COLUMBUS, OH: The son of Ohio Senator George Voinovich has teamed up with three public affairs veterans to open a new public affairs and lobbying agency. The firm, Voinovich, Needles, and Dalton (VND) will be based in Columbus, with offices in Akron, Jacksonville, Washington, DC, and Beijing.
George F. Voinovich's partners in the venture are Thomas Needles, the founder of Ohio-based public affairs firm Statecraft; Jim Dalton, founder of Jacksonville's Dalton Agency; and Dalton Agency VP of PR Michael Munz.
Jim Dalton, whose agency represents the Jacksonville Super Bowl Host Committee, among others, said that the integration of all of the partners' expertise would make for a complete package to offer clients. "We were all finding ourselves coming to the table separately" on the same projects, he said. "A lot of these clients aren't interested in telling their stories five times."
Voinovich is a lawyer, and is expected to contribute legal counsel rather than communications expertise. He already has relationships with potential clients, and his father's position gives him credibility as a lobbyist.
"He's got a very good reputation, great family, good name," said Dalton.
VND clients include ING, IBM, and Wal-Mart.
