Lobbying world

The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors named Eric Hoplin its new CEO, effective Oct. 19. He will succeed Dirk Van Dongen, who announced his retirement in February. Hoplin is currently the head of external relations for Wells Fargo & Co. and previously was executive director at the Financial Services Roundtable.

Shannon McGahn, senior vice president of government affairs at the National Association of Realtors, is being promoted to chief advocacy officer, effective Oct. 1. She will succeed Bill Malkasian, who is retiring Dec. 31.

Evan Williams, former senior legislative assistant to Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.), was named director of the Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. He worked for Tipton for three years after serving as legislative correspondent to Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.).

Signal Group named Shelby Wagenseller vice president of the firm’s communications practice. She previously was deputy chief operating officer for the 2020 Democratic National Convention Committee and before that spent nearly three years at Signal Group. Wagenseller was deputy press secretary at the Department of Agriculture during the Obama administration.

The Motion Picture Association (MPA) announced that John Mercurio will be senior vice president for corporate communications. He previously was chief communications officer for blockchain and software company, the Bitfury Group. The MPA also announced that Carla Sanchez Armas will be its managing director for Latin America. She previously worked in the office of the Presidency of Mexico.

James D. Schultz joined Holland & Knight LLP as a partner in the firm’s Public Policy & Regulation Practice Group. He will be based in Philadelphia and lead the group’s Northeast Government Advocacy Team. Schultz previously served as senior associate counsel and special assistant to President Trump. He most recently worked at Cozen O’Connor P.C. as chair of the firm’s government and regulatory practice.

Prudential Financial Inc. promoted Bryan Pickel to be head of external affairs. He previously was vice president of international regulatory and government affairs for more than 12 years and has spent almost 24 years at the company.