Lobbying World

• Public affairs veteran Ben Finzel has launched his own consulting firm, RenewPR, focusing on energy and environment policy and communications. He has worked on Capitol Hill, within the Clinton administration and for both large and boutique communications shops, from Edelman to Glen Echo Group. RenewPR is based in Washington but will work with clients nationwide. 

• DLA Piper hired Clifford Roberti as a policy adviser in its government affairs practice and its federal law and policy group. Before that, Roberti worked as a senior adviser to Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), chairman of a financial services subcommittee.

{mosads}• Ken Choe, a former attorney at the Department of Health and Human Services, has joined Hogan Lovells as a partner. He served as the point person in “enacting, implementing, and defending the Affordable Care Act,” according to a release. Choe also worked as a litigator with the American Civil Liberties Union. 

• The R Street Institute is bringing on Mike Godwin to become the director of innovation policy and as a general counsel for the organization. Godwin will lead research and advocacy efforts on tech issues, including patent and copyright reform. He has a history with technology policy, including a stint at the Wikimedia Foundation, helping coordinate the response to legislation known as SOPA and PIPA. 

• Capitol Hill Consulting Group hired Brian Sutter as a senior vice president. Prior to that, he worked as the staff director for the House tax panel’s subcommittee on health. He has also worked as the legislative director for former Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), a former Ways and Means panel chairman. 

• Jack Kalavritinos will begin next month as the chief executive and president of the ACE Mentor Program, an apprenticeship and scholarship initiative encouraging students to pursue architecture, construction and engineering. He held senior roles within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor during the Bush administration and most recently worked as a lobbyist at the healthcare product firm Coviden.

• The Federal Policy Group hired Don Snyder, a former Bank of America assistant vice president, as a tax associate. He begins on Feb. 1. At the bank, Snyder was a senior tax professional and partnered with industry groups to work on shaping federal financial services policy.