Adams and Reese attorney Blake Hardwich has been elected to serve as a new member of the National Waterways Conference's (NWC) Board of Directors.
As Secretary-Treasurer of the Coalition of Alabama Waterway Associations, Hardwich will represent Associations on the NWC's Board for a term ending in September 2022 as part of the organization's 45-member Board of Directors.
The National Waterways Conference aims to implement common-sense policies and programs, recognizing the public value of our Nation’s water resources and their contribution to public safety, a competitive economy, national security, environmental quality and energy conservation.
Hardwich advises clients on legislative and regulatory issues facing Alabama businesses. She has deep experience in Alabama government, having served as Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor of Alabama. In this role, she advised on legislative matters, public policy initiatives, strategic planning efforts, and administrative initiatives. In addition, she has been an advocate for private sector organizations, articulating their messages and needs to legislative and regulatory bodies at the local, state, federal level, and in judicial proceedings. She has worked to build grassroots coalitions at the local, state, and federal levels.
She has provided government relations advice to clients in the energy industry, including oil, gas, and electricity producers and distributors, as well as organizations in the manufacturing and education sectors.
Prior to her government service, Hardwich served as Director of The Alabama Prosperity Project, a joint venture of trade association Manufacture Alabama and the Washington, D.C.-based Business-Industry Political Action Committee, or BIPAC, to encourage business and employee participation in the public policy process. She also served as Director of External Affairs for Manufacture Alabama, Alabama’s only trade association dedicated exclusively to the competitive, legislative, regulatory, and operational interests and needs of manufacturers and their partner businesses and industries.