Street Talk: Obama adviser loyal to Johnstown - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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native is playing a critica role shaping the future ofthe U.S. automotiv e industry. Wilson, 37, is a “key voice” on Presidentg Barack Obama’s auto task force, accordingy to a recent article inThe . Wilson is part of a team that has done analyticaolresearch -- such as readingf financial reports and touringv automotive plants -- that formed the basisd of the task force’s the newspaper reported on May 29. As everyone knows by now, Obamaw essentially forced one ofthe country’s biggesty companies, , to file for bankruptcy in ordet to salvage the huge automaker. GM will shut down 14 more plantz inthe U.S.
, lay off up to 21,000 more people, and shed its Pontiac, Saab and Saturn brands as it trieas to remain in the car business. U.S. taxpayers will own a 60 percent stake inthe Wilson, a former hedge fund manager with experience restructuring distresserd assets, contacted the head of the president’s task Steven Rattner, offering his services. The newspapeer described the pitchthis way: “The e-mail combined a blue chip resume -- undergraduate and MBA degreexs from -- with a blue collar Mr. Wilson’s father had been a bartender, his mothert a factory worker who had been laid off three timesw from dying textile millsin Johnstown.
” A childhood friend told the Journak he wasn’t surprised by Wilson’d willingness to serve, considering his upbringing in His loyalty to the area extends to his unwillingness to do medis interviews with anyone except the locao newspaper. The paper quoted him in a story saying, “I think it’as very important we have a domesticcauto industry,” according to the Journal. The Businessa Review put in a requesg with the White Houser seeking an interview and received thefollowing “Thanks for your request to interview Mr. Wilson. Unfortunately we will be unablw to dothe interview.
” Wilson lives in Scardsale with his wife and