Who is consulting for the N.C. Military Foundation?
The nonprofit started by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue in 2006 to promote defense spending in North Carolina runs on a tight budget, relying on outside consultants.
Here's a quick sketch of their major consultants:
Retired Major Gen. Mike Davidson: Former assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Gen. Hugh Shelton.
Hon. Mike Walker: Former acting Secretary of the Army in 1998 and Undersecretary of Defense.
Meg Ryan O'Donnell: President of Winning Strategies, a Raleigh communications firm.
Jimmy Broughton: Former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and federal lobbyist with Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice.
Mark Harkins: Former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Brad Miller and lobbyist with Womble Carlyle.
As lobbyists on military issues, Broughton and Harkins also work for Blackwater Worldwide, a controversial security contractor based in Moyock.
Executive Director Will Austin says he met with Blackwater in the past, but the foundation does not typically promote specific military contractors, instead focusing on the state's overall military friendliness.
"We don't have a relationship with them," he said.
Blog RSS feed
Target markets
As long as nobody in the General Assembly tries to legislate against Blackwater, I don't think we'll see much (lobbying) money spent there. Whatever markets they do have (or aspire to) in North Carolina, such as training local law enforcement, I'm pretty sure there's no State laws "impeding" them. The real market is up in D.C.
I'd be interested to know how much revenue North Carolina receives from Blackwater's billion-plus State Department contracts and all the others. Since they don't pay taxes on all their "subcontractors" (employees), I have a hunch they're not as much of a "boost" to the state's economy as other businesses of the same size.