EVC Group

You were a journalist?

Yes, I worked for daily newspapers in the New York market. During that time, I conducted a long–running investigation of collusion in retail gas pricing, and my stories were cited by Connecticut’s Attorney General in a U.S. Senate hearing on the subject. I also covered the multi–billion dollar redevelopment of New Jersey’s Meadowlands and developed many other investigatory pieces.

With that experience, did you ever consider a career in public affairs?

Well, I did in fact move on to serve as director of communications for a state economic development and regulatory authority where I worked on the type of decision–making and lawmaking efforts that many of EVC Group’s clients navigate. This has enabled us to provide a broader public affairs offering and develop successful communications strategies for our clients, for which I draw on my experiences with the U.S. Congress, interest groups and regulators.

How does your journalism experience help you represent clients?

The experience makes me sharper. I draw from my experience to understand the journalist’s interests and methods in any given situation and how our client’s own best interests can be served. It’s common to hear me say “if I was still a reporter, here is what I’d be thinking.”

I still spend a lot of time with former colleagues keeping up on trends and issues in the journalism field as well as identifying opportunities for our clients. EVC Group emphasizes relationship building with the press and with investors and analysts, too, so that we can bring real–time feedback and understanding of their interests and needs to our clients. This is fairly unique to EVC Group, and an important point of difference with other firms, among others.

Does EVC Group work overseas as well?

Yes, we’re certainly no strangers to business trips to foreign lands and we counsel companies with significant overseas operations. If we don’t dispatch team members from our New York or San Francisco offices our network allows us to assemble resources in the financial centers of Europe, and we have been directly involved with breaking stories in China, Australia, and the U.K., involving new technologies, M&A and litigation.

Do you have other questions for Chris? Contact us.