WASHINGTON, DC—Continuing a trend that has seen WPP merge several of its specialty public affairs shops with full-service public relations agencies, government relations firm Dewey Square Group is becoming a Hill+Knowlton Strategies company.

H+K Strategies is itself a product of the merger between Hill & Knowlton and public affairs consultancy Public Strategies, Inc., and the new merger will add further depth and breadth to H+K’s Washington, DC, operations and its public affairs capabilities.

One immediate result will be that Joe Eyer, director of DSG’s grassroots team, will become head of H+K's global public affairs practice. Eyer previously served as deputy campaign manager and director of political affairs for Senator Joe Lieberman's presidential campaign and was an integral part of former Vice President Al Gore's political operation, beginning in the White House, then shifting to Gore's leadership PAC before finally joining his campaign for president.

DSG, which became part of WPP Group in 2006, will maintain its own brand and continue to operate under its current leadership, with chairman Chuck Campion at the helm. But it will work alongside Public Strategies and lobbying firm Wexler & Walker to provide a full-service approach to public policy issues.

The firm has seven offices across the country, and according to H+K Strategies global chairman Jack Martin in a memo to staff, those offices “will help us expand our reach to new markets including Boston, Detroit and Sacramento, and solidify our position in others…. [I] am confident this collaboration will bring great success, expanded capabilities and creative solutions to the firm and its clients.”