s canadian counterpart see conference board of canada . the conference board type 501 c 3 tax exempt status in the united states founded 1916 headquarters new york city usa number of locations regional offices in brussels beijing mumbai hong kong and singapore key people jonathan spector ceo products business membership and research organization number of employees 250 website www.conference board.org 845 third avenue manhattan the conference board inc. is a 501 c 3 non profit business membership and research group organization . it counts approximately 1 200 public and private corporations and other organizations as members encompassing 60 countries . the conference board convenes conferences and peer learning groups conducts economic and business management research and publishes several widely tracked economic indicators . contents 1 history 2 economic indicators 3 products and services 4 see also 5 notes 6 external links history edit the organization was founded in 1916 as the national industrial conference board nicb . at the time tensions between labor and management in the united states were seen as potentially explosive in the wake of the triangle shirtwaist factory fire in 1911 and the ludlow massacre in 1914 . in 1915 presidents of twelve major corporations in the united states and six leading industry associations met in yama new york to formulate the business community s response to continued labor unrest and growing public criticism . 1 after additional crisis meetings the national industrial conference board was officially founded may 5 1916 at the hotel gramatan in bronxville new york . 2 although many of the organizations founders including former at & t president frederick p. fish and general electric executive magnus w. alexander its first president had supported the open shop movement by 1916 they regarded national unions such as the american federation of labor as permanent fixtures of the american economy and urged negotiation and concord . 3 when the united states entered world war i in 1917 the national war labor board formed by president woodrow wilson asked the nicb to formulate plans that would keep war industries running and strife free . its recommendations based on cooperation between representatives of employers employees and government were adopted in full . 4 during and after the war the ncib conducted pioneering research into workers compensation laws and the eight hour workday and established the u.s. cost of living index . though often mistrusted in its early years as an employers union funding studies against the labor movement 5 the non profit nicb was also seen as a spokesman for the so called progressive wing of the business community and produced hundreds of research reports on economic and social issues facing the united states . 6 the organization today remains funded by the contributions of members often fortune 500 companies . by the 1930s however it had already lost most of its character as an industry lobby . virgil jordan a writer and economist who replaced alexander as president on the latter s death in 1932 established a bureau of economic audit and control to offer members and the public an independent source of studies on unemployment pensions healthcare and related issues in the midst of the great depression when many questioned the credibility of the government s economic statistics . 7 unions soon joined the nicb alongside corporations for access to its research conferences and executive network . the organization is now considered an unbiased trusted source for statistics and trends second only to perhaps the u.s. bureau of labor statistics . 8 after world war ii the conference board the shortened name adopted in 1970 expanded to non u.s. members for the first time . today it has offices in brussels beijing mumbai hong kong and singapore . the conference board of canada was spun off as an independent non profit in 1981 . economic indicators edit the conference board publishes a number of regular indicators for united states and international economies that are widely tracked by investors and policy makers . they include u.s. consumer confidence index begun by the conference board in 1967 this monthly survey of 5 000 households is widely established as the leading measure of american consumer confidence . 9 results from the household survey are tabulated to provide a barometer of the u.s. economy currently indexed to the year 1985 100 . leading economic indexes in the 1960s the u.s. department of commerce began researching and releasing business cycle indicators which use composite data points including manufacturing construction and stock market indicators to time economic expansions recessions and recoveries . in december 1995 the conference board took over the business indicator program from the government and continues to publish leading coincident and trailing indexes for the u.s. economy each month . 10 after going private the program was also expanded to other countries ; the conference board currently publishes leading coincident and trailing indexes for the uk france germany spain south korea japan china mexico and the euro area . employment trends index created in 2008 the employment trends index aggregates eight separate indicators and offers a short term forward look at employment that gives economists and investors a new forecasting tool . it also helps business executives sharpen their short to medium term hiring and compensation planning . 11 help wanted online the help wanted online program uses crawler technology to survey job openings posted on approximately 1 000 online job boards . the monthly data series compares labor supply job vacancies against demand unemployed workers to determine the tightness of the job market for individual metro areas and occupation categories . the online program is the successor of the help wanted advertising index which surveyed print newspaper ads . ceo confidence survey the quarterly measure of ceo confidence gauges the outlook of chief executives in their own industries and the economy as a whole . 12 the organization also releases regular global and regional growth outlooks and commentaries on economic news . in 2008 the conference board named professor bart van ark of the university of groningen as its first non u.s. chief economist . 13 products and services edit in addition to research reports the conference board organizes conferences leadership events and professional peer networks . it is a leading source of knowledge about corporate governance corporate performance business ethics corporate security human resources management and global corporate citizenship grouped into four major practice areas corporate leadership including corporate governance philanthropy & citizenship and sustainability . economy & business environment including economic indicators consumer dynamics innovation and global value chains . human capital including diversity and inclusion employee engagement analytics labor markets and strategic workforce planning . the conference board also published a magazine of ideas and opinion which was called across the board from 1976 to 2006 and the conference board review until june 2014 when production ceased . in 2003 the conference board s commission on public trust and private enterprise which included 12 prominent leaders from business and other sectors of society issued a wide ranging series of recommendations to help restore public trust in companies their leaders and the capital markets . 14 many of these recommendations have been adopted . in 2009 the conference board convened a task force on executive compensation . in february 2012 the conference board launched the demand institute in collaboration with nielsen . the demand institute is a non profit non advocacy organization focused on helping business and government leaders understand how consumer demand is evolving and shifting around the world . see also edit us corporate law the conference board of canada notes edit tranger james . the new york chronology the ultimate compendium of events people and anecdotes from the dutch to the present . isbn 978 006052341 1 . p. 356 conference board timeline history . national industrial conference board records . hagley museum and library . http www.hagley.org library collections manuscripts findingaids acc1057nic.htm 99bio conference board timeline laue j. charles . labor and capital to battle over unionsm . new york times . october 31 1926 . http select.nytimes.com gst abstract.html res f50c16f83d5d13738ddda80b94d8415b868ef1d3 history . national industrial conference board records . hagley museum and library . http www.hagley.org library collections manuscripts findingaids acc1057nic.htm 99bio conference board timeline kleiman carol . conference board a trusted resource . chicago tribune . march 8 1987 . http articles.chicagotribune.com 1987 03 08 news 8701180829 1 conference board labor economist fabian linden consumer confidence an online newshour special report . the newshour with jim lehrer . pbs . may 2001 . http www.pbs.org newshour bb economy jan june01 confidence 5 29.html http www.investopedia.com university conferenceboard conferenceboard2.asp axzz1tssqjlkq http www.conference board.org pdf free press technicalpdf 4505 133872352 5.pdf http www.investopedia.com terms c ceoconfidencesurvey.asp axzz1zl8o7neg http www.rug.nl corporate nieuws archief archief2008 persberichten 038 08 lang en http www.sec.gov pdf confboardcptpe.pdf external links edit the conference board s board of trustees the conference board inc. website the conference board of canada website works by national industrial conference board at project gutenberg works by or about the conference board at internet archive industrial conference board records . 1953 1963 . 200 items . at the labor archives of washington university of washington libraries special collections . online books by national industrial conference board at upenn library publications by national industrial conference board at hathi trust digital library publications by conference board at hathi trust digital library retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title the conference board & oldid 739752961 categories 1916 establishments in new yorkbusiness organizations in the united statesorganizations established in 1916hidden categories articles with project gutenberg linksarticles with internet archive links navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as 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