Cassidy and Associates News

Washington is hosting the 2015 ACORE Renewable Energy Policy Forum today and as a proud member of the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), Cassidy clients are getting a ACOREfront row seat to discussions with key leaders from Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, Department of Energy and media.

Cassidy Senior Vice President Dave Belote is on site, hosting Cassidy client Apex Clean Energy at yesterday’s ACORE Member Day that included exclusive Defense and National Security Executive discussions with leaders like Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Energy Richard Kidd. This morning’s Policy Forum includes a keynote and Q&A with Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA).

The outcome of the Forum – the policy agenda for renewable energy policy – will be shared with the President and Congress, as well as governors, legislators, and regulators in the states.


Cassidy & Associates announced today that Amelia F. Jenkins, Deputy Staff Director and Senior Policy Advisor to the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources, will join the firm in May House Natural Resources Committeeas a Senior Vice President.

“When Washington looks for advice on the environment and energy it consistently turns to Amelia. She’s the real deal, a senior policy expert with in-depth experience and success on the Hill and at DOE,” said Cassidy & Associates Co-Chairman Kai Anderson. “We’re excited to welcome her to the Cassidy team and confident our clients will benefit from and value her counsel.”

Cassidy Co-Chairman Barry Rhoads added, “We’re continuing to add Washington’s best and brightest to our team and we’re certain Amelia will help ensure we deliver the kind of results our clients have come to expect from us.”

As Deputy Staff Director to the committee since 2011, Amelia served as chief policy advisor and strategist to then U.S. Rep. and now U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and its current Ranking Member U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) on legislative matters involving the management of 600 million acres of federal land, domestic energy production, tribal matters, territories and insular areas, wildlife, and western water. She was also the primary policy contact with House leadership, White House Legislative Affairs, Council on Environmental Quality, in addition to Departments under the committee’s jurisdiction.

Prior to the committee, Amelia was Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs at the Department of Energy where she served as the top assistant to the Assistant Secretary and directly managed and oversaw the Department’s interaction with Members of the House of Representatives and all local, state, and tribal governments.

Amelia said, “I look at this as a natural extension of all my work up to now and thrilled to join one of Washington’s best and most respected teams. With its renewed energy and emphasis on delivering results through trust and impeccable work, Cassidy is the place to be. I’m ready to get started.”

Her tenure in Washington has also included serving as Senior Advisor and Subcommittee Staff Director to the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power; Director of Coalition Development for the Western Governors’ Association; Senior Legislative Staff for the House Committee on Resources; Legislative Director for U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA); and Legislative Aide to Congressman DeFazio.

Amelia earned a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Forest Economics from the University of Idaho and a bachelor’s degree in Business and Economics from Weber State University.


Service members and veterans, leading employers, senior military members, policy and legislative experts are gathering today in Washington for the Seventh Annual Army Women’s Foundation Summit and Cassidy’s Michelle Greene, LTC, USA, (ret), a recognized military healthcare professional with more than 20 years of leadership experience in the US Army, is a featured panelist at the event. Michelle is sharing her experience and success in the private sector as part of a panel discussion, Army Women: Political Empowerment & Engagement, designed to help military women recognize their leadership skills and put those skills to use in their local communities and beyond.

“I think it’s important to share and demonstrate how my operational and legislative experience in the Army and the Military Health System is put to work every day on behalf of my clients to effectively engage in Washington,” Michelle said.


Cassidy client View is giving the federal government an incredible view of what could be the future of sustainable

buildings as the United States General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced it completed the installation of 210 dynamic, electrochromic windows on the south facade of Portland’s 911 Federal Building.

View Dynamic Glass use a small electric current to automatically tint based on the amount of daylight coming in from outside. Using advanced and predictive algorithms, the windows transition through four different tint levels to control glare and solar heat gain without the use of blinds. The result is reduced energy consumption and increased worker comfort and productivity.

Each year, through its Green Proving Ground (GPG) program, the GSA selects an exclusive group of innovative technologies to undergo real-world evaluations in federal buildings in order to assess their potential to reduce resource consumption and improve building performance across the U.S.

View is just one of nine technologies selected for evaluation by GPG out of hundreds of applicants. The installation of View Dynamic Glass is the largest installation of electrochromic glass in the history of the GPG program.


Fuels America has also signed with Cassidy and Associates to lobby on the Renewable Fuels Standard, the firm — which registered four other clients today, as well — told PI. Cassidy will be lobbying on behalf of Norse Corporation on cybersecurity issues, Fluor on defense and nuclear energy issues, Norton Healthcare on military health care issues and Aspire Clarksville Foundation on defense infrastructure.


thehill_logoThe anointment of Sen. Charles Schumer as the next Democratic leader is creating new royalty on K Street.

At least 30 former aides to the New York Democrat now work in the influence industry, according to a review by The Hill, and their stock is soaring now that Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is preparing to hand him the leadership reins.

“They’re the new ‘it-animal’ in the forest and they also happen to work on the most important street in the forest — K Street and Pennsylvania Avenue,” said Ivan Adler, a principal at The McCormick Group.

“He will be a very active participant in leadership, so that it’s never bad to know a member who is very active. Schumer may be the quintessential high-profile member.”

Prominent lobbyists in “Schumerland” include Erick Mullen, a managing director at Mercury; Jim Kessler, a co-founder and the senior vice president for policy at the centrist think tank Third Way; Sean Sweeney at The Messina Group and Izzy Klein, a principal at the Podesta Group.

Other Schumer alums on K Street include Nicole Di Resta, senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates; David Hantman, the head of global public policy at Airbnb; Carmencita Whonder of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck; Jason Abel, an of counsel at Steptoe & Johnson, among many others.

Read more at The Hill »


POLITICO
Cassidy & Associates announced that Michelle Greene has been promoted to senior vice president, Andrew Forbes to vice president, and Janie Wise to vice president. “These folks are invaluable to our team and to the success of our clients,” said Cassidy Co-Chairman Barry Rhoads in a statement.


The Hill newspaper is out with its annual list of Washington’s best and Cassidy Co-Chairmen Kai Anderson and Barry Rhoads top the list.

Read more at thehill.com »


The Sunday magazine of the Las Vegas Sun profiles some of the “most influential players” in Washington including Cassidy Co-Chairman Kai Anderson.

Read more at lasvegassun.com »


The Republican takeover of the Senate could shift who holds the most sway on K Street.

With the flip in control of the chamber, GOP senators next year will take the helm of powerful committees that craft and oversee energy and environmental policy. In turn, lobbyists considered close to those new chairmen will see their influence quotient rise as they work with prominent lawmakers in the new Congress.

Lobbyists say they sense a new optimism from empowered Republicans on Capitol Hill. A GOP Senate means more tough oversight of the Obama administration but also potential for bipartisan deal-making in 2015.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is one who’s considered by K Street to have the chops to craft compromises between the parties. She settles into the chairman’s seat of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee next year.

In interviews with E&E Daily, several lobbyists said they consider…

Kaleb Froehlich is another lobbyist considered tight with Murkowski. Before joining Cassidy & Associates earlier this year, he was senior counsel for Murkowski at the Energy Committee.

Read more at www.eenews.net »


Cassidy & Associates has signed five new clients, the firm told PI. Cassidy will now be lobbying on behalf the following clients: GOJO Industries, the parent company of Purell, on the use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers and its effect on antibiotic resistance; Watch Systems on the National Sexual Offender Monitoring program; energy storage company Ares on environmental permitting; Carrick Brain Centers on issues related to Traumatic Brain Injury and concussions with the Department of Defense; and power-plant supplier Holtec on nuclear energy funding issues.


Accelerating clean energy and infrastructure solutions for the DOD is the focus this week in Austin, TX as Cassidy & Associates is a lead sponsor of the Defense Energy Summit and Innovation Showcase. The premier event brings together national military and business leaders in defense energy solutions including Microgrids, Grid Security, Energy Storage, Portable Power, Distributed Energy, Disaster Recovery, Fuel Options, Transportation, Efficiency & Buildings, Water Management, Soldier Technology, and many more.

Cassidy Senior Vice President Dave Belote is a featured panelist at the event. Prior to joining Cassidy, Dave was the first Executive Director of the Department of Defense Siting Clearinghouse at the Pentagon, where he built a “one-stop shop” for industry to work with federal, state, and local government agencies to ensure that utility-scale renewable energy and transmission projects were compatible with military operations and installations.

Key government agencies and departments also participating in the Summit include the U.S. Department of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force as well as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Department of Homeland Security, Special Operations Command, Department of Energy, Department of Transportation, Department of Agriculture, National Science Foundation and the Environmental Protection Agency.


A Republican majority brings major changes to committee leadership in the U.S. Senate, the size of the majority determines committee ratios and budgets; more seats in the SeCassidy Associates Senate Committee leadership infographicnate translate into a greater advantage on the panels.

The new committees are expected to be finalized in January or February.

In the meantime, Cassidy & Associates just released two infographics that a look at the potential changes to the Chairmen and rearranging of the Ranking Members of the major panels as Republicans take control of the Senate.


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