More churn in the State House influence world: Ellen Valentino, who has run her own lobbying firm for almost 30 years, is joining Cornerstone Government Affairs, a national lobbying shop with an outpost in Annapolis. Valentino, who has also lobbied in Delaware and before the Washington, D.C., local government, will become a senior consultant to the firm, Cornerstone’s president and managing director, Geoff Gonella, announced Tuesday.
Prior to joining Cornerstone, Valentino operated her own legislative and association management consulting firm, Valentino-Benitez & Associates. In addition to representing a stable of clients before state and local governments, she currently serves as the executive vice president for the Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Beverage Association and the Mid-Atlantic Petroleum Distributors Association.
Valentino will be bringing the two associations, along with another client, Capitol One, with her to Cornerstone. She’ll also continue to lobby in D.C. and Delaware as well as in Maryland.
Cornerstone is a Washington, D.C.-based firm but has offices in half a dozen state capitals and a few other U.S. cities. The Annapolis office has grown in the past few years and now includes half a dozen government relations professionals.
“Ellen has a great reputation, tremendous expertise and excellent relationships inside and outside of government,” Gonella said in a statement. “She is a great addition to our firm and our ongoing efforts to broaden and diversify our team in Annapolis. She will make an immediate and positive impact for our clients.”
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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