Van Ness Feldman has hired Mark Palmer, who until recently was with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, as a senior director in the firm’s Washington office.
While with USDA, Palmer served as a senior adviser and director of the office of external affairs at the Farm Service Agency. In those roles, Palmer coordinated agriculture and energy policy messaging for FSA, represented Secretary Tom Vilsack on Capitol Hill and formulated the agency’s legislative program with the Office of the Secretary. He also developed legislative and communications strategies, such as the 2008 Farm Bill implementation, and advised congressional committees in both the Senate and the House. Palmer was also responsible for developing and executing policy objectives and analyzing legislation as it affected USDA goals.
Prior to joining the USDA, Palmer was chief policy adviser to the chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, Representative Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), a legislative assistant to Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and held senior policy positions with the National Corn Growers Association and the American Soybean Association.
At Van Ness Feldman, Palmer will advise clients in the biofuel, renewable energy, clean tech and public policy sectors in dealings with Congress and the Obama administration. It’s not yet clear if he will register to lobby.
Palmer was not immediately available for comment.
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