Sight Line Public Affairs
Strategic Consulting
Government Relations
Stakeholder Engagement
Exceptional Insight
WHAT WE DO
Sight Line Public Affairs provides strategic consulting to industry-leading companies and trade groups engaged in public policy. Based in New Hampshire’s state capital, Sight Line employs a politically savvy, surgical approach to government relations and personalized representation before the executive and legislative branches of government.
Sight Line maintains strong working relationships at every level of government and the broader business and political communities to:
-
Create opportunities for engaging government officials to advance business and public policy priorities and initiatives
-
Offer exceptional insight and strategic recommendations related to activity within state government and New Hampshire’s political environment
-
Build reputational awareness and promote the client’s message among key decision makers and opinion leaders
-
Develop strategic partnerships and leverage community relationships, industry expertise, professional networks, and third-party validators to disseminate vital information, shape public opinion, and expand channels for informing the policy making process
Strategic Consulting
Sight Line counsels C-suite leadership and external affairs professionals to develop strategies for utilizing all possible channels to engage public sector decision makers and thought leaders, and to shape public opinion and demonstrate the client's value and community impact. Sight Line excels at managing political risk and in crafting message. Sourcing talent, building effective project teams, and developing and populating advisory and governing boards are strengths of Sight Line's work.
Government Relations
Sight Line works closely with the client's external affairs team to conduct advocacy before the executive and legislative branches of government. Sight Line employs a surgical approach to lobbying and focuses on building positive and sustained working relationships with decision makers to achieve short-term and long-term public policy and business objectives.
Public Policy
Drawing on more than 20 years of Capitol Hill and state-level experience, Sight Line works with clients to develop and evaluate public policy goals, analyze and manage complex issues, assess options for advancing changes to legislation and agency regulations, source outside experts and testimony, and position clients as subject matter authorities. Sight Line is engaged with numerous policy, civic and business organizations and committees that collectively play a role in shaping policy.
Stakeholder Engagement & Partnerships
Sight Line specializes in building strategic partnerships with corporations, civic groups, community non-profits, think tanks, and statewide opinion leaders to identify common goals and create opportunities for shared success. Benefitting from a vast and active professional network, Sight Line serves as a connector with a keen ability to develop productive and meaningful institutional relationships.
LEADERSHIP
Jamie Burnett is an accomplished public policy professional with more than twenty years of experience. He founded and has managed a successful consulting practice since 2009. Burnett previously served as the legislative director to U.S. Senator John E. Sununu and as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senator Judd Gregg in Washington, DC. He has advised political candidates for Congress, U.S. Senate, Governor, and President, including Mitt Romney. Burnett has served on numerous non-profit and civic boards, and he is a Governor-appointed Trustee and Vice Chair of the University System of New Hampshire. Burnett is a director for the Business & Industry Association and was named to the NH Business Review's list of most influential business leaders in 2022.
Following the 2016 election, Burnett co-directed the transition for Governor-elect Chris Sununu, who was elected New Hampshire’s 82nd Governor and the youngest governor in the nation. He managed the hiring of senior staff, and he assembled and counseled the Governor-elect's budget team to develop a $12.1 Billion budget for Fiscal Year 2018-19 to be introduced only five weeks from the time of the inauguration. Burnett advised the Governor-elect on public policy, communications, inter-agency relations, and organizational development, and he led early efforts to prepare gubernatorial nominations.
Jamie Burnett specializes in government relations; policy and issue management; political strategy; communications; strategic partnerships; grasstops and coalitions; thought leadership; and board and advisory committee development.
Burnett’s clients have included a global leader in telecommunications; a national managed care organization, the largest electric utility in New England; a high-tech security company deploying communications systems; a northern New England natural gas company; a state-based banking association; a regional institutional pharmacy provider; an international non-profit fighting global poverty; and Washington, DC-based trade associations representing property/casualty insurers, pharmacy benefits managers, and the automobile industry.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
Owen Smith
President
AT&T - NH, ME, VT
“In New Hampshire, the Legislature often moves quickly. We need lobbyists who can anticipate when bills will start to move and implement solutions without wasting time. Sight Line has both the strategic vision and the necessary relationships to safeguard our priorities and advance our interests.”
Chris Kennedy
Vice President, External Affairs
Centene/NH Healthy Families
“In a highly-regulated industry we rely heavily on the expertise of skillful advisors who understand the political and regulatory landscape in New Hampshire. Having the benefit of Jamie’s depth of experience and strategic instincts has served our company well in effective navigation of complex government institutions and evolving public policy dynamics.”
Rich Ashooh
Business Executive and
Former Assistant Secretary
U.S. Department of Commerce
“It is not enough to be experienced and knowledgeable about the intricacies of public policy. Jamie Burnett is that, in spades. What is rare is to find these traits possessed by someone like Jamie, who truly understands the intersection of business and government, and has been a time-tested and trusted counselor to so many.”
Christiana Thornton
President & CEO
NHHEAF Network
"Jamie’s experience in public policy and business strategy are unmatched in the field, making him well positioned to guide clients with a range of needs. Most importantly, Jamie is a person of impeccable character, who has garnered the respect of all those he has worked with in his career.”
Tom Hart
Executive Director, North America
ONE Campaign
"Jamie knew the who’s who in New Hampshire and connected us with the grass tops and media who helped us propel our campaign forward and engage local opinion leaders."
Michael O'Rielly
Former Commissioner
Federal Communications Commission
"Jamie Burnett has shown for decades that command and knowledge of the substance, procedures, and politics drives positive outcomes, and no one is more prepared or willing to go the extra mile for those he represents. Rightly, people trust his insight and instincts. More importantly, his commitment to New Hampshire and strong personal values are unmatched."
John E. Sununu
Former U.S. Senator
“Lots of people have worked in government; far too few understand how policy makers really think – and how good public policy is really written. Jamie gets both.”
Robert Baines
Former Mayor of Manchester and University System Trustee
“Jamie is a strategic thinker with a unique ability to communicate in a manner that commands the attention of those with whom he interacts. Clients who need someone to create effective messaging and advocate to decision makers can look to Jamie. He is someone who understands the political landscape and the issues important to his clients.”
Mike Ramshaw
Team President, NH Fisher Cats
AA-Affiliate, Toronto Blue Jays
"With a cancelled 2020 season due to the pandemic, Minor League Baseball was hurting, and our team was no exception. Sight Line's Jamie Burnett provided the insight, strategy, and advocacy we needed in order to understand our options, communicate our message, and access the state's assistance programs. Working with Jamie, we obtained the relief necessary to meet local obligations, maintain staff and morale, and prepare our operations for 2021."