State and Federal Communications is a big fan of the Akron Roundtable and we attend their speaker series luncheon each month. “Bringing the World to Akron” is the Roundtable’s motto, and for us this is especially true this month.

We are very proud to sponsor this month’s speaker, David Adkins, who is the Executive Director and CEO of the Council of State Governments (CSG). Mr. Adkins will be speaking on “The State of the States” with insight and perspectives you can find nowhere else!

CSG is the only nonpartisan, nonprofit organization serving all three branches of government.

Following the Akron Roundtable luncheon, State and Federal Communications will be offering a warm Akron reception honoring Mr. Adkins. The reception will take place from 1:15 to 3:30 at our office located across the street from the Quaker Station at 80 South Summit Street, Suite 100, Akron.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Alexis Pope at 330-761-9960.

Elizabeth Bartz recently was one of the recipients of the Distinguished Sales and Marketing Award from Sales & Marketing Executives International (SMEI). Ms. Bartz was lauded not only for her tremendous achievements at State and Federal Communications, but also for her many efforts to support and promote the greater Akron community.

The event, which was held at The Tangier restaurant in Akron, honored Dr. Frank L. Douglas, President and CEO, Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron with the Executive of the Year Award.

Congratulations to Elizabeth and to all who were honored by SMEI!

One of the first events I attended when I moved to Akron in 1993 was Akron Roundtable. It was a bargain at $6 for a great lunch, great speaker, and we even had a silent prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. I lived in the DC area for 12 years and never started a program with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Now, 20 years later I serve on this great board. Akron Roundtable was started in 1976 as a community forum to encourage and bring bold, creative, and new ideas to the region. To date, more than 400 major corporate executives, writers, government officials, artists, and civic leaders from around the country have addressed the Akron Roundtable audience.

And, on April 18th, we will have David Adkins, Executive Director of the Council of State Governments, as our speaker. CSG is the country’s only organization serving all three branches of state government. It is a region-based forum, which fosters the exchange of insight and ideas to help state officials shape public policy. David is a former Kansas state senator and served as vice chancellor for External Affairs at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

Many of us know David from our work with State Government Affairs Council and being a CSG Associate. This is the first time CSG has been represented at Akron Roundtable.

State and Federal Communications will hold a reception for David Adkins and the CSG family after the Akron Roundtable program. Its offices are across the street from the event. For more information about attending the program go to www.akronroundtable.org.

Until next month, make your reservations to be in Akron on April 18th. It will be a great day with David in town. And, if you have to spend the night—and who wouldn’t want to—John Lithgow is part of the University of Akron’s speaker series that evening at EJ Thomas Hall. If we can be of assistance in planning your day, please do not hesitate to contact me at ebartz@stateandfed.com.

Thank you.

Elizabeth Bartz

President and CEO, State and Federal Communications

This holiday season the staff of State and Federal Communications participated in a giving tree with bit of a different aim. We worked with Summit County Children Services and their Emancipating Youth Program to help outfit apartments for children who reach adult age and will no longer receive services from the agency.

The wish list we were filling were all practical things – the things anyone would need to run a house – pots and pans, towels, lamps, kitchen items, cleaning supplies, etc. Children who have been receiving help from Children Services often become a forgotten group as soon as they reach adult age. This program helps each one of them get some of the things they need to start running their own home.

Thank you, Summit County Children Services, for this crucial program. We felt it was a privilege to do our part to help!

Akron City Council has increased the city’s campaign contribution limits, to take effect for the council elections in 2013.

The limit for mayoral and at-large candidates will increase to $650 from $450, and the limits for ward council candidates will increase to $400 from the current $200 limit.

The limits were previously raised in February 2011.

In an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for “the greatest number of people playing cornhole in the same competition” the United Way of Summit County invited local area businesses and residents to Lock 3 Park in Akron to participate in a lunchtime event. With a reported total of 258 participants, the United Way estimates that indeed a new record was set and submitted the information to the Guinness World Record organization.

State and Federal Communications sent five teams to the tournament with hopes of bringing home a first prize of $100 and two custom made United Way Cornhole Board sets. State and Federal’s teams of Amber Fish-Linke and Sarah Gray, Myra Cottrill and Becky Campbell, Michael Beckett and Shamus Williams, John Cozine and Steve Quinn, and Jen Zona and Jon Spontarelli each competed alongside a deep field of Akron’s best tossers. While we were unsuccessful in our bid to win the tournament, State and Federal was proud to be a part of what could be a new Guinness World Record.

As our intern Joanna Kamvouris wrote in June, State and Federal Communications adopted a planter on the sidewalk outside the office at the corner of Mill Street and South Union in downtown Akron. The project is part of a larger beautification effort throughout the city by two organizations – Keep Akron Beautiful and the Downtown Akron Partnership.

We send a big thank you to IT Assistant Ken Kelewae and his wife, who selected and arranged the plants. The amazing transformation is also thanks to IT Assistant David Jones, who helped in watering and attending to the plants all summer. We are rather proud of the results! Here are the “before and after” pictures:

President Barack Obama is coming to speak on August 1, 2012 at the John S. Knight Center in downtown Akron. Here is a picture of our excited interns, who were waiting in line to get tickets at the center.

On Fridays during the summer (June 1- August 31), our neighbors at the John S. Knight Center host an outdoor café called “JSK Café”.   This is a flame-broiled event, often with a line around the building.   Chefs serving up burgers, pulled pork and other grilled delights greet the Akronites’ appetites.   At the sidewalk location on the corner of E. Mill St and S. High St, you are provided with a condiment bar to please any palate.

Elizabeth Bartz has purchased coupons for the staff of State and Federal Communications to be able to enjoy the delicious lunch opportunity and the fantastic Northeast Ohio summer weather.   Today, I joined many of the staff and walked down the block to enjoy lunch.    I have recently moved back to the Akron area after living in Austin, Texas for over seven years and love that I am becoming reacquainted with Akron.   I was excited to hear a unique but familiar sound overhead, yes, the iconic Goodyear Blimp made a flight over Downtown Akron.  Take a look at the photos:

As cars and crowds pass by the offices of State and Federal Communications, a vibrant flower arrangement sits peacefully on the corner of South Summit and East Mill Street. At a glance, this may seem like just an ordinary arrangement of white, green, purple and red plants growing from a large, blue pot. But this delicate flower arrangement represents the pride of a company and the intricate beauty of its surrounding city.

Through a program sponsored by the Downtown Akron Partnership, State and Federal Communications, under President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz adopted a flower pot to decorate outside the company building. The Keep Akron Beautiful program is sponsored to plan and maintain flower arrangements throughout the city of Akron.

On June 2, ambassadors representing the Downtown Akron Partnership decorated a large, concrete flower pot in front of the building. That’s when IT Assistant Ken Kelewae of State and Federal Communications along with his wife, chose the arrangement of flowers to plant in the pot.

“My wife helped me in choosing the color arrangements of the plants to put in the pot,” Kelewae said.  “I painted it a solid color and topped off the pot with a layer of soil before I planted.”

Every morning an ambassador from the Akron Partnership makes a quick stop at State and Federal Communications to water the adopted flower arrangement.  Kelewae, along with his co-worker, IT Assistant David Jones, checks on the plants daily and gives them extra water toward the end of the day on Fridays.

“We wait until after 10:00 a.m. every day to check on the plants and make sure they’ve been watered,” Kelewae said.

From species of Sedum to the snow-white leaves of the Dusty Miller plants, State and Federal Communication’s adopted flower pot provides a colorful contrast to the brick buildings and black pavement along Summit Street.

“I think as active as Elizabeth is in the city and with the Chamber, it just shows how we’re involved and that we care how things appear,” Kelewae said.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, was recently the master of ceremonies for a parish banquet recognizing the achievements of the church’s recent graduates. The event was held on Sunday, June 10, 2012 at Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Akron, Ohio.

The keynote speaker for the banquet was Dr. Lester Lefton, President of Kent State University.

State and Federal Communications will be attending the State of the County Address for Summit County, Ohio.

Summit County Executive Russel M. Pry will be delivering his fifth address today at 11:30 in the John S. Knight Center in Akron, Ohio.

State and Federal Communications was proud to be a Gold Sponsor at the Greater Akron Chamber’s 105th Annual Meeting. The event gave the Greater Akron Chamber the opportunity to highlight the many ways it is working to promote growth, innovation, and cooperation in our region.

Steve Marks, Co-CEO of Main Street Gourmet and founder of the Akron Marathon, was the recipient of the H. Peter Burg Award.

Elizabeth Bartz, President and CEO of State and Federal Communications, is a member of the Greater Akron Chamber’s Board of Directors.

Eric Nuzum, Vice President for Programming at National Public Radio, spoke today at The Akron Roundtable. In his presentation – “Dare to Listen” – Nuzum gave the audience a bit of his background from his days attending Kent State University and working at WKSU before heading to Washington D.C. to work for NPR. He also spoke about the importance and resilience of radio at a time of great changes in media.

As public and political discourse has often become polarizing, extreme, and perhaps even uncivil, Eric Nuzum stressed the need for each of us listen to each other and especially to listen to those who may have a different perspective than our own.

Thank you Eric and thank you Akron Roundtable for offering us such an energizing and uplifting talk!

The presentation will be broadcast tonight at 7:00 PM on 89.7 WKSU.