WASHINGTON, DC—Capitol Hill veteran Michael Gruber has joined The Grocery Manufacturers Association as vice president of federal affairs. He joins GMA from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce where he currently serves as senior policy advisor, acting as primary budget and appropriations policy advisor to the Committee and as liaison to the Congressional Budget Office and House Budget Committee. Earlier, he worked for Rep. Tom Latham (R-Ia.) for more than eight years, first as chief of staff, and later as appropriations associate.

SUGAR LAND, TX—CVR Energy, a refiner and marketer of petroleum fuels and majority owner in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturer CVR partners, has named Angela Dasbach vice president of corporate affairs. She joined CVR Energy predecessor Coffeyville Resources in 2004 as director of corporate affairs and has been intimately involved with all aspects of the company’s corporate public relations, communications, advertising and community relations programs since then. Prior to joining CVR Energy, Dasbach was a senior communications specialist at Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

WASHINGTON, DC—The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an independent regulator for securities firms, has hired Greg Ahern as executive vice president for corporate communications and government relations, responsible for media, government relations, and investor education programs, and FINRA's editorial production, design, and multimedia communications services. Ahern is currently chief public communications officer for the Investment Company Institute, the mutual fund industry trade association.

NEW YORK—Marcum, a national accounting and advisory firm, has appointed Julie Gross Gelfand as its first director of public relations and communications and will play an integral role on the firm’s senior marketing team, with responsibility for public relations programs to elevate the firm’s brand awareness nationally and in regional markets. Previously, Gross Gelfand was executive vice president and director of public relations at Harrison Leifer DiMarco, where her clients included banks, risk managers, accounting firms, insurance companies and others.

NEW YORK—Broadcast Music has appointed Silvia Davi as vice president and head of strategic communications and marketing. She will oversee public relations, branding, social media, internal communications, corporate marketing and online communications. She joins BMI after serving as VP and head of corporate communications and brand at professional services firm Marsh & McLennan Companies. Earlier, she spent eight years at NASDAQ OMX as vice president, corporate communications and head of global broadcast media strategy.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC—BlueStripe Software, a leader in application and transaction monitoring for IT operations, has added David Mountain as vice president of marketing communications. Previously, Mountain led the development of marketing programs for Qlik Technologies and worked at Thomson Reuters.