NEW YORK & WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sard Verbinnen & Co (“SVC”) announced today the launch of SVC Public Affairs to support clients’ needs for fully integrated public affairs counsel on transformative high-stakes situations that affect reputation and value, including M&A (CFIUS, anti-trust and other regulatory matters), crises, government oversight and investigations, issues management, and policy positioning. Ambassador and former Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Miriam Sapiro and Purple Strategies Co-Founder Bruce Haynes, who bring deep experience counseling management teams and Boards of Directors on high priority public affairs issues, have been named Managing Directors of SVC as well as Vice Chairs of the SVC Public Affairs practice. They will co-head the new Washington, D.C. office.
“Decisions being made in Washington factor into virtually everything SVC works on today – from complex cross-border transactions and challenging corporate and regulatory issues to crisis situations, including litigation and cyber incidents,” said SVC Chairman & Chief Executive Officer George Sard and President Paul Verbinnen. “Miriam and Bruce are proven executives and counselors with long experience and success in the Washington and international public affairs arenas, and we are already building a strong team around them to support our clients’ objectives.”
Ambassador Sapiro, who joined SVC earlier this year and has helped plan the formation of SVC Public Affairs, said, “More than ever before, U.S. and global clients are seeking advice on how to communicate quickly and effectively in a rapidly changing political landscape that affects their highest priority business objectives, whether it’s CFIUS reviews, Congressional investigations, or regulatory or public policy challenges. I am excited that SVC Public Affairs will provide that guidance, drawing on our in-depth knowledge of Washington and a global team of talented professionals across the United States, Europe and Asia.”
Bruce Haynes, who co-founded the communications firm Purple Strategies and has over two decades of strategic communications experience working in the public and private sectors, said, “Over their 25-plus years in business, SVC’s professionals have earned a seat at the table with CEOs and Boards around the world who are managing urgent, complex situations. This is an exciting opportunity and I’m thrilled to be partnering with Miriam to help build out this critical piece of the growing SVC platform.”
For more information on SVC Public Affairs, visit www.sardverb.com.
About Bruce Haynes
Bruce is a co-founder of Purple Strategies. His work has included leading efforts to successfully reposition companies and trade associations, and reputation management and crisis communications for leading brands in the telecommunications, energy, financial services and health care categories. Working in the public and political sectors, Bruce has advised large federal government agencies on public affairs campaigns, served as media consultant to the Republican National Committee’s 2008 US Presidential independent expenditure campaign. Prior to Purple, he served as Chief-of-Staff to South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis and as staff counsel to two-term South Carolina Governor Carroll Campbell. Bruce is a member of the Arthur W. Page Society, a membership of Chief Communications Officers of Fortune 500 companies and the CEOs of the world’s largest public relations companies. He also serves on the Government Relations Committee of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA’s) and on the Department of Communications Advisory Council at the College of Charleston. He is also Vice Chairman of the President’s Advisory Council of Furman University.
About Ambassador Miriam Sapiro
Miriam has more than 25 years of experience in government and the private sector, including navigating high-stakes crises and providing strategic advice to companies and organizations on a range of policy and regulatory challenges. She served in the administrations of Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama, working at the State Department, the National Security Council and the White House. Upon confirmation by the Senate as Ambassador, she served as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative and Acting U.S. Trade Representative. She was a senior member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and on the Board of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).
Prior to joining SVC, Miriam was a Partner at Finsbury and led its Washington office. Previously, she founded Summit Strategies International, providing counsel to clients on technology policy, international trade, investment and political risk. She was a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution. Miriam serves on the Supervisory Board of the Lufthansa Group and the Board of Directors of Project HOPE. She is also on the Panel of Conciliators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes at the World Bank.
About Sard Verbinnen & Co. (“SVC”)
SVC is an independent strategic communications firm focused on supporting companies through complex, high-stakes situations affecting reputation and value, including transactions, proxy contests, IPOs, litigations and crises. Headquartered in New York, SVC has offices in Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Hong Kong. The firm has over 200 employees, including 19 partners. SVC has been widely recognized for its leadership in its focus areas. Mergermarket ranked SVC the #1 Global and U.S. PR Firm by deal volume and value in 2017. Last month, The Holmes Report named SVC Financial PR Agency of the Year. For more information, please visit www.sardverb.com.