Announcements – June 3, 2009

Fox News commentator announces run for governor: John Kasich, 57, announced Monday that he plans to run for governor of Ohio in the 2010 race. He will challenge Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland. Kasich was a congressman for 18 years and now works for Fox News as a commentator.

{mosads}Former Capitol Hill staffer establishes PR firm: Former congressional staffer Ryan McLaughlin established his own Chicago-based public-relations and -affairs firm in April 2008 and has earned four industry awards for campaigns that his firm handled in its first year. The firm represents corporations, trade associations, public policy and coalition organizations wanting to highlight their profile and affect public opinion as well.

Coffman staffer ends gig, heads home to Colorado: Tyler Houlton spent his last day in Rep. Mike Coffman’s (R-Colo.) office on Friday, May 29. Houlton served for the past three years as spokesman. He will be finishing up his master’s degree at Georgetown this summer and plans to head back home to Colorado in August. Any press inquiries for Coffman should be directed to Jacque Ponder at 202-225-7882.

Georgia-based healthcare system joins the Center for Health Transformation: Atlanta-based Jackson Healthcare LLC joined the Center for Health Transformation. Jackson Healthcare is a group of companies that provides physician, nurse and allied health staffing, anesthesia and hospital management as well as healthcare information technology solutions to over 1,000 hospitals across the U.S.

Through its healthcare IT project, the CHT will also work with Jackson Healthcare to take a multi-stakeholder approach to Jtackson’s vision for a fully integrated hospital operating system. It would provide instant communication of patient status to maximize patient throughput and capacity.

Former U.S. undersecretary joins D.C. LLP: Mario Mancuso, the former U.S. undersecretary of Commerce for industry and security, joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP in D.C. as partner in the international corporate transactions practice. Mancuso is going to concentrate on international corporate, policy and regulatory matters.

As the leading U.S. government official for dual-use export controls and strategic trade policy and enforcement matters, Mancuso opened key export markets for U.S. technology products consistent with U.S. security interests and led the global effort to enforce U.S. export control and the anti-boycott regulations.