WASHINGTON – Two veteran Washington government affairs specialists have teamed up to form the DC Strategies Group, a full-service lobbying, management and communications firm.
DC Strategies will represent a select group of clients, including associations, corporations and other organizations, with an emphasis on those who have interests in the financial services sector. The firm also has expertise in real estate, mortgage and business finance, communications, technology, health care and other businesses impacted by policy makers at all levels of government.
Mike Chapman, a public affairs consultant who was U.S. Senator Tim Johnson’s first Legislative Director as a Member of Congress, and Roy DeLoach, former chief executive officer and lobbyist for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, are partners in the new firm.
“Now that the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is law, it will be important that implementation occur in a way that doesn’t unnecessarily harm the economy. Our experience in the legislative and regulatory arenas gives our clients high-level expertise in navigating the relationships between Congress and the Administration on their specific interests,” said DeLoach.
“The question today for many interest groups is how to integrate your messages to all your audiences,” said Chapman. “We bring all that to the table. We know how to identify the various constituencies, and we can combine that with our extensive experience on Capitol Hill.”
“We are a very 21st Century lobbying firm,” added DeLoach. “Our ability to lobby the Hill is one thing. But what’s just as much in play now is the way legislation is implemented once it is signed into law. Often, there is a very short time-frame in which you can get your message across to regulators.”
With their years of experience, D.C. Strategies’ partners combine the best of traditional lobbying and management practices for the advancement of public policy initiatives, while incorporating the latest in state-of-the-art digital communications and online organizational capabilities, including social media.
DeLoach and Chapman met in the early1990s when they worked in the public affairs office at the National Association of Realtors, the nation’s largest trade association.
Before that, Chapman was legislative director for Tim Johnson when he was first elected to Congress. The South Dakota Democrat is widely anticipated to be the next chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, replacing Sen. Christopher Dodd, who did not stand for re-election.
Chapman’s more than 20 years of advocacy experience on behalf of high level clients includes lobbying for the American Medical Association and representing a wide range of corporate clients in his capacity as a public affairs and communications consultant.
After leaving NAR but before joining the NAMB, DeLoach worked for various technology-based start-ups, including one of the first on-line mortgage processing firms, RealEstate.com, a mortgage platform, and Homes.com, a real estate search engine.
For the last four years, he ran the 5,500-member NAMB, which will now be a DC Strategies’ client. NAMB is the main trade association for mortgage originators, and DeLoach was its CEO and chief lobbyist. Prior to becoming CEO, he was vice president of government affairs for the group.
He is an expert in advocating on behalf of the financial services sector, utilizing his policy, media and Washington know-how to build and supervise advocacy teams to efficiently coordinate resources and stay on message.
