Legislative News

With the Democrats leading the House in the next Congress and the Senate remaining in Republican hands, UPMA has expanded our legislative and political engagement by bringing on a bipartisan team of government relations professionals.

With the departure of Bob Levi, UPMA has partnered with two firms, The Eris Group and Imperium Global Advisors, to help UPMA and our members navigate public policy and political affairs in Washington, DC.

The Eris Group is a bipartisan boutique government relations group that has represented its clients’ interests in Washington for more than fifteen years. Eris’s founder, Doyle Bartlett, is a former chief of staff to Republican Congressman Bill McCollum.

Imperium Advisors is a bipartisan government relations and political strategy firm with deep experience in working with federal employees on issues important to UPMA members.

 UPMA team members who will be interacting with our leadership and members day-to-day will be:

Chris McCannell, Partner, Eris Group
cmccannell@erisgrp.com

Chris has over 20 years of experience on and off Capitol Hill. He started in Washington working for Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), was regional field director for the National Association of Letter Carriers, worked for Government Reform Committee Member Paul E. Kanjorski (D-PA) and Federal Employee Advocate Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), and led Congressman Joseph Crowley’s (D-NY) office as his chief of staff and leadership assistant. At Eris Group, Chris works with a number of clients including Angel Capital Association, Center for American Entrepreneurship, US Travel, where he helps them navigate Capitol Hill in a bipartisan way. The grandson of a letter carrier, Chris is originally from Portland, Maine.

Joel Riethmiller, Founding Partner, Imperium Global Advisors
joel@imperiumglobaladviors.com

Joel started his career on Capitol Hill as Deputy Chief of Staff to Representative Baron P. Hill (D-IN). Representative Hill, a Chief Deputy Whip and Co-Chairman of the House Blue Dog Coalition, played a pivotal role in advancing many important legislative initiatives during his time in Congress. While serving in Hill’s Washington office, Joel also served as an adviser on many policy areas including those pertaining to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the House Financial Services Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Some of Joel’s clients have included the world’s second largest professional membership association, the world’s fastest growing airline, and the world’s largest private medical device manufacturer. Joel is originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Brian McLaughlin, Founding Partner, Imperium Global Advisors.
Brian@imperiumglobaladvisors.com

Brian advises companies, individuals and organizations at the highest levels. Brian is an expert in management policy, technology policy and foreign policy. His career highlights include work establishing the Department of Homeland Security, major acquisition management reform legislation, and major federal program management reforms. Throughout his career, Brian has helped employee groups build relationships with Congress, the Executive Branch and the influencer community in DC. Brian began his career working for Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL), where he focused on federal workforce, appropriations and homeland security, serving on the staff of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.