University of Maryland economist Edward Montgomery has plenty of real-world experience, including a role in ending a Teamsters strike against UPS in 1997 while at the U.S. Department of Labor. He also has served as the No. 2 official at Labor with oversight of about 17,000 employees.
But nothing could prepare him for the huge job he assumed Monday. President Barack Obama charged the 53-year-old Howard County resident with marshaling federal aid to bring relief to reeling communities in Michigan and other auto-producing states.
And while the president did not directly say so, some auto industry experts predicted Montgomery would also wield influence in the boardrooms of General Motors and Chrysler. "I think he's been given a very broad agenda that will not get narrower but only broader," said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass.
Obama announced the choice of Montgomery on a day when the president raised the possibility of a controlled bankruptcy for the two automakers, even as he sought to reassure consumers by pledging government backing of new-car warranties.
At the White House ceremony, the bespectacled Montgomery stood at the president's side during the announcement of his lofty new title: director of recovery for auto communities and workers.
Obama said Montgomery would "cut through the red tape" and make sure the "full resources" of the federal government "assist the workers, communities and regions that rely on our auto industry," especially in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. "They will have a strong advocate in Ed," Obama said.
Without offering details, the president said Montgomery would tap the $787 billion economic stimulus package "to create new manufacturing jobs and new businesses where they're needed most - in your communities. And he will also lead an effort to identify new initiatives we may need to help support your communities going forward."
For the past six years, Montgomery has served as dean of Maryland's College of Behavioral and Social Sciences. His deputy, Robert Schwab, said his mix of academic, administrative and policy experience gives him "an ideal background" for his new duties.
"He's got a real gift for working with people," Schwab said. He recalls a story Montgomery told about his time at the Labor Department, late in the Clinton administration. He had mere weeks to resolve a long-running fight over regulations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
