Dan Bryan (left) and Joe Kelley
By Joshua Burd
Two former top administration officials under Gov. Phil Murphy have launched a new consulting firm focused on economic development and public affairs.
According to the founders, Joe Kelley and Dan Bryan, Elysian Consulting Group will advise on economic and tax policy, real estate development and finance, corporate strategy, public relations and political strategy, with clients ranging from health care systems and Fortune 500 corporations to film studios and nonprofits. Each brings key experience from their days in Trenton, with Kelley serving as Murphy’s deputy chief of staff for economic development and Bryan as the governor’s senior adviser for strategy and communications
“Our mission is to serve as a compass for our clients and ensure they don’t waste time or money navigating the worlds of economic development, public policy and public affairs without a roadmap,” Kelley said. “We believe that our expertise across a variety of disciplines positions Elysian Consulting Group to quickly become a leader in providing effective public affairs and economic development consulting services to clients in a variety of industries.”
Kelley, who left the Murphy administration earlier this month, oversaw several major policy initiatives, managed large economic development projects and worked with the governor on marketing the state to businesses around the world, according to a news release. He is a commissioner for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and a member of the Councilor’s Program of the Atlantic Council, a foreign policy think tank, while he also recently joined the Bloomfield-based development firm CHA Partners.
Bryan, for his part, was one of the chief architects of Murphy’s 2021 re-election campaign, having played a similar senior role in the governor’s 2017 run for a first term. He left the administration early last year to form Bryan Strategies Group, following positions that included director to the gubernatorial transition and serving as Murphy’s first press secretary in 2018.
He also served as chief of staff to Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer from 2009 to 2015.
“New Jersey is seeing unprecedented growth in key new industries from film production to clean energy and more — but those opportunities bring complexity and the need for strategic thinking to evolve great ideas into sustainable businesses,” Bryan said. “With our unique skill sets in both economic development and public affairs, Elysian Consulting Group will be able to offer clients the level of insight and guidance that they need in order to capitalize on the opportunities that lay in front of them.”
Elysian Consulting Group is based in Newark.
