Contact: Lu Ann Stoia, 614-273-9259 mobile   luann@steinerstrategy.com

COLUMBUS, OHIO—Connect. Communicate. Succeed.  The Steiner Strategy Group announces the launch of a high-performance communications and public affairs firm uniquely qualified to deliver powerful results.

Leading the Columbus-based firm, Curt Steiner is well known in business, government, media, and higher education circles.  Steiner says his boutique firm will offer a unique blend of experience and skill to a select group of blue-chip clients.

Steiner recently stepped down after more than six years as senior vice president at The Ohio State University.  “In addition to a deep knowledge of public higher education in Ohio, I have a 30-year track record advising top statewide public officials and successfully managing some contentious issues,” Steiner said. “My two very seasoned associates and I will bring clients decades of successful engagement in the public affairs and communications arenas—no second stringers here. We are uniquely able to help clients communicate powerfully and effectively.”

The Steiner Strategy Group offers senior strategic counsel, public and media relations, issues and reputation management, crisis communications, public affairs engagement, and event coordination.

Steiner will be joined by Communications Director Lu Ann Stoia and Public Affairs Director Suzanne Whisler. Stoia, a long-time broadcast journalist, was an Emmy Award-winning news reporter for WBNS TV and News Director for Clear Channel Radio in Columbus. She also served as Director of Community Relations for New Albany-Plain Local School District. Whisler has previously worked for three Columbus-based government affairs firms. Whisler has also served in administrative positions for two Ohio Governors. Most recently she worked on the successful campaign of Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor as the Court’s Chief Justice.

Steiner himself served as a senior vice president at Ohio State under two presidents, leading the university’s efforts in communications and government relations. Prior to coming to Ohio State in 2004, he headed Steiner/Lesic Communications and HMS Success Public Relations, with a clientele that included Ohio State, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, Ohio Business Roundtable, AT&T, Nationwide Insurance Company, Goodrich Corporation, UBS, ACS State & Local Solutions, Ohio Municipal League, Inter-University Council, and the Ohio Telecom Association.  Steiner led coalitions with members including The Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Cincinnati, OhioHealth, Mt. Carmel Health System and Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

Earlier, Steiner served as Chief of Staff, Communications Director and chief political strategist for Ohio Governor and Senator George Voinovich and Chief of Staff to Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson. Steiner has been a senior advisor to many other government leaders, including Senator Rob Portman, Attorney General Mike DeWine, Congressman Steve LaTourette, and Congressman Patrick Tiberi, as well as numerous other members of the Ohio General Assembly and the state and federal judiciary.

“We look forward enthusiastically to developing and implementing winning strategies for our clients during this dynamic period of Ohio’s history,” Steiner said.  The Steiner Strategy Group is already working with clients.  Our offices will open in early March, located across from the Ohio Statehouse at 88 East Broad Street, Suite1220.  www.steinerstrategygroup.com

Curt Steiner to open new communications firm

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

By Encarnacion Pyle

Ohio State University’s chief lobbyist, Curt Steiner, will leave the school at the end of the month to run a strategic communications firm.

In a resignation letter, the Capitol Square insider said public universities have changed his and his family’s lives – and it probably isn’t a coincidence that his time at Ohio State is the longest he’s ever stayed in one job.

“Having said that, I hold to the belief that those of us in these positions are placeholders, especially in this case, at an institution with eternal life and unlimited possibilities,” Steiner wrote. “And I’ve said often that the best time to move on is when things are going well.”

Steiner said he intentionally submitted his resignation letter the same day Republican John Kasich took office as Ohio’s 69th governor. “If I had stayed longer, I would be caught up in this new session of the General Assembly in Ohio and Washington,” he said yesterday.

Steiner said he and OSU President E. Gordon Gee attended Kasich’s ceremonial inauguration Monday. He and Gee then shared the news about his leaving Ohio State at a large gathering of lawmakers, administration officials and others yesterday morning.

Steiner is paid $333,025 at OSU; his resignation is effective Feb. 1.

In a letter to executive staff members, Gee said Steiner, who advised Republican campaigns for more than two decades until taking the job at Ohio State, made good on his promise to stay for six years.

He called Steiner one of the “great leaders in political and communications strategy” and praised his accomplishments in the past 6 1/2 years.

“The university has garnered strong bipartisan support for higher education. We helped to champion the state’s highly effective Third Frontier program,” Gee wrote. “During Curt’s tenure, we also have established deep collaborations with other Ohio colleges and universities, and we have secured a major pilot program for construction reform with our academic medical center.”

Former OSU President Karen A. Holbrook said in 2004 that she asked Steiner to come to Ohio State because of his Ohio roots, legislative background, political and OSU connections and public-relations know-how.

Before coming to Ohio State, he co-owned a statewide communications firm. Before that, he served in a wide range of state posts, including chief of staff for former Gov. George V. Voinovich and former Ohio House Speaker Jo Ann Davidson. Gee said that once Steiner leaves, Ohio State’s government-affairs office will report directly to his office through his special assistant, Herb Asher, a professor emeritus of political science, and Associate Vice President Dick Stoddard.

Ohio State’s government affairs chief leaving

Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Ohio State University’s government affairs chief is leaving the school next month to return to the private sector.

Curt Steiner, Ohio State’s senior vice president for government affairs, submitted his resignation Tuesday to President Gordon Gee. He’s leaving Feb. 1 to reopen a communications practice.

Steiner arrived at Ohio State in 2004 during the tenure of Gee predecessor Karen Holbrook. He had been working at Steiner/Lesic, the public affairs firm he helped create, and before that spent years in the political arena working for key state leaders including former Gov. George Voinovich.

“It probably is not a coincidence that this is the longest-term job I have ever held,” Steiner wrote. “Having said that, I hold to the belief that those of us in these positions are placeholders, especially in this case, at an institution with eternal life and unlimited possibilities. And I’ve said often that the best time to move on is when things are going well.”

Gee in a letter to university leaders said Steiner made good on a promise to stay at Ohio State for six years, a time during which higher education’s profile among state lawmakers was bolstered. Major wins Gee cited under Steiner’s tenure include continued financial backing for the Third Frontier technology initiative and a single-contractor pilot program for the school’s medical center that’s a key piece of a statewide construction reform effort.

“Although Curt leaves his position at the end of this month, I look forward to continuing to work with him on strategic communications projects to advance the university and higher education throughout the state,” Gee wrote.