State and Federal Communications held its 5th Annual Halloween Donut and Cider Sale today in the lobby of our office. It was all for the good cause of helping our friends at United Way of Summit County.

We knew we couldn’t host a Halloween sale without a few wacky costumes, so our office party was “pay-to-play,” with a $5 entry to star in our costumes-of-choice.

Take a look at some of the office revelry:

State and Federal Communications is always a supporter of our Northeast Ohio treasure, WKSU.

This year we are proud to be a sponsor of WKSU’s coverage of Election 2014!

With each election, the company’s President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz encourages greater voter-turnout: “Exercise your right to vote! It is your personal opportunity to be heard!”

The WKSU Election 2014 page aptly says: “Even though 2014 is not a Presidential Election year, there are many important races throughout Northeast Ohio and across the state. The WKSU newsroom will offer in-depth coverage of the races and issues that affect the region.”

On Friday, October 31 State and Federal Communications is hosting its fifth annual Halloween Donut and Apple Cider sale. All proceeds will benefit the United Way of Summit County.

Drop in and say hello from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and enjoy a delicious treat. We’ll be in the lobby of 80 South Summit St. in Downtown Akron, across from Quaker Square.

The Krispy Kreme donuts are $1.00 per donut or $7.00 per dozen. The apple cider will be $1.00 per cup or $8.00 per gallon.

To reserve your donuts, you can email Joe May at jmay@stateandfed.com, or call us at 330-761-9960.

The October Akron Roundtable luncheon featured Kent State University President Dr. Beverly Warren. Dr. Warren adjusted her scheduled presentation “Reflections from a New Northeast Ohioan” to address the dramatic events of the past 24 hours revolving around the Ebola crisis. She discussed the university’s crucial role in providing health professionals who are on the front lines meeting the health needs of the community and offered her vision for the future of Kent State University.

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is Vice President of the Kent State University Alumni Board of Directors and enjoyed a visit with Dr. Warren at Akron Roundtable.

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of State and Federal Communications, was honored recently by the Akron Urban League as one of seven awardees named Women of Power for 2014.

According to the organization’s website, “Women of Power Awards are granted to women who have made a difference in the organizations where they work and also to the community at-large.”

The Akron Urban League is a non-profit working very hard to “improve the economic, cultural, social, educational, and recreational conditions affecting all citizens of Summit County, particularly African Americans, other minorities, and those most in need.”

A luncheon will be held at the Akron Urban League on November 6, 2014.

Congratulations, Elizabeth!

State and Federal Communications is a proud sponsor of the 2014 Akron Marathon, which will be held on Saturday, September 27. You can see our banner right in front of Canal Park’s Team Shop. We wish all the participants a wonderful experience. Good luck!

 Here are a pair of photos from the International BIO International Convention in San Diego, California.

On the third Thursday of each month, State and Federal Communications attends the Akron Roundtable luncheons. However, July 17th was a special day for us. The luncheon featured keynote speaker Diane Laney Fitzpatrick, author of the book Home Sweet Homes: How Bundt Cakes, Bubble Wrap, and My Accent Helped Me Survive Nine Moves.
 Our President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz, a dear friend and fellow Kent State alum of Fitzpatrick, introduced the Ohio native at the Roundtable to talk about how “The Journey of a Thousand Miles… is for Amateurs” and just how she has redefined the meaning of “stay-at-home-mom.” The entire audience was often thrown into spells of laughter as Fitzpatrick comically recalled the eight lessons she learned through her 7,000 mile journey across the states.

Immediately following the program, State and Federal Communications hosted a reception for the speaker, held on the second floor of our building. A large portion of the crowd from the Roundtable luncheon attended the gathering and enjoyed the refreshments as well as a second opportunity to talk with Fitzpatrick. Towards the end of the reception, Elizabeth presented the speaker a Greater Akron book with a spread featuring State and Federal Communications. It was the perfect gift for Fitzpatrick to keep Akron in the back of her mind just in case she ever wants to return!

The State and Federal Communications Research Department had the privilege of hosting Latoya Peterson, an extern from the University of Akron School of Law, this semester. We challenged her with a variety of projects, but most of her focus was on helping us identify and summarize legislation affecting the areas of lobbying laws, campaign finance, and procurement lobbying. The beginning of the year in particular has an especially large volume of bills and Latoya assisted the department’s research associates with the workload.

Latoya had worked in the Ohio General Assembly and already had a background in government affairs, so she had no problem picking up what kinds of bills we wanted to track. She was also able to quickly learn the fine details of working in our database and then she was off and running!

It was a pleasure to have Latoya work with us over the past few months. Hopefully we’ll be blessed with her positive energy again.

State and Federal Communications proudly sponsored today’s Akron Roundtable luncheon at the Quaker Station in Akron, Ohio. “Bringing the World to Akron” is the motto of this crucial speaker series and today’s event was one of the best.

Elizabeth Bartz, president and CEO of the company, introduced the distinguished speakers, Ohio State Senator Frank LaRose and former State Representative Ted Celeste. Their topic was timely and well-needed: “Building Trust Through Civil Discourse.”

The discussion was amazing. You can listen to the Akron Roundtable broadcast this evening on 89.7 WKSU at 8:00 p.m.

Elizabeth Bartz, our president and CEO, invited me to attend Project Grad’s Achieving Dreams Celebration along with a team from our company. This is the first time I have attended the dinner-fundraiser and I admit I was not familiar with Project Grad’s work in Akron. I certainly am familiar now.

Project Grad’s website describes their aim as follows: “The mission of the program is to ensure a quality public school education for all at-risk children in economically disadvantaged communities so that high school graduation rates increase; graduates are closing the achievement gap and preparing to enter and be successful in college.”

I was amazed by the work of this organization – since 2006, they have awarded $1,300,000 in scholarships to Buchtel High School graduating seniors. I heard compelling testimonies by award recipients and former students. I felt proud that our company, State and Federal Communications, is a part of this effort by contributing money and auction items. Elizabeth Bartz was also a member of the Achieving Dreams Steering Committee this year.

Enjoy this picture of John Chames and Elizabeth Bartz at the Achieving Dreams event last night.

WKSU 89.7 FM invited Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, to record a radio spot congratulating the station for awards it has received this year. She had a great time doing it and brought along five of her interns so they could see the magical inner workings of WKSU’s Akron studio.

State and Federal Communications is a proud sponsor of WKSU. It is a great radio station and a treasure for Northeast Ohio. Their motto is “NPR. Classical. Other smart stuff.” Elizabeth’s testimonial falls under the category of “Other smart stuff.”

Take a look!

Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic offers his congratulations to State and Federal Communications on its 20th Anniversary! We thank the mayor, who is a longtime friend of Elizabeth Bartz, for taking a moment amid a busy schedule to offer his thoughts: