Jobs Summit Guests Include Paul Krugman, Eric Schmidt
Also on the list is Nobel Prize winning New York Times columnist and Princeton economist Paul Krugman, pictured at left.
The White House expects approximately 130 attendees for the forum. Here's the list of confirmed attendees, which includes representatives from major companies and non-profit groups, small business owners, elected officials, union heads and academics:
Eric Schmidt, GoogleThe White House forum Thursday comes as members of Congress work to craft a jobs bill to address the fact that jobs have largely not materialized even as economists say the recession has ended. With the 2010 midterm elections looming, lawmakers are eager to show they are working to address the 10.2 percent unemployment rate and are sensitive to the struggles of everyday Americans dealing with what is increasingly being called a "jobless recovery."
Randall Stevenson, AT&T
Surya Mohapatra, Qwest
Frederick Smith, Federal Express
Brian Roberts, Comcast
Bob Iger, Disney
James McNerney, Boeing
Andrew Livens, Dow
Peter Solmssen, Siemens
Stephanie Burns, Dow Corning
Phaedra Ellis Lamkins, Green for All
Reed Hundt, Coalition for the Green Bank
Larry Mishel, EPI
Alan Blinder, Princeton
Paul Krugman, Princeton
Joe Stiglitz, Columbia
Bob Greenstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Jeffrey Sachs, Columbia
David Ickert, Air Tractor
Woody Hall, Diversapack
Rose Wang, Binary Group
Anna Burger, Change to Win
Leo Gerard, United Steel Workers
Joe Hansen, United Food and Commercial Workers
Randi Weingarten, AFT
Mayor Frank Cownie, Des Moines, IA
Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio, Texas
Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Allentown, PA
The president will kicks off a "Main Street Tour" on Friday in Allentown, Pennsylvania to further spotlight his own awareness of the situation. At the forum on Thursday, he will solicit ideas for potential steps to "encourage and accelerate job creation in this country," as he said in announcing the event.
"It's important we don't make any ill-considered decisions...particularly at a time when our resources are so limited," Mr. Obama said earlier this month. "But it's just as important that we are open to any demonstrably good idea to supplement the steps we've already taken to put America back to work."
Forum attendees will break into six discussion groups to examine "innovative and green jobs, small business incentives, long-range infrastructure plans, encouraging export-oriented businesses, government and private sector partnerships and training for the jobs of the future," according to the Times.
While the White House has stressed creating jobs in the clean energy sector and incentivizing small businesses to increase employment levels, the Wall Street Journal reports, business leaders are largely pushing for tax cuts and more access to credit.