Jay Timmons is president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers and chairman of the board of The Manufacturing Institute, the NAM’s workforce and education partner. The NAM is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector, and Jay is a leading advocate for the nearly 13 million men and women who make things in America.
Since Jay took the helm, the NAM has nearly doubled in size, dramatically expanded its issue advocacy and enhanced the organization’s influence and mobilization efforts outside of Washington, D.C. He led the NAM to offer new services for its members, create the Manufacturers’ Center for Legal Action and acquire the Manufacturing Leadership Council.
With manufacturers facing an urgent need for talented and skilled workers, Jay is also a champion for connecting more Americans with rewarding careers in modern manufacturing. He has expanded the reach and impact of The Manufacturing Institute and launched an unprecedented, multimillion-dollar workforce development campaign, Creators Wanted. In 2019, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce appointed Jay to the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board.
Jay is recognized as a forceful and effective leader of the business association community. Recent recognitions include:
- The “Business Citizen Award” from the Friends of Adam Smith Foundation;
- “Association Executive of the Year” by Association TRENDS;
- “Business Leadership Award” from The Fund for American Studies; and
- “2019 Trade Association CEO of the Year” by CEO Update.
He is also a member of the Bryce Harlow Foundation Board of Directors.
Driven by the values instilled in him by his roots in the manufacturing town of Chillicothe, Ohio, where his grandfather worked at the Mead plant for nearly four decades, Jay witnessed manufacturing’s ability to raise the quality of life for families and communities. His knowledge and expertise are sought and respected by influential policymakers on both sides of the aisle in Congress and throughout the administration. He and the NAM team have proven effective time and again at navigating the complexities of policymaking in the nation’s capital to deliver real results for the NAM’s 14,000 members.
Prior to his appointment as NAM president and CEO in January 2011, Jay’s roles at the organization included service as executive vice president and senior vice president of policy and government relations. His previous experience includes serving as chief of staff to Congressman, Gov. and Sen. George Allen (R-VA) from 1991 to 2002 and as executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee during the 2004 election cycle. When he first came to Washington in the 1980s, he served as press secretary to Congressman Jim Martin (R-NC) and later to Congressman Alex McMillan (R-NC). Jay attended The Ohio State University.
Jay is active in numerous charitable endeavors, including promoting the adoption of companion animals. He served for seven years as the chairman of the Washington Humane Society Board of Directors and led the successful effort to merge WHS and the Washington Animal Rescue League to create the Humane Rescue Alliance in order to save more animals.
A passionate advocate for families and children, Jay and his husband, Rick Olson, turned adversity for their own family into triumph for others. They fought tenaciously and eventually won a landmark legal case for parental rights involving their son. They then successfully advocated for the protection of parental rights over other children born through surrogacy with the bipartisan passage of a Virginia statute known as “Jacob’s Law,” which was named after their son by the bill’s sponsor.
Jay and Rick reside in Virginia with their three children, Catherine, Ellie and Jacob, and an assortment of rescue dogs and other critters.
