Communications & New Media May 2016 Vol 30 No 5 May 2016 | www.odwyerpr.com

WASHINGTON REPORT
Christie’s comms. director
resigns
Kevin Roberts, Communications Director for New Jersey
Governor Chris Christie, has left his post to take a job in the
private sector. His last day was April 22.
The story was first reported in the Wall Street Journal.
Roberts, who was previously Communications Director for the
New Jersey Republican State Committee, joined Christie’s team
in 2010, first serving as Deputy Press Secretary before becoming
Press Secretary for Christie’s 2013 re-election bid. He was
appointed Communications Director before the Governor’s unsuccessful
2016 Presidential run.
Roberts declined to divulge to the Journal the details of his
forthcoming job.
Roberts’ departure is the latest in what has resembled a communications
exodus from Christie’s office, whose governorship
is set to expire in January, 2018. Christie’s Chief of Staff, Regina
Egea, resigned on April 7, also with unspecified plans to leave for
the private sector. Maria Comella, former Deputy Chief of Staff
for Communications and the longest serving member of Christie’s
senior staff, in March announced her resignation.
The governor’s office has not named Roberts’ replacement.
Partoyan named Direct Impact
CEO
Burson-Marsteller’s grassroots operation Direct Impact has
promoted President Connie Partoyan to the role of CEO.
Partoyan succeeds Nicole Cornish, who took the COO
position for Burson-Marsteller’s U.S. region in late 2014.
Partoyan has held the President title at Direct Impact since
2014. Prior to that, she served as the public affairs unit’s Executive
VP. Before joining Direct Impact in 2009, Partoyan served as
Chief of Staff for Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), was an
administrative assistant and press secretary to Rep. Rick White
(R-WA) and deputy press secretary to Senator Slade Gorton (R-
WA). She was also previously counselor and senior advisor to the
Department of Commerce’s Technology Administration, served
as government affairs counselor for Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas
Meeds, and was executive VP and COO of Microsoft IT
web service TechNet. She was also Communications Director for
Washington, D.C.-based trade association the Information Technology
Industry Council.
Partoyan will remain in the firm’s Washington, D.C. headquarters.
She reports to B-M U.S. CEO Michael Law.
Glover Park’s Barrett to food
policy action
Betsy Barrett, VP in Glover Park Group’s strategic communications
practice, has joined Food Policy Action in Washington as
Political and Communications Director.
FPA was founded by celebrity chef Tom Colicchio and Environmental
Working Group chief Ken Cook in 2012 to highlight food
issues to elected leaders and voters.
Barrett previously led communications, marketing and event
planning for the Internet Association, the trade group of top US
‘Net portals. She worked on the Hill as Senior Advisor and Comms.
Director for Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and started out as
an aide to Rep. Vic Snyder (D-Ark.).
FPA executive director Claire DiMattina said Barret’s PR and political
savvy will be used to “significantly raise the political profile
of food issues.”
Octagon grows leadership team
Cashman + Katz public affairs unit Octagon Strategy Group
has expanded its senior management team with the appointment
of Liz Kurantowicz and Stacey Monahan, who join the
political communications firm as Managing Partner and Group
Managing Director, respectively.
Kurantowicz joins Octagon
from social advocacy
platform Wholecrowd,
where she served as VP of
Sales and Marketing. Prior
to that, she was a Senior
Consultant at D.C.-
based CAP Public Affairs.
Kurantowicz previously
served the Connecticut
Republican Party, where
she was Chief of Staff. A former liaison for CT Governor M. Jodi
Rell, Kurantowicz is also a political instructor for the International
Republican Institute and the Republican National Committee.
Monahan was previously Commissioner of the Massachusetts
Department of Transitional Assistance. Prior to that she was Chief
of Staff to the MA Secretary of Health and Human Services, and
was Executive Director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.
She was also an aide to U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA).
Mercury aids AirBnB
Kurantowicz and Monahan
Public affairs and strategy shop Mercury is providing Capitol
Hill support for online lodging marketplace AirBnB on a series
of economic development issues.
The Omnicom public affairs unit is charged with aiding AirBnB
in Washington on issues related to antitrust, as well as judiciary
and e-commerce matters.
San Francisco-based AirBnB, which now maintains 19 offices
worldwide, is currently valued at around $25 billion, and posted
projected revenues of $900 million for 2015. The property rental
resource has faced legal pressure in some cities on the grounds of
safety and tenant leasing regulations, as well as pushback from the
hotel lobby with which it competes.
The AirBnB account will be managed by Mercury Partner Vin
Weber, who was previously Republican Congressman of Minnesota.
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