toward creating jobs."

This week's efforts—part of the Campaign for Free Enterprise—will promote the Chamber's Strategy for New American Jobs through television and radio ads. The nationwide media blitz lays out specific policy recommendations to accelerate economic growth and get Americans back to work, including:

1. Double U.S. exports in five years
2. Rebuild America's infrastructure
3. Invest in new and traditional energy and pursue breakthrough technologies
4. Promote healthy credit markets
5. Remove uncertainty regarding tax, health, environmental, labor, legal, and fiscal policies
6. Educate and train America's workers

'Jobs Week' will include Chamber executives traveling to state and local chambers to discuss how to strengthen the free enterprise system and spur job growth. They will promote this agenda through speeches, media opportunities, and online outreach.

The week begins on Tuesday, January 26 in North Carolina when David Chavern, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the U.S. Chamber, will participate in a jobs town hall with more than 400 business leaders, in partnership with the Catawba Chamber of Commerce. Throughout the week, similar events and Campaign for Free Enterprise endorsements will take place in Virginia, Illinois, Maine, and New Jersey.

The events will include the release of each state's specific job goal—the number of jobs in each state that economists predict will be needed to make up for the 7 million jobs lost to the current recession and the 13 million new jobs needed for entrants to the workforce over the next decade. State and local chambers will also pledge support for the Campaign for Free Enterprise, affirming that a free enterprise system is the only way to achieve the job creation and long-term growth needed in this country.

American Free Enterprise. Dream Big. is the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's comprehensive, multiyear campaign to support free enterprise through national advertising; grassroots advocacy; citizen, community, and youth engagement; and research and ideas leadership.

The U.S. Chamber is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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