Partners

JOHN MILNE

John brings over 30 years of experience in government affairs to the firm and specializes in developing legislative outreach and targeted advocacy strategies for clients. 

Prior to co-founding the firm, John served as an officer at several top-level government affairs firms in Washington, DC. 

John’s corporate experience included serving as Director of Federal Government Affairs for 3M in Washington, DC, where his responsibilities included a broad range of issues including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, transportation, trade, and tax, as well as representing 3M at the state and local levels.

John’s additional functions with the company included management and oversight of political consultants and strategic coalition engagement.  He also contributed to 3M’s growth by managing a sales and marketing operation with local, state and federal governments valued in excess of $500 million.

With more than three decades of advocacy and public affairs expertise, John has developed extensive relationships with key members of Congress, the executive branch and the diplomatic and national business communities. and state governors and local officials. These relationships allow John to communicate his clients’ legislative and regulatory priorities to those in positions to promote change.

During his career, John has served on numerous boards of directors, including the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, American Highway Users Federation, the Council of State Governments Advisory Board of the Century 21 Fund, and the National Industry Advisory Board of the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators

As a long-time resident of Minnesota, John maintains close ties to the state.   He was appointed by the Governor to serve on the Minnesota Lottery Board and the Minnesota Transportation Study Board.  John also served on the Minnesota High Tech Council and as chair of 3M’s Marketing Council. He  received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wyoming. 

JEFFREY WIENER

Jeff brings over twenty years of Capitol Hill, government relations, federal marketing, and business development experience to the firm and its clients.

Throughout his career, Jeff has worked with corporations, hospitals, colleges, charities, and municipalities to help them develop strategies to succeed in Washington. With a policy focus on national security, clean energy, tax, and institutional advocacy, Jeff specializes in helping the firm’s clients promote their federal policy and funding objectives in Washington. Additionally, Jeff has worked with companies big and small to secure federal research dollars for product development, open doors to enable the sale of clients’ products and services to the U.S. government, and create partnerships within the private sector to bolster clients’ bottom lines.

A native of Louisiana, Jeff began his career as a senior legislative advisor to Senator Mary Landrieu on defense, military construction, foreign affairs, veterans affairs, and trade policy issues. While working with Senator Landrieu, a member of both the Senate Armed Services Committee and Senate Appropriations Committee, Jeff worked on key legislative initiatives including eliminating the social security offset that military widows and widowers pay on their spouses’ survivor benefits; increasing the Navy’s shipbuilding budget; and raising funding levels for National Guard, Reserve forces, and SOCOM weapons procurement. Having worked on a number of major bipartisan initiatives for the co-chair of the Senate Centrist Coalition, Jeff is trusted by Members and congressional staff on both sides of the aisle.

Prior to co-founding the firm, Jeff was an officer at several leading Washington, DC, based government relations firms. Over the years, he has managed a portfolio of clients including cutting edge defense, telecommunications, life sciences, engineering, academia, and automotive companies. He has also represented several international energy, aerospace, and logistics companies. He helped a start-up automobile manufacturer win more than $500 million in loan guarantees from the Department of Energy to perform R&D and modernize a production plant. He helped secure several million dollars in Department of Defense funding for various clients working on advanced medical research to protect our troops in theatre. Jeff recently helped initiate funding for an industry coalition to partner with a DOD research lab to develop groundbreaking additive manufacturing capabilities. For his international clients, Jeff helped them research and determine locations around America to establish U.S. headquarters.

ALLEN SHOFE

Al brings a unique level of global and domestic expertise to clients seeking strategic government relations, political and communications counsel.

Prior to joining the firm, Al served as the Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Emergent Biosolutions, a life sciences company. Al also served as Emergent’s general counsel and head of world-wide government relations where he worked with the European Union, NATO, and allies across the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and Latin America to equip their militaries with chemical and biological counter-measures. In this capacity, Shofe helped grow and expand Emergent’s revenue and manufacturing capabilities by 200 percent.

Al has worked extensively with the United States Congress, several White Houses, the Department of Defense, State Department, Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control, and the Department of Homeland Security in support of agencies like the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, Project BioShield, the Strategic National Stockpile, as well as on the drafting, passage, and implementation of critical legislation such as the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act. He has provided similar guidance and counsel to the European Union to ensure the necessary tools are in place to effectively respond to a possible bio terror attack.

Additionally, Al  serves as Vice President of the International Security & Biopolicy Institute. The Institute is a not-for-profit, non-partisan organization focused on addressing the challenges and opportunities of emerging bioscience from a global perspective. Shofe is also a member of Business Executives for National Security, an organization  that supports the U.S. government by applying best business practice solutions to its most difficult national security problems.

Al also served as a senior advisor and congressional liaison to His Excellency John Huntsman, the current U.S. Ambassador to Russia, during Huntsman’s 2012 presidential campaign.

Prior to joining Emergent in 2005, Al served in a number of senior executive roles for major corporations, including Eli Lilly, 3M, and British American Tobacco. Additionally, he was a top strategist for the Minnesota Republican Party, worked as one of Governor Arne Carlson’s most trusted and influential advisors, and was chief of staff to Congressman Gil Gutknecht.

Al serves on the Board of Directors of the Opera Lafayette in Washington, DC. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the El Hibri Foundation which funds grants for incubators helping orphans in the Middle East, particularly in Lebanon. In 2013, the MdBio Foundation appointed him to its board of directors. He is fluent in several languages.