White House “car czar” Ron Bloom is getting a second set of duties, with the Administration set to name him on Monday as an adviser on manufacturing, a sector that has suffered significantly in recent decades.
Bloom is to serve as the Obama Administration’s Senior Counselor for Manufacturing Policy, a White House spokesperson said. He’s expected to work closely with the National Economic Council to develop policies and plans to revitalize the manufacturing sector.
Manufacturing has been one of the hardest-hit sectors, not just in the current recession, but over the past several decades as the world becomes more interconnected and relatively highly paid U.S. workers struggle to compete with cheap labor in places such as Asia.
“We must do more to harness the power of American ingenuity and productivity so that we can put people back to work and unleash our full economic potential,” President Obama said in a statement released by the White House.
At the same time, Bloom will remain as senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, heading up the President’s Task Force on the Automotive Industry. He has held that position since February, when he took over after Steve Rattner’s resignation.
Before joining the auto task force, Bloom worked at the United Steelworkers union and spent time as an investment banker.