Business and Politics is next Viewpoints topic
09.17.12
John W. Bachmann, who led the brokerage firm Edward Jones for 24 years and chaired the U.S. Chamber of Commerce--the nation’s largest and most powerful business group--in 2004-2005, will speak on “The Business of Politics and The Politics of Business” on Sept. 27 as the Babson Center for Global Commerce Bryan Viewpoints Speaker for the Advent semester.
Bachmann will discuss lobbying, government regulation, and political action advocacy groups from a business perspective. His speech, at 4:30 p.m. in Gailor Auditorium, will be followed by a reception and is free of charge and open to the public.
Bachmann, who continues as a senior partner at Edward Jones, first joined the firm in 1959 as a college intern and returned the company after finishing his education. He was named managing partner in 1980 and led the firm through 2003. He is widely credited for the firm's reputation for maintaining a humane workplace environment and for the expansion of its operations from about 200 domestic offices to more than 9,000 U.S. offices and operations in Canada and the United Kingdom.
Edward Jones is unusual among brokerage firms because of its structure as a private company, its focus on individual investors, and its many offices in small towns and cities.
Bachmann served in 1987 and 1988 as chair of the Securities Industry Association, an industry advocacy group. While he was chair of the Chamber of Commerce the Chamber was active in issues including efforts to limit class-action lawsuits, the effects of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on corporate accounting practices, and promotion of international trade agreements. He is currently a director of the Chamber, a director of AMR Corporation--the parent company of American Airlines-- and was a director of the Monsanto Company from 2004 until 2011.
The Bryan Viewpoints Speakers Series is made possible by a generous gift from Peggy and J.F. Bryan IV, C’ 65.
