Ford Executive Chairman Helps Kick Off Summit

DETROIT (AP) — Ford Motor Co. Executive Chairman Bill Ford says the worst economic crisis in decades has been a wake-up call to the nation that its industrial base is eroding and should be rebuilt.

Ford on Monday kicked off the three-day National Summit, which is expected to draw nearly 3,000 attendees from the public and private sector to Detroit over three days. The goal of the summit is to craft a plan to keep the U.S. competitive in manufacturing, energy, technology and the environment.

Ford is a summit co-chair with Dow Chemical Co. CEO Andrew Liveris. He says other countries keep their industry strong.

Liveris says the summit's goal is to turn a "to-do list into a national agenda."