MEDIA ADVISORY: Heartland Institute Opens Ohio Office

Published June 23, 2011

June 23, 2011 – COLUMBUS, OH – The Heartland Institute, a national think tank with offices in Chicago, Washington, DC, Tallahassee, Florida, and Austin, Texas, today announced the opening of a fifth office in Columbus, Ohio.

Alan B. Smith will head the new office and coordinate efforts to advance Heartland’s free-market agenda in the state. Smith, a former executive director of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), previously worked for the Ohio legislature. The office also will be part of Heartland’s Center for Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (CFIRE).

“Although Alan knows state lawmakers in practically every state, he has spent the bulk of his professional life in Ohio,” said Eli Lehrer, vice president of Washington, DC operations for Heartland and national director of CFIRE. “He’s the best possible person I could think of to advance our message in Columbus.”

“I used Heartland materials for years before I was affiliated with this acclaimed organization,” said Smith, an Ohio native. “Their quick response to issues of the day with accurate and useful information is invaluable.”

Smith has been a Heartland senior fellow since 2009 and will continue in that role. Prior to serving as executive director of ALEC, the nation’s largest individual membership association of state legislators, he served as a representative of an ALEC member company and member of ALEC’s Private Enterprise Board.

During a career in corporate public affairs, Smith worked with the Council of State Governments, National Conference of State Legislatures, and State Government Affairs Council. Prior to that, he served as minority counsel to the Ohio House of Representatives, head of the enforcement section of the Ohio Division of Securities, and as a special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Smith can be reached at 614/893-9999, email [email protected].

The Heartland Institute is a 27-year-old national nonprofit organization. Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems. For more information, visit our Web site at http://www.heartland.org, email [email protected], or call 312/377-4000. For more information about the Center on Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate, call 202/525-5717 or email [email protected].