WASHINGTON – PPHC maintains its position atop the second quarter LDA Rankings as all three wholly-owned firms rank in the Top 20. Crossroads Strategies, Forbes Tate Partners and Alpine Group Partners each earned spots on the list, with their combined quarterly federal lobbying disclosure revenues reaching $17.1 million.
See the full list as published in Politico’s Influence
WASHINGTON, DC – Washington Government Relations Group (WGRG) held the twelfth Annual Tin Cup Awards on Wednesday evening where the group presented Keenan Austin Reed, Executive Vice President at Alpine Group, with the prestigious Reginald “Reg” Gilliam Lobbyist of the Year Award. The Reginald “Reg” Gilliam Lobbyist of the Year Award is granted annually to an outstanding African-American lobbyist selected by WGRG, a non-partisan, independent, volunteer association whose goal is to enhance the leadership prowess and careers of African-American government relations professionals.
“I am both honored and humbled to receive this award from a group of my peers. I feel fortunate to do such rewarding work alongside so many talented professionals. Lobbying is a team sport, and this recognition underscores our collective effort to serve as a critical tool of our democracy, amplify the concerns of the unheard and champion causes that desperately need attention. I remain committed to using my platform to drive positive change.”
–Keenan Austin Reed, Executive Vice President, Alpine Group
In addition to her work at Alpine, Reed is the Chair and Co-Founder of the Black Women’s Congressional Alliance (BWCA), Advisory Council Chair at GlobalWIN, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s (CBCF) Corporate Advisory Council, and Vice Chair of SOME’s (So Others May Eat) Corporate Advisory Board. In May of 2021, Reed testified before the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress. The focus of her testimony was recruiting, maintaining, and empowering diverse congressional staff.
Read Alpine Group’s full press release here.
PPHC is pleased to announce that, as part of its executive officer succession planning, Roel Smits has been appointed as Chief Financial Officer with immediate effect.
Founding CFO Bill Chess remains on the Board as Executive Director and will assume the new position of Chief Administrative Officer, reporting directly to the CEO, where he will drive internal efficiency and collaboration.
Roel joined PPHC in May 2022 as Deputy CFO. He has previously acted as CFO at Kantar, the data analytics and brand consulting company owned by WPP and Bain Capital, most recently for Americas and prior also for Asia-Pacific and Africa. Prior to that, he performed senior roles at WPP (Senior VP of Corporate Development) and Dutch private equity family office HAL Investments BV. Roel has a Masters in Finance from London Business School, as well as a Masters in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam and an MBA in Marketing from Michigan State University.
It is the intention that Roel will join the Board in due course subject to completion of customary due diligence and regulatory procedures.
“The appointment of Roel to the position of CFO and of Bill to the new position of Chief Administrative Officer is the result of careful succession planning and adds additional strength to the executive team. Since our IPO in December 2021, we have created a business delivering revenues of over $100m with strong EBITDA margins between 25% and 30% and we are looking forward to building on this progress in the coming years.“
-Simon Lee, Chairman, PPHC
“I am delighted to take on the role of PPHC’s CFO as we continue to deliver our clearly stated strategy and benefit from the ever-increasing importance that corporates globally are placing on government relations and public affairs. In addition to continued organic growth, PPHC is actively in discussions with a number of potential acquisition targets, both in the US and internationally – I am excited by the potential for significant growth that lies head for the Group. With deepest respect I thank my predecessor Bill Chess for all he has done for PPHC since its inception in 2014.”
-Roel Smits, CFO, PPHC
“Being part of the team that has propelled PPHC into becoming the largest provider of federal lobbying services in the US continues to be an incredible journey. I’m looking forward to working in my new role to drive internal efficiency and collaboration as we deliver on our organic and acquisitive growth plan.“
-Bill Chess, Chief Administrative Officer, PPHC
