• FINANCIAL SERVICES. S&P Global hired BGR Government Affairs to work on issues related to financial services. Former Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.) and Joseph Lai, former special assistant to President Trump for legislative affairs, among others, will work on the account.
• Partnership for Open Skies, a Washington, D.C.-based group that supports the U.S. Open Skies policy, also hired BGR to work on issues with Gulf carriers. Duffy, Lai and others will work on the account.
• HEALTH CARE. Flagler Health+, a health care facility based in Florida, hired Ballard Partners to work on the Medicaid payment rule. The firm’s founder, Brian Ballard, former chairman of Trump Victory, and Daniel McFaul, former chief of staff to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), will work on the account.
• The county government of Okaloosa County, Fla., also hired Ballard Partners to work on federal funding and grant issues. Ballard and McFaul will also work on the account.
• EDUCATION. The Southeastern Conference hired Akin Gump to work on legislation regarding student-athletes. Hunter Bates, former chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Arshi Siddiqui, former senior policy adviser and counsel to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), among others, will work on the account.
• SMALL BUSINESS. Federal Supply Chain Management Organization, a coalition of federal supply chain management professionals, hired Atlas Advocacy to work on small business access to the federal supply chain. Patrick Cavanagh, former legislative director to Rep. Mike Doyle (D-Pa.), and Matt Smith, former aide to ex-Sen. Dan Coates (R-Ind.), will work on the account.