As 2024 comes to a close, Public Policy Associates CEO Rob Fowler has good reason to be upbeat about the path forward.
The company has added highly skilled researchers to its staff and expanded its research portfolio. PPA already has as much work under contract for 2025 as it had in all of 2024, with “a robust pipeline of new opportunities.”
“We have made investments in people, technology and marketing that have paid off as this year progressed,” Mr. Fowler said. “It has put us in a position where I am extremely optimistic about next year.”
The investments in personnel include two new Ph.D. researchers. Dr. Meg Chamberlin is a project manager with 15 years of research and policy experience. Dr. Imani Burris is a research associate I who worked as a graduate intern at PPA while finishing his doctoral work at the University of Michigan.
Mr. Fowler says PPA now has seven Ph.D. researchers on a staff with exceptional knowledge and research skills. “I would say the quality of the PPA team is as good as it’s ever been and is the smartest group of people I have been around in my life.”
PPA’s investments in technology include a new website that reflects the company’s modernized look and brand. New web analytics provide insights into who visits publicpolicy.com and what interests them. PPA has also subscribed to a service that tracks governmental and education contract opportunities.
PPA has also built its presence by sponsoring organizations’ events as well as speaking at and attending conferences. For the first time, PPA hosted a reception at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference, the state’s largest policy gathering of movers and shakers. It will do so again in 2025.
A large portion of PPA’s work has centered on child care and early childhood education. The work responds to the stresses those systems are under. “Early childhood education is unaffordable, not accessible to a lot of people. People drop out of the workforce. Child care workers are underpaid, and as a result, there’s high turnover,” Mr. Fowler said. “We have a lot of clients in that space.”
PPA continues to have a significant presence in the K-12 policy and food policy arenas. It has expanded its work on homelessness, with projects in Lansing and Colorado. “The justice space is also an area where we have new clients and some pending possibilities both inside and outside the state of Michigan,” he said.
In 2025, PPA Chief Strategy Officer Daniel Quinn will lead an effort to expand business in other states, while recognizing that the company is a Michigan-centric organization. “We won’t be doing less in Michigan. We hope to grow by doing more in other states, based on what we know in Michigan,” Mr. Fowler said.
PPA has had a long-standing commitment to equity; many of its researchers have strong skill sets and deep passions. The company is creating an equity team led by Research Associate II Callie Reichel, whose areas of expertise include creating equitable systems change and the impact of policy on diverse populations.
“Our clients care deeply about equity and public policy. There is a language that our clients use that we must know, there are public policy issues that we must know. There are techniques that get to voices that sometimes are overlooked,” Mr. Fowler said. “This is an effort for us to both walk the walk, and to really be thought leaders.”
While some companies have begun requiring employees to return to offices post-pandemic, Mr. Fowler says that PPA is fully committed to operating as a virtual firm. Over the past few years, the company has hired talented researchers who choose to live elsewhere.
The 2024 elections will result in political changes in Michigan and nationally that will affect PPA clients. “Whether we like the change, or don’t like the change, there are going to be different conversations about public policy, and there are going to be opportunities to think differently about how policy coming out of Washington or Lansing is going to affect our clients,” Mr. Fowler said. “Whenever there is change, there is opportunity in our business.”