WASHINGTON, DC—Ben Finzel joined Waggener Edstrom Worldwide as senior vice president, public affairs and general manager of the Washington, DC, office. Finzel brings more than 20 years of communications and public affairs experience to the firm, having served in the Clinton administration and as a press and legislative staffer for two members of Congress.

Finzel will lead the firm’s public affairs practice, a Washington, DC-based group that manages policy issues for corporate clients, trade associations and advocacy groups. Reporting to Colleen Beauregard, senior vice president, general manager of the northeast region, he is charged with growing the agency’s presence in the DC area.

Finzel joins WE from Widmeyer Communications, where he managed the public affairs practice and focused on issues including the economy, energy and the environment, working with clients including the American Energy Innovation Council, the National Association for the Self-Employed and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Previously, he led media relations teams on the launch of a worldwide conservation program for the Worldwide Fund for Nature, on the release of the Combat Climate Change report in Washington, DC, and on the opening of the first publicly accessible hydrogen refueling station in the United States with Shell Hydrogen and General Motors.

At the US Department of Energy during the Clinton administration, Finzel managed communications for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.