February 28, 2011
The head of industrial conglomerate 3M (MMM, Fortune 500) blasted the president as being "anti-business," claiming Obama has not done anything to improve the White House's relationship with Corporate America.
3M CEO George Buckley called Obama's policies "Robin Hood-esque" and told the Financial Times that manufacturers like 3M may have to shift production to other countries in order to stay competitive.
"We know what his instincts are ... he is anti business," Buckley said in an interview that ran late Sunday.
The interview comes as the White House pushes its pro-business agenda. Last week, the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness held its first meeting to brainstorm ideas on job growth and boosting the economy.
Obama's new bromance with big business
The Council is headed by a roundtable of business leaders including General Electric's (GE, Fortune 500) Jeffrey Immelt, AOL (AOL) co-founder Steve Case and Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) CEO Paul Otellini.
Otellini had been critical of the Obama administration's handling of the economic recovery back in September. But he joined 19 other CEOs for a White House summit in December to talk about job creation and other ways to move the economy forward.
Obama also traveled to California last week to meet with technology leaders, including Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) CEO Steve Jobs.
Buckley said his company, which makes thousands of products ranging from Post-It notes to Scotch Tape, "will do business where it's good and friendly."
Despite the recent public positions of other major business leaders, Buckley says he's not alone.
"There is a sense among companies that [the U.S.] is a difficult place to do business," he told the FT. "We've got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada or Mexico -- which tend to be more pro-business -- and America."
3M was unavailable for immediate comment.
3M CEO Slams Obama As 'Anti-Business'
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