The association coalition emerged from a series of conferences organized by Hollis in 1972 under the chairmanship of Samuel E. MacArthur, chairman and chief executive of Federal-Mogul Corporation- a ball bearing manufacturing company headquartered near Detroit.
[5] After a six-month fundraising campaign which attracted more than 140 major corporations and association sponsors,[6] ICTN was formally launched with Nicholas E. Hollis elected chief executive officer and former STR Ambassador William D. Eberle as chairman.
[7][8] At the time Eberle was also serving as president of the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association – and his nomination to ICTN's chairmanship was contested.
But soon he realized the negotiations themselves were stalling due to agricultural inertia and European concern that President Ford might not be elected in the Watergate backlash the following year.
ICTN did not realize some of its earlier representational dreams, but it proved unique as the first industry-wide coalition of its kind to focus attention on the MTN process- and the need for greater US industry participation in global commercial development.