Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, W W Grainger
Search every verified James Ryan interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In 2013, James Ryan, then President, CEO, and Chairman of W W Grainger, was named the Business Advocate of the Year by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE). In an interview, Ryan stated that there is a "great opportunity for more collaborative partnership between businesses and educators" to address the skills gap. He said that businesses "see the needs the soonest" and can best articulate the skills required for emerging jobs, and that a tighter partnership allows for developing curriculum in advance. Ryan also noted that community colleges are in a unique position because they are close to local businesses and can be more adaptive to local needs. He encouraged other CEOs to get involved, stating that "all of us businesses in general need to get involved" because they rely on a workforce in a dynamic, competitive environment.
Jim Ryan is interviewed by Brian Albrecht, former president of ACTE.
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from James Ryan.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →