TALLAHASSEE, Fla., March 2, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Butler Snow LLP has formed an economic development firm, VisionFirst Advisors, to assist public and private entities with both challenges and opportunities in economic development.
VisionFirst Advisors will provide strategic analysis and identify market opportunities for organizations and serve as frontline advocates, strategists, and negotiators for complex location and site selection decisions.
Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour will serve as chairman, and former Florida Sec. of Commerce Gray Swoope will serve as president and chief executive officer. Anchored by these progressive leaders, VisionFirst Advisors will apply a philosophy of developing strategy, creating action plans and driving toward results to resolve complex economic development matters.
"This is an exciting opportunity for our firm and our clients with economic development needs nationally and internationally. VisionFirst Advisors will be led by two of the most experienced and successful economic development strategists in the marketplace," said Donald Clark, Jr., chairman of Butler Snow.
"With Butler Snow's success in the legal industry, combined with its longstanding work with government and corporate entities for economic development projects, VisionFirst Advisors will have great depth to serve clients," Barbour said. "I am very pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Gray Swoope again. His leadership in Mississippi was well recognized and, his most recent accomplishments in Florida were equally impressive. Gray knows economic development and he understands business and this will pay big dividends for clients."
As a subsidiary of Butler Snow – with client representation throughout the United States as well as internationally in more than 30 countries around the globe – this partnership gives VisionFirst Advisors national and international reach.
"I am thrilled that Butler Snow's leadership has created VisionFirst Advisors to provide additional service offerings to clients," said Swoope. "I think this platform gives both Governor Barbour and me an opportunity to utilize our collective talents along with Butler Snow's, to create a unique economic development firm. Our goal is to offer a revolutionary approach in the marketplace to create meaningful strategies that drive results."
VisionFirst Advisors' new Tallahassee office is located at 113 South Monroe Street, Suite 121, Tallahassee, Fla., 32301.
About VisionFirst Advisors
From strategy to results, VisionFirst Advisors applies proven expertise resolving today's complex economic development issues facing businesses, government and organizations. VisionFirst Advisors leverages its expansive network of key connections, matching resources to needs, and generating results. The firm's alignment with Butler Snow, with client representation in all 50 U.S. States, and more than 20 countries globally, provides both national and international reach and valuable expertise. For more information, visit www.visionfirstadvisors.com
About Butler Snow
Butler Snow is a full-service law firm with more than 300 attorneys representing local, regional, national and international clients from 17 offices within the United States and an international office in London. Ranked as one of America's Top 100 law firms in the BTI Power Rankings, Butler Snow is recognized as one of the nation's top law firms for client service. The firm was recently ranked 48th out of 650 firms in the BTI Client Relationship Scorecard for understanding our client's business, anticipating client's needs, unprompted communication, legal skills, quality and keeping clients informed. Butler Snow is also ranked No. 141 in the NLJ 350. For more information, visit www.butlersnow.com or follow Butler Snow on Twitter @Butler_Snow.