ProfNet Experts Available on TPP11 Trade Pact, Infrastructure, More

NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area.

You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network – it's easy and free. Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform

EXPERT ALERTS

• TPP11 Trade Pact, Trump Administration Tariffs
• Politics and Power
• Private Equity Firm Employment
• Sureties Play a Vital Role in Infrastructure Projects
• Creating a Respectful Workplace

MEDIA JOBS

• Financial Services Reporter – POLITICO Pro (VA)
• Enterprising Tech Reporter – Communications Daily (DC)
• Editor – PFM (NY)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES

• 11 Nonprofit News Sites That Are Using Investigative Storytelling to Rebalance the News
• Media Insider: Americans Losing Faith in News Industry
• Blog Profiles: Consumer Electronics Blogs

EXPERT ALERTS:

TPP11 Trade Pact, Trump Administration Tariffs
Raj Bhala
Brenneisen Distinguished Professor
University of Kansas
Bhala can discuss the new TPP11 trade pact and the Trump administration's tariffs on washing machines and solar panels, as well as related issues. Says Bhala: "America leaves itself behind, both on economic and national security issues, by staying out of TPP. That the other 11 countries are willing to go forward on this comprehensive free trade agreement indicates they lack faith in, or do not need, America's leadership on these issues, and are willing to rebuke openly the trade policies of the Trump administration."
Bhala is the author of "TPP Objectively: Law, Economics and National Security of History's Largest, Longest Free Trade Agreement," the textbook "Modern GATT Law" and "International Trade Law."
Contact: Mike Krings, [email protected]

Politics and Power
Lisa Guillermin Gable
Presidential, Gubernatorial and Corporate Advisor
"Pure and simple, politics of any form is about power. Bullying -- from verbal abuse and demeaning commentary to sexual advances -- is a power play, enacted to diminish others, to strip them of their power and reduce the value of their work. The effect is compounded, though, in our nation's capital, where spin doctors and the political operative class are trained from the earliest stages of their careers to change narratives and advance stories to put their employers and themselves in the best light and frame binary choices: take down your opponents and you win."
Based in Washington, D.C., Guillermin Gable is a former U.S. ambassador. She created the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a global effort to reduce calorie intake by 6.4 trillion, and is a senior advisor to Winning for Women, supporting women in public office. She is an expert in achieving bipartisanship, empowering women in business and politics, correcting abuse of power and building global initiatives. She is an experienced guest for live appearances.
Website: www.lisagable.com
Contact: Dani Mackey, [email protected]

Private Equity Firm Employment
Scott Hsu
Assistant Professor, Sam M. Walton College of Business
University of Arkansas
Hsu and his colleague at Purdue University found that some private equity firms, despite their reputation as job destroyers, increased employment following a buyout. Most of these firms had political connections, and the jobs they created or retained after buyouts were concentrated during election years in swing states or states that the researchers identified as having "high corruption." Says Hsu: "The general perception of private equity firms is they slash and burn after a buyout. But we found the opposite for those firms with political connections. These firms, on average, actually created more jobs after buyouts, or at least eliminated fewer jobs, than firms with no political connections. When we dug a little deeper, we discovered that, on average, these firms tended to increase employment in election years, especially in states with greater corruption."
Bio: https://finance.uark.edu/directory.php?id=hh021
Contact: Matt McGowan, [email protected]

Sureties Play a Vital Role in Infrastructure Projects
Lynn M. Schubert
President
The Surety & Fidelity Association of America
"Infrastructure projects are vital to the economy. Successful projects benefit taxpayers, businesses and workers. Surety bonds are a key component to infrastructure success. Construction is risky. Between 2014 and 2016, almost a third of construction contractors went out of business. Where surety bonds were in place, taxpayers and workers on projects of these failed contractors were protected by a guarantee that the contract would be completed and workers paid. Other contractors avoided being part of that statistic because of the backing of a surety company. Whether providing assistance to contractors to keep them viable, or stepping in to complete infrastructure contracts, sureties provide unequaled protection. No conversation on infrastructure is complete without a discussion about surety bonds."
Based in Washington, D.C., Schubert is an expert on the subjects of surety and fidelity bonds, antitrust, procurement, risk management, infrastructure, construction, and diversity and inclusion. She has lectured and educated throughout the country for universities and groups such as NIGP, the Governing Institute, Underground Construction conference, American Bar Association, America Bankers Association, and  many more.
Website: www.surety.org
Contact: Bryan Surcouf, [email protected]

Creating a Respectful Workplace
Stephanie Davis
President
Employment Practices Solutions, Inc.
Davis is available to discuss what is and isn't appropriate (or legal) in the workplace: "Frequent compliments are a bad idea, and if you're giving them to a female but wouldn't give them to a male, don't do it."
Davis is highly qualified to shed light on harassment and other workplace issues. For the past 20 years, she and her firm of employment attorneys have trained thousands of companies and employees and investigated cases on all legal aspects of creating respectful workplaces. She is based in Texas, with consultants across the U.S.
Website: www.epspros.com
Contact: Dani Mackey, [email protected]

MEDIA JOBS:

Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/

• Financial Services Reporter – POLITICO Pro (VA)
• Enterprising Tech Reporter – Communications Daily (DC)
• Editor – PFM (NY)

OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:

Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line.

• 11 NONPROFIT NEWS SITES THAT ARE USING INVESTIGATIVE STORYTELLING TO REBALANCE THE NEWS. Investigative nonprofit journalism flourished in 2017. According to Nieman Lab, investigations had more impact this year than ever before. It's no surprise -- with media credibility in question, there's an ever-more-pressing need for trustworthy journalism. To regain confidence of readers, many newsrooms are shifting away from the breaking news cycle to focus on deep reporting that exposes issues and drives solutions. Here are 11 nonprofit news sites and projects we're watching that seek to rebalance the news: http://prn.to/2Dosyjg

• MEDIA INSIDER: AMERICANS LOSING FAITH IN NEWS MEDIA, APPLE NEWS MAKES HEADWAY WITH PUBLISHERS, THE AWL AND THE HAIRPIN SHUT DOWN. Media Insider is PR Newswire's roundup of media stories from the week. In this week's edition, we look at a new report that surveyed 19,000 Americans about their views and perceptions on trust in the media; the shuttering of the small but influential websites The Awl and The Hairpin; and more: http://prn.to/2DjZrcZ

• BLOG PROFILES: CONSUMER ELECTRONICS BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few consumer electronics blogs: http://prn.to/2EXriA7

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