Charles L. Merin serves as Executive Vice President of Prime Policy Group and joins the firm from its predecessor, BKSH & Associates Worldwide, where he was a founding partner. He possesses more than 45 years of Washington experience, beginning with service as a congressional staffer. He began his career as a lobbyist in 1976.
Chuck has established himself as the premier lobbyist for service industry interests in Washington. His many clients include: the National Restaurant Association; Dunkin’ Brands, Inc.; National Retail Federation; International Franchise Association; Loews Corporation; Home Instead Senior Care; Littler’s Workplace Policy Institute; the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association; and Commisimpex.
Chuck has previously represented the American Hotel and Lodging Association; the Coca-Cola Company; the National Football League; the International Council of Shopping Centers; Marriott International; served as President of the Travel Business Roundtable; the U.S. Travel Association; and many more.
He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Business for Diplomatic Action, an initiative begun in 2001 to improve American business diplomacy; the Board of America’s Trust, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy organization that aims to bridge partisan and other divisions in order to better address the challenges facing the United States; and as a member of the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s “Strengthening America’s Global Engagement” initiative. Chuck is a member of the Board of Advisers of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University.
Chuck is an expert in building legislative coalitions and helping clients forge effective, long-term relationships on Capitol Hill. He is perhaps best known for his close affiliation with the Blue Dog Coalition, an alliance of more than two dozen pro-business, conservative House Democrats whose votes are much coveted. In 1999, the Blue Dog Coalition made Chuck an honorary Blue Dog in recognition of his role as a counselor since their inception in December 1994. National Journal has recognized him as one of Washington’s leading Democratic lobbyists, in part a reflection of his closeness to this key bloc of votes. Prominent political analyst Charlie Cook once described Chuck as “one of Washington’s more perceptive lobbyists.”
Chuck has also represented labor, senior citizen, and business trade association interests. During the last two years of the Carter Administration, he was principal liaison between the public and private sectors on a Social Security study conducted under Congressional mandate by the then-Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in history and a Master’s degree in international relations from the George Washington University. Chuck is married to Sandy Merin and has two grown children. He lives in Falls Church, Virginia.
