Jack Gerard

It's a good thing that Jack N. Gerard isn't afraid of hard work, because he is going to have plenty of it in his new job.

Gerard, 47, started on July 1 as president and chief executive officer of the American Chemistry Council, the trade association of the U.S. chemical industry. He joined the group from the National Mining Association (NMA), an organization less than half ACC's size where he had been CEO since December 2000.

Although ACC is big and well-funded, it has had its share of challenges. Gerard is replacing Thomas E. Reilly Jr., the former chairman of chemical producer Reilly Industries, who took over the top spot on an interim basis in May 2004 when then-CEO Gregori Lebedev unexpectedly resigned after less than two years on the job.

During Lebedev's tenure, three major chemical companies--Huntsman Corp., Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Lyondell Chemical--left the association. Moreover, some executives from other member companies complained that Lebedev failed to respond to their concerns and that his us-or-them mentality wasn't winning any points with industry critics or potential allies.

Gerard says he is coming into the job with his eyes open and notes that he was warned of similar seemingly insurmountable problems when he took the helm of the mining association. While there, he merged two predecessor trade groups, increased advocacy efforts, and oversaw a reduction in head count. "The fundamentals are here for a truly great organization," he says of ACC. "We're not there yet. The industry has done reasonably well; it's stable, but we must take it to the next level."

Although time will tell whether Gerard can indeed boost the momentum at ACC, it's clear from his background that he is willing to put in the needed effort. Gerard grew up in Mud Lake, Idaho, population 190, where his father was a John Deere farm equipment dealer and Jack ran the Gerard Brothers Dairy with two younger brothers.

Gerard started college at the University of Idaho, but he left after a year for two years of missionary work in Australia with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon returning to school, he got involved in student government, becoming a lobbyist for a student association in the Idaho state legislature in Boise and later being chosen by the governor to conduct a statewide water-use survey.

By his mid-20s, Gerard found himself in Washington, D.C., working as an intern for George V. Hansen, a Republican representative from Idaho, and attending college at George Washington University. "I worked full time during the day in the House of Representatives and went to school at night," he says. By the mid-1980s, he was working for Idaho Republican Sen. James A. McClure and attending GWU Law School at night.

McClure retired in 1990, and Gerard followed him into the private sector, becoming a founding partner and CEO of the government relations firm McClure, Gerard & Neuenschwander. In addition to working with clients ranging from Verizon to World Cup Soccer, he became acquainted with the mining industry and, in 1999, was asked by NMA to step in as CEO. Gerard resisted at first but eventually accepted the job and entered the world of association leadership.

GERARD'S RALLYING CRY at NMA was "advocacy," and he says it will be his mantra again at ACC. He believes ACC is doing a lot of things right. "Responsible Care, essential₂, the Long-Range Research Initiative--these are all components of advocacy that most other industries only dream of or talk about," he says.

On the other hand, Gerard maintains that the chemical industry hasn't done enough to inform employees, customers, and the general public about Responsible Care. He also thinks it can better mobilize employees in the cause of advocacy. In the much smaller mining industry, Gerard led an effort to create a databank of 70,000 people who could be called on to advocate, and he hopes to do something similar for chemicals.

"Eight hundred and eighty-five thousand direct employees--that's huge," he says of the chemical industry's workforce. It's also a group, he argues, that can help make sure federal lawmakers hear the same message--from opinion leaders, the community, and rank-and-file employees--back home as they do in Washington.

Gerard says his tenure at NMA also taught him the importance of being a consensus builder. "It's a unique skill required in association management," he says. "There are diverse interests and personalities, and you need to be able to bring them together." Gerard thinks he first developed this skill on the dairy farm, where he says he and his brothers learned they could get the job done only if they acted as a team.

Farming, Gerard adds, also taught him the importance of integrity. It's part of the reason, he says, that he has close friends on both sides of the political aisle--including some key Democratic leaders--despite his long association with the Republican Party. "If it's 2:30 in the morning and there's a key decision that's going to be made on public policy, I want people to know that if they call Jack Gerard, he's going to shoot straight, tell the truth, and know what he's talking about," he says.

If Gerard didn't live in suburban Virginia today, he could run a good-sized farm with his own children--three boys and three girls aged eight to 19. If they weren't challenge enough, he and his wife are in the process of adopting two more children.

Gerard says he is eager to tackle the job of helping ACC become a strong advocate for the chemical industry. "As my wife says, 'I can see the twinkle in your eye--you're excited about this.' And I am."