National Retail Federation Names David French Chief Lobbyist

WASHINGTON, January 11, 2011 - The National Retail Federation announced today that it has named David French as Senior Vice President for Government Relations. As chief lobbyist, French will be responsible for developing and implementing advocacy strategy for the world’s largest retail trade association. French previously worked at the International Franchise Association, where he served in a similar capacity.

“The retail industry needs a trade association with an advocacy footprint that matches its broad economic footprint,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “David is one of the most experienced and influential lobbyists in Washington today. He has what it takes to lead our new government relations department and take our nationally recognized advocacy efforts to an entirely new level.”

With the NRF Board’s recent approval of a new strategic plan, NRF began a restructuring process to support a higher level of engagement on legislative and policy issues. In the coming months, NRF will be adding even more resources including the hiring of additional staff for its government relations team as well as creating a new communications and public affairs department to support its lobbying activity.

“I am thrilled to be joining an association that represents such a critical component of our country’s economic engine,” said French. “There are a lot of challenges in front of us as we engage Congress on issues that will be critical to creating jobs and keeping the economy moving forward.”

Prior to joining IFA in March, 2006 French led the government relations programs at the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) and Food Distributors International (FDI). French spent more than a decade on Capitol Hill with positions in both the House and Senate, serving as senior legislative assistant for Senator Rick Santorum, R-Pa., with responsibility for a wide range of business and trade issues. Other Capitol Hill stops included the House Select Committee on Aging and the office of former Representative Matthew Rinaldo, R-N.J.

French is a native of Pittsburgh and holds a BA from Wesleyan University. He resides in McLean, Va., with his wife, Susie, and their three children.

As the world's largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF's global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. In the United States, NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2009 sales of $2.3 trillion. www.nrf.com