A group of prominent former local officials and business leaders have set up a regional consulting shop to aid private sector, nonprofit and government clients navigate the government thicket in the Washington, D.C., region.
The new firm, DMV Strategic Advisors LLC was set up by former Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner (D) and Jay Fisette (D), former chairman of the Arlington County Board in Virginia.
Berliner served three terms on the County Council and lost a Democratic primary bid for county executive in June. Fisette served on the Arlington County Board from 1997 to 2017.
The firm’s mission, in the founders’ words, is to “assist the private sector, non-profits, and local governments advance projects and policies aligned with the overarching goals of our region, goals that we helped define and advance over decades of service to the region.”
The new company’s advisers include:
- Susan Bell, former director of Arlington’s Department of Community Planning, Housing & Development;
- Caroline Cunningham, former founding president of the Trust for the National Mall and vice president for Partnership, Greater Washington Board of Trade;
- David Harrington, former state senator and Prince George’s County councilman, and current president of the Prince George’s County Chamber of Commerce;
- Thomas Himler, former deputy chief administrative officer for Prince George’s County;
- Mary Hynes, former Arlington County Board member;
- Tom Rust, former Virginia delegate and mayor of Herndon;
- Bob Sweeney, founder & president of the D.C. 2024 Olympic bid and the Greater Washington Sports Alliance;
- Harry Wingo, former senior policy counsel for Google and former president & CEO of the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.
In a joint statement, Berliner and Fisette said: “What sets our firm apart is that we know this region and we know how to get things done. We know how to successfully engage the multiple levers required to make positive change happen. And we are committed to doing so for our extraordinary region.”
DMV Strategic Advisors also announced that it has set up strategic partnerships with two national firms that work on affordable housing – Healthy Companies and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
Josh Kurtz
Founding editor
Founding Editor Josh Kurtz is a veteran chronicler of Maryland politics and government. He began covering the State House in 1995 for The Gazette newspapers, and has been writing about state and local politics ever since. He was an editor at Roll Call, the Capitol Hill newspaper, for eight years, and for eight years was the editor of E&E Daily, which covers energy and environmental policy on Capitol Hill. For 6 1/2 years Kurtz wrote a weekly column on state politics for Center Maryland and has written for several other Maryland publications as well. Kurtz regularly gives speeches and appears on TV and radio shows to discuss Maryland politics.
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