The Birth of a Baby-Boomer Campaign

By Judy Sarasohn
Thursday, December 28, 2006

In Washington, where every special interest has a lobbyist or at least a spokesman, baby boomers now have their own practice group.

Public relations biggie Fleishman-Hillard Inc. has launched what it calls FH Boom, a practice that targets baby boomers, those folks roughly between 42 and 60 years old. The demographic is about 78 million people.

The practice is heavy on commercial marketing and public relations, but FH Boom also figures to advise public affairs clients on coalitions and advocacy issues involving baby boomers. Think legislative and administration issues dealing with taxes, health care, Medicare costs, Social Security and college costs.

"It's not an accident that we're housed in the Washington, D.C., office," said Carol Orsborn, a boomer specialist, who is leading the practice with Eileen Marcus, a senior D.C. partner who heads the firm's AARP account. Orsborn is a recent addition to Fleishman.

Boomers are increasingly "vocal about their needs" and "a force that government has to reckon with," Orsborn said.

Paul Johnson, president of public affairs for Fleishman, said that the firm's work for AARP has given it a "ringside seat" to see how boomers affect politics and government.

Ralph Posner, a senior vice president, is analyzing a boomer survey that the firm conducted last month to determine how clients can best communicate with boomers.

Miller & Chevalier Adds Gerson

Miller & Chevalier, a law firm known for tax expertise, just picked up some more: Marc J. Gerson, who recently left the Hill where he was majority (Republican) tax counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee.

The firm was particularly interested in adding his legislative experience in the tax arena to its technical expertise, said Greg Mastel, chairman of the government affairs department and former chief of staff to incoming Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.). The goal is to have "the deepest and the best" tax bench, Mastel said.

There should be plenty of tax work on the Hill next year. Come January, Gerson said, companies "are to a large degree going to be in a defensive mode" because of the pressure in Congress to come up with revenue to offset tax changes and programs that the Democrats want.

For Gerson, this is a bit of a homecoming. He worked at the firm several years ago, before working as a lawyer at a couple of other firms in town and at Textron Inc. in Rhode Island.

Acosta Moving to Qorvis Communications

Dean Acosta, NASA press secretary and deputy assistant administrator for public affairs, is moving to Qorvis Communications next week to work with the firm's aerospace and technology clients, such as Pratt & Whitney and United Technologies.

Acosta, a former journalist, joined NASA in April 2003, several weeks after the shuttle Columbia accident. He led NASA's communications effort in the return to flight with the launch of the Discovery more than two years later.

"Although NASA has been an incredible work experience . . . it's nice to work for a company that's your core expertise," Acosta said.

Acosta is barred by ethics rules from contacting the space agency for one year, but he can still advise contractors with NASA interests.

Also at Qorvis, Kara Ross, a Clinton White House Midwest spokeswoman, joined as a senior director. She most recently worked for ACS Government Solutions and earlier for the Transportation Department, the Defense Department and former senator John Glenn (D-Ohio).

Here and There

Also moving about town . . . Samuel E. Whitehorn, general counsel of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, is joining McBee Strategic Consulting.

Gregory A. Joseph, who most recently worked on the successful reelection campaign of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), has signed on with the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty as state policy director.

Patrick Morris, former press secretary for Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), has joined FasterCures/the Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions as vice president for external relations and communications. FasterCures is a nonprofit created under the auspices of the Milken Institute.

Bartlett, Bendall & Kode has added Rebecca Gradler, who worked for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under then-administrator Thomas Scully. She also lobbied on behalf of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and worked for Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa).