Charles H. "Chip" Gerhardt, III, is President and Founder of Government Strategies Group, LLC and Development Strategies Group, LLC. Chip has an extensive background in the fields of economic development, government affairs and issues advocacy. He has worked in these areas both in the private and public sectors, and on local, state and Federal levels.
Mr. Gerhardt has been active in politics for many years on the local, state and federal levels. He is the former Vice Chairman of the Hamilton County Republican Party and a veteran of numerous campaigns. He was instrumental in the success of Issue 4, which brought the strong mayor form of government back to Cincinnati, was involved in SW Ohio efforts supporting Issue 3 – the state ballot issue that approved four casinos in Ohio. Most recently, Mr. Gerhardt was involved in several statewide campaigns including John Kasich for Governor, Josh Mandel for Treasurer and Mike DeWine for Attorney General. He also supported fundraising efforts for the McCain-Palin and Bush-Cheney campaigns in Ohio.
Active on many boards, Mr. Gerhardt serves on the Hamilton County Board of Elections, the Clermont Chamber of Commerce, the Saint Xavier Advancement Committee and is chair of the board for the National Down Syndrome Society. Mr. Gerhardt has served on the boards of the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanic Garden, the Cincinnati Museum Center and the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority.
Prior to forming GSG, Mr. Gerhardt was Vice President of KMK Consulting Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keating, Muething and Klekamp, a major Cincinnati law firm. While at KMK, he led the firm's government affairs practice.
Mr. Gerhardt also spent three and a half years at Cinergy (now Duke Energy), a large Midwestern public utility, in the areas of economic development, public strategies and community affairs. He was part of the team which successfully lobbied to bring competition to the electric industry in Ohio. He also worked with the company's non-regulated affiliates on a number of significant projects.
Mr. Gerhardt served in the administration of Ohio Governor George Voinovich as Deputy Director of the Governor's Regional Economic Development Offices. In this capacity, he facilitated private sector expansion, retention and relocation within Ohio by coordinating tax, training, technical, legal and financial incentives offered by the state. He was also instrumental in the creation of economic development incentives, known as Ohio's "Jobs Bills," which lowered the cost of doing business in the State of Ohio. Chip was part of the team that created Ohio's Transportation Review Advisory Council (TRAC) and served on the Council for eleven years.
Mr. Gerhardt received his B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Notre Dame and his Juris Doctor from the St. Louis University School of Law. He resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with his wife, Jane, and their three children.