Ballard Companions is launching a brand new monetary providers group and it’s bringing on former Chief Monetary Officer Jeff Atwater to steer it.
“Jeff Atwater has one of the most distinguished records in public service in the history of our great state, having served in the Florida House, Florida Senate, as CFO, and as a senior executive in one of Florida’s top public universities,” mentioned Brian Ballard, the agency’s President and founder. “We are honored that Jeff has decided to join our stellar team of professionals, and to launch our firm’s Financial Services Group.”
Atwater, a banker by commerce, started his political profession on the North Palm Seashore Village Council in 1993.
In 2000, Atwater ran for Home District 83, defeating Democrat Pam Dunston and impartial Michael Danchuk. Two years later, he launched a bid for Senate District 25, masking Palm Seashore and Broward counties. Whereas operating unopposed within the major, Atwater confronted off towards long-time Democratic state Legal professional Normal Bob Butterworth within the basic. In a yr bolstered by the robust electoral efficiency of then-Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, Atwater solidly defeated Butterworth. He ran unopposed in 2004 and defeated Democrat Linda Chook in 2008. That yr, Atwater started a two-year time period as Senate President.
In 2010, Atwater turned Florida CFO, succeeding Democrat Alex Sink, and successful reelection 4 years later. Throughout his tenure as CFO, he labored intently with the insurance coverage business to battle fraud and abuse, using his intensive expertise as a banker. In 2017, the term-limited Atwater introduced he would step down as CFO 23 months early to turn out to be Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Chief Monetary Officer at Florida Atlantic College.
Past his substantial profession in public workplace, Atwater is a former President and CEO of the Barnett Bank of Broward County and President of Bank of America of Broward County.
“I am delighted to join Brian and the exceptionally talented group at Ballard Partners,” Atwater mentioned, “and I am looking forward to serving the firm’s clients in the banking and insurance industries and leading the firm’s Financial Services Group.”
Ballard Companions has persistently taken the No. 1 spot in state-level lobbying revenue quarter after quarter. Final week, their stories for the second quarter once more topped the chief board, displaying greater than $four million in earnings through the April by June reporting interval.
Over the previous 4 years, Ballard Companions has additionally established itself as a premier agency at each the nationwide and worldwide ranges.
Since increasing to the nation’s capital, the agency has shortly risen to the highest on Ok Street due to Brian Ballard’s ties to the Donald Trump administration. He chaired the Trump Victory group in Florida through the 2016 presidential election.
Their various roster of shoppers in Washington contains megacorporations similar to Amazon to upstarts similar to Atlantic Sapphire, a Miami-based aquaculture firm.
