FEDERAL AFFAIRS | Navigation for the complex and ever-changing federal landscape. Advance your mission and fund your projects by unlocking federal resources. We help you build and leverage relationships with members of Congress, their staff, regulators, and other federal stakeholders. Gained from years of Congressional staff experience, we know how to access federal resources like Community Project Funding, competitive grants, low-interest loans, and other funding sources that ease the burden on your budget and get your projects to construction.
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STATE AFFAIRS | Strategic advocacy and engagement at the state level. We promote your priorities through access to policymakers, agencies, and regulators. By understanding political dynamics and the broader context, we keep you at the table and in front of the right stakeholders at the right time. Whether you need legislative advocacy, regulatory engagement, grant assistance, or crisis management, we help you achieve your goals through tailored strategies and comprehensive support.
LOCAL RELATIONSHIPS | Connecting and collaborating with local stakeholders. Building and maintaining relationships with local governments, businesses, associations, and non-profits is key to tackling regional problems. We amplify your concerns to decision-makers and leverage your region’s collective strengths to achieve results. We help you strategize, connect, and mobilize your local partners to create positive change. Whether your focus is affordable housing, economic development, infrastructure investment, or policy change, strong local relationships are the cornerstone of thriving communities.
OUR APPROACH
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ACCESSIBLE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS | We are accessible and available to our clients, for questions big and small. We work to integrate into your organization by attending your events, board meetings, retreats, and community functions. Representing our clients starts with knowing our clients.
BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS | We map your stakeholders and do the intentional work of cultivating relationships with local leaders, elected officials, and organizations. Help your partners understand your mission, your challenges, and your agenda – and understand theirs – ideally before there’s an ask.
A STATE-BASED APPROACH | Good representation starts at home. We live and work in Hood River, Oregon and travel extensively throughout the Pacific Northwest to serve our clients and better understand our region. Local understanding brings important perspective to policy debates, in addition to time strategically spent in Washington D.C.
ABOUT DAN
Dan’s political career stretches back twenty years. In the seven years before founding Mahr Strategies, he worked for U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley where he focused on project funding, infrastructure, environment, labor relations, and helping local governments solve problems. Before that, he led a number campaigns in Oregon and across the country. Dan grew up in a small farming community in rural Iowa and has called Oregon home since 2009.