Brian O'Shaughnessy,
Co-Chair for Manufacturing
Revere Copper Products, New York

Brian O’Shaughnessy is the Chairman of Revere Copper Products and served as President & CEO for almost twenty years until the end of 2007.  His company was founded in 1801 by Paul Revere and may be the oldest manufacturing company in America.  Revere does not make pots and pans anymore but makes copper and brass sheet, strip and coil as well as extruded products for shipment to other manufacturing companies.  Brian did a leveraged buy out of Revere in 1989.

Brian is recognized as an expert on international trade, energy and environmental issues.  He championed and chaired the world class, worldwide copper industry’s environmental program.  In February of 2006, the Copper Club named Brian as its Copper Man of the Year---an international award considered the most prestigious in the copper industry.

Brian has chaired two industrial energy advocacy committees and serves on the board of directors of a third group. He also serves on the board of directors of a public utility with transmission and distribution operations for gas and electricity in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. 

In 2005, Brian testified before the US Senate Committee on Energy and Resources and testified in 2006 before the US House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform regarding energy, trade and tax policy.  In May, 2007, he testified before a triparte hearing on China Currency Issues before subcommittees of the House Ways and Means, Energy and Financial Services Committees. In July, 2007, he testified before a US Senate subcommittee hearing on the impact of China Trade on US manufacturing.  Brian has appeared on BBC World News and been interviewed on Bloomberg On the Economy as well as PBS.
 
Brian also serves on the board of directors of the Manufacturers Association of Central New York (MACNY) and served on the BOD of the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM).  At NAM, Brian is on its International Economic Policy Committee and its China Policy Subcommittee.  Brian is a past Chairman of the US Copper & Brass Fabricators Council and currently a member of its BOD.  He testified on its behalf before the International Trade Commission.  Brian is currently Chairman of the Copper Development Association (CDA) and serves on the BOD of the Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA).

Brian is a national leader of domestic manufacturing companies attempting to change US international trade and tax policy to help level the playing field for domestic manufacturing. 

Prior to joining Revere, Brian spent twenty-one years in the international copper mining industry with seven years each in operations, marketing & corporate administration.  

Brian is celebrating 40 years of marriage with three sons and four grandchildren.  In 2002, Mr. O’Shaughnessy rode his Harley Davidson on two-lane scenic roads from Moody Beach, Maine to Seattle, Washington stopping off in Sturgis, South Dakota.  Mr. O’Shaughnessy is an avid snow-boarder and golfer but spends most of his time working!

Bob Baugh,
Co-Chair for Labor
AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council, Washington, DC

In January 2003 Bob Baugh was appointed Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council. The Council, comprised of the nation’s leading industrial unions and chaired by AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka, is the coordinating body for the federation’s manufacturing policy and legislatitive initiatives.

Bob is also the co-chair of the AFL-CIO Energy Task Force and served as the leader of the U.S. labor delegation to the 2007 UN Climate Change Conference  negotiations in Bali. He regularily testifies before Congress, is a spokespeson with the media and writes about manufacturing, trade, globalization, energy and the economy. 

Bob has a rich history of union, community and government activism: union organizer, economist/educator International Woodworkers of America, Secretary-Treasurer of the Oregon AFL-CIO, deputy director - Oregon Economic Development Department, and deputy director – AFL-CIO Working for America Institute. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Detroit and a master’s degree in Industrial and Labor Relations from the University of Oregon.

Workplace and Economic Development publications include: A Union Guide to Workplace Change, Economic Development: A Guide to the High Road, High Roads Partnerships Report

Manufacturing and Climate Change publications include: Is Deindustrialization Inevitable, Jobs and Energy for the 21st Century, The Bali Blogs, Greening the Economy: A Climate Change and Jobs Strategy That Works for All.

Joe Logan,
Co-Chair for Agriculture
Ohio Environmental Council, Ohio 

Fred Stokes,
Chairman Emeritus

Thomas F. “Fred” Stokes was born and raised on a small diversified family farm in Kemper County, Mississippi.  At the age of seventeen he enlisted in the Army. Later Fred completed Infantry Officers Candidate School and received his commission.  His twenty years of military service included two tours in Vietnam.  He retired in 1972 as a Major.  He returned to Kemper County, Mississippi and has been involved in the cattle business and active in agricultural and rural life issues ever since.  Fred is deeply concerned about the disappearance of the family farm and the decay in rural America and has been an outspoken critic of U. S. farm and trade policy.  He was instrumental in founding The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) and The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA). He currently serves as the Executive Director of OCM and Chairman Emeritus of CPA.  He and his wife of fifty years live on their small cattle farm in East Central Mississippi. 

David Anderson,
Director
Colorado Springs Manufacturing Task Force, Colorado

David Anderson works in manufacturing revitalization, on referral from senior lenders in turnarounds or on engagements to commercialize innovations, expand markets, improve controls and restructure operations.  He spent 15 years in 9 finance, operating, merger/acquisition assignments in glass, coatings, chemicals and medical electronics with PPG (Pittsburgh Plate Glass) and a dozen years building his own electronics business to a $100 million run rate.  Since 2004, Dave has led the Colorado Springs Manufacturing Task Force, which provides community programs in global competitiveness, area and individual company marketing, manufacturing excellence and innovation support.

He has undergraduate and graduate degrees, in Economics and Business Administration, from Harvard University.  Dave is a member of the Colorado Workforce Development Council, as well as the steering committee for the Southeast Colorado Partnership.  He is a Senior Fellow, National Manufacturing Policy, at the Magellan Center, a member of the Advisory Board at the Aqua Prima Center, a water think tank and a member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition for a Prosperous America.

Charles Blum,
Director
IASG Group, Washington, DC

Over the past 30 years, Charles Blum has earned a reputation for policy innovation, sound political judgment, and creative coalition building.  Prior to founding the International Advisory Services Group, Ltd., in 1988, he served 17 years in the US government in foreign policy and trade policy positions. 

In his consulting capacity, Mr. Blum has focused on steel trade and industry issues, the emergence of China as an economic power, and the promotion of public policies to enable American manufacturers and farmers to succeed in a globalizing economy.  His forte is combining political, economic, and technical analyses into effective lobbying strategies.  In recent years, he has increasingly focused on the development of a series of cross-industry business coalitions such as the China Currency Coalition, the Domestic Manufacturers Group within the National Association of Manufacturers, and The Coalition for a Prosperous America.  Taken together, these efforts are aimed at creating and implementing effective policies to promote investment and production in, and export from, the United States.  Chief among these are combating currency manipulation, instituting a border adjustable consumption tax to be applied to imports and rebated on exports, and the development of reliable domestic sources of energy.

During his government career, Mr. Blum played a key role in the development of US industrial trade policy.  While at the State Department, he helped develop the steel trigger price mechanism, an anti-dumping monitoring system in place from 1978 until 1981, and the OECD Steel Committee.  For his work on steel issues, he received the Department’s Superior Honor Award in 1979.  As Assistant US Trade Representative for Industry (1983-85), he designed and negotiated the voluntary restraint program (VRA) and other import programs, concluded more than 20 international agreements, represented the U.S. at the OECD Steel Committee, and pioneered the concept of the multilateral steel agreement (MSA) to eliminate subsidies and regulate import surges.  As AUSTR for the Multilateral Trade Negotiations (1985-88), Mr. Blum helped launch the Uruguay Round of GATT negotiations, speaking for the U.S. at preparatory committee sessions, participating in the ministerial meeting in Punta del Este, and carrying out a vigorous public diplomacy campaign in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and across the United States.

Mr. Blum earned a B.A., magna cum laude, in history from Eastern College in 1966 and a M.A. in international relations from the University of Pennsylvania in 1970, where he also completed all requirements for a doctorate except the dissertation.  He studied as well at the University of the Americas in Mexico City and graduated with distinction from the State Department’s intensive economics training course.

Bill Bullard,
Director
R-CALF USA, Montana

Bill Bullard joined R-CALF USA as the organization’s first Chief Executive Officer at national headquarters in Billings, Mont., on April 9, 2001.

Bullard, formerly a cow/calf rancher in Perkins County, S.D., served as the Executive Director of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission from 1995-2001.  He has a B.S. in Political Science from Black Hills State University and completed a year of graduate studies at the University of South Dakota.

Bullard and his wife Jeanne have three children: Cameron, Candace, and Callie.

Jack Davis,

Director

I Squared R Element Co., New York

Jack Davis has a lifetime record of creating jobs, balancing budgets, and getting things done for working men and women.  With expertise in manufacturing and foreign commerce that spans 40 years, Jack Davis is on a mission to save jobs, farms and industries that are being destroyed by our governments free trade policies. 
Married with 6 children, 13 grandchildren, and 2 great grand children, Jack grew up in western New York and graduated from Amherst Central High School and from the University of Buffalo with a degree in engineering.  
Jack served in the Marine Corp and as a deck officer in the United States Coast Guard.  He worked as an engineer for General Motors and the Carborundum Company.
In 1964, Jack founded the I Squared R Element Company Inc. which he still owns and manages.  The company is located in Akron, New York and manufactures silicon carbide heating elements, which are used in high temperature electric furnaces.  The elements are sold to all industrialized nations.
He created 75 good paying jobs, offers employees a good health care plan and a fully funded profit sharing retirement plan. His company is not for sale, and is not outsourcing jobs.
In ’04, ’06 and ‘08, Jack ran for Congress in New York State's 26th District. He lost the election, but his mission has not been accomplished and he is still trying to save American jobs, farms, and industries.

John Dittrich,
Director
American Corn Growers Assn., Nebraska 

John Dittrich has a 25-year history of farm and trade policy strategic analysis, leadership in farm and rural advocacy organizations, business creation and management, and professional and voluntary public service.

He currently farms in partnership with his brother and fellow rural leader Keith Dittrich, in Northeast Nebraska  on a 5,000 acre irrigated grain farm as a fourth generation family farmer.

He is currently a board member and Senior Policy Analyst Emeritus for the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA).  He is also a director for The Coalition for a Prosperous America. As a director for the Organization for Competitive Markets, John conceptualized and authored the strategic plan that helped link and guide manufacturing, agricultural, and labor stakeholders in Colorado Springs in 2006.  That initial linkage evolved into the Coalition for a Prosperous America under the leadership of CPA Chairman Emeritus Fred Stokes and other current CPA directors.

As ACGA Senior Policy Analyst, John was the catalyst for the development of the University of Tennessee research publication titled “Rethinking US Agricultural Policy: Changing Course to Secure Farmer Livelihoods Worldwide” released September 3, 2003. This publication comprehensively addresses the global trade debate surrounding domestic agricultural policies in many countries, and concludes that current WTO pursued policies for agriculture are fundamentally flawed.  It was presented by the University of Tennessee to non-governmental organizations during the 2006 Cancun Round of WTO trade negotiations.

As policy analyst for ACGA and Nebraska Farmers Union, Dittrich was the author of a comprehensive farm bill proposal drafted in the US Senate and scored for the 2002 farm bill debate, titled “The Family Farm Agriculture Recovery and Maintenance Act”.  This proposal recognized the unique nature of agriculture as addressed in international trade policy and domestic farm policy.

As a director and leader in Nebraska Farmers Union in 1992, John toured Nebraska with California industrialist Larry Mattera warning of the dangers of the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement to farmers and manufacturing interests.

John has served in a number of state and national leadership roles in numerous family farm and rural advocacy organizations over the past 25 years, often contributing to the formal policy development processes for many organizations, including National Farmers Union.

He is a graduate of Colorado State University, with much of his early career focused on statistical and data analysis.

John is also an active leader in his local community, serving as Vice-president on the Elkhorn Valley Schools board of education, and is the primary founder and current vice-president of the local community development foundation.

John and his wife Jeanne, a Registered Nurse, have two children, Katie 19, and Jake 17.

Rob Dumont,
Director
Tooling, Manufacturing & Technologies Assn., Michigan

I was born in Ontario a fairly long time ago and began my working years in institutional food sales.  I left that to become a police officer with the Ontario Provincial Police Force where I served in various locals in the Province and on special duty in Quebec over a 7 1/2 year period. I then went to the University of Toronto in the Commerce Program and then to law school at the University of Windsor.  After graduation I began to teach at both the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Business Administration at Windsor (19 years) while practicing law (25 years civil litigation and appellate litigation). While practicing and teaching I completed a Masters degree in Law as well at Wayne State University in Detroit. I then went into consulting and ultimately became the President & CEO of the TMTA (formerly the Michigan Tooling Assoc.).

 

Dave Frengel,
Director
Penn United Technology, Pennsylvania

 Dave Frengel was born and raised in Western Pennsylvania.  After graduating from New Castle High School and then serving honorably in the U.S. Navy as an Avionics Technician during the Viet Nam conflict, he earned his B.A. from Geneva College (1974) in Beaver Falls, PA and his M.A. from Slippery Rock Univ. (1980) in Slippery Rock, PA.  He worked as an enforcement officer and manager for the Butler County (PA) Court of Common Pleas for ten years prior to joining Penn United Technologies, a precision manufacturer near Pittsburgh, in 1990.

At Penn United, Dave served as Human Resource Manager and Director of Training before being appointed Director of Government Affairs in 2002.   His assigned mission is to create a coalition and agenda to reform US trade policy and save American manufacturing.  He is a founding board member of The Coalition for a Prosperous America and serves on government and policy committees of the National Association of Manufacturers, National Tooling and Machining Association, Precision Metalforming Association, and Butler County (PA) Chamber of Commerce.  He has been married to Barbara for 40 years.  They have three married children and three grandchildren.  Dave serves as an Elder in Westminster Presbyterian Church in America, Butler, PA

 John Hansen,
Director
National Farmers Union

Nelson Hoffman,
Director Emeritus
Retired Chairman, Hoffman Manufacturing

J. Nelson Hoffman earned a B.S. degree from the University of Rochester in 1955, served two years as an engineering officer in the United States Navy, and then began a forty-year career in corporate America which culminated in 1995 when he retired as Chairman of Hoffman Manufacturing. Author of Virtue and Values for the 21st Century, Nelson Hoffman presents a view that Western culture and traditional Values are built on the concept of individual morality and individual responsibility. Through his work, he passes on the unchanging life values from his generation to the next. These uncompromising values of integrity, respect, honesty, trust, courage, and self-disciple are the foundation of individual character, a good organization, and a good community. Nelson Hoffman views a community grounded with shared values, language and to some degree cultural consensus. A culture and country that values education, economic and political freedom, mutual trust and hard work, create wealth. A culture of learning that balances the spiritual growth with intellectual growth raises the individual’s conscious self-awareness and allows us to make better decisions.

The character of an organization consists of the character of the individual employees and is the key to transcending and integrating with the cultures of offshore operations.  Nelson Hoffman will share his insight to values as the foundation to good communities and good business.

Bob Johns,
Director
Romar Consulting, North Carolina

Bob is a native of Chicago, IL.  He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1965 with a BS degree in management.  Upon graduation he began his career with Bethlehem Steel Corporation.  Starting out in sales, his career with Bethlehem included line and management positions sales, construction marketing, financial analysis and contracting for outside processing functions for operations.  Bob joined Nucor Corporation in 1988 as sales and marketing manager for the start-up operation, Nucor-Yamato Steel in Blytheville, AR.  In 2001 he was promoted to Director of Marketing, Sheet Mill Group and moved to Charlotte, NC.  Due to his background in international trade the duties of government affairs were added to his assignment.  He retired from Nucor in 2007 and started Romar Consulting, LLC.  Romar Consulting is focused on trade issues.

Pam Potthoff

Director

Women Involved in Farm Economics, Nebraska