David Eichenthal Joins PFM Group as Senior Managing Consultant in Strategic Consulting Practice

PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 26, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- PFM Group, the nation's leading provider of independent financial and investment advisory services to state and local governments and non-profit entities, announced today that David Eichenthal, former President and CEO of the Ochs Center for Metropolitan Studies and a former senior local government official in New York City and Tennessee, has joined PFM as a Senior Managing Consultant as part of the firm's Strategic Consulting practice.  Eichenthal will work with state and local governments to improve their management and budget performance in these challenging economic times.

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"We are very pleased to have a seasoned professional with David Eichenthal's background, national credentials and knowledge base join PFM," said Michael Nadol, a PFM Managing Director and head of the firm's Strategic Consulting practice.  "As governments struggle to improve efficiency, accountability, and performance while trying to lower costs to their taxpayers, David's insights will prove invaluable."

"I am very excited about joining PFM's efforts to assist state and municipal governments all over the nation as they struggle to provide services to their taxpayers in this difficult economic environment," Mr. Eichenthal stated. "State and local governments face the challenge of becoming both smaller and smarter.  I look forward to working with my colleagues at PFM, using my experience to help our clients achieve these goals."

Eichenthal will lead PFM's new office in Chattanooga, Tennessee located in Miller Plaza, in the heart of downtown Chattanooga. He is completing work as the lead on a PFM study of operational efficiency and effectiveness in the New Orleans Fire Department and has recently launched a study of fire service funding and operations for the City of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee.   Kelly Kennedy, a recent graduate of the University of Chicago, will join Eichenthal as a Consultant on the initial staff of the Chattanooga office.

"This is PFM's second office in Tennessee, adding to our strong presence in Memphis," noted PFM Managing Director Lisa Daniel. "We see the Southeast as an excellent area of opportunity for David to bring his experience and knowledge to better serve our clients," she added. "David Eichenthal and other professionals in our strategic consulting area have provided significant value to our clients in the mid-south over the past 10 years, and we look forward to the opportunities for efficiency and ideas toward best practices that he can bring to municipalities throughout Tennessee and other Southeast states."

Under Eichenthal's leadership of the Ochs Center from 2005 (then the Community Research Council) to 2011, the Center worked at a national level with the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, International City and County Management Association and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  He also served as a Nonresident Senior Fellow with the Brookings Institution Metropolitan Policy Program.

Prior to joining The Ochs Center in 2005, Eichenthal was the Finance Officer for the City of Chattanooga.  In addition to City Finance Officer, he also held the position of Director of the Office of Performance Review, and was appointed by the Mayor as Chairman of the General Pension Plan for the City of Chattanooga, Chair of the Regional Interagency Council on Homelessness, and President of the Chattanooga Downtown Redevelopment Corporation.

Previously, Eichenthal was Chief of Staff to the New York City Public Advocate, the city's second highest elected official.  He also served as Chief of Policy, Assistant Advocate for Research and Investigation, and represented the Public Advocate on the Audit Committee of the City of New York.  Eichenthal also held the positions of Assistant Inspector General for Policy in the New York City School Construction Authority and Assistant Deputy Comptroller for Policy/Counsel for Special Projects and Director of the Board of Estimate Staff in the Office of the Comptroller for the City of New York.

He has taught at the Wagner School of Public Service at NYU, Georgia State University, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Baruch College School of Public Affairs.  During the 2011-2012 year, he will be a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at New York University School of Law.

David Eichenthal received his J.D. at the New York University School of Law and a BA degree from the University of Chicago in Public Policy Studies, cum laude.  He was a Harry S. Truman Scholar, New York State and has been admitted to practice law in the states of Tennessee and New York. He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with his wife, Bea Lurie, daughter Emily, and son  Seth, who is a student at the University of Virginia.

SOURCE The PFM Group