Ambassador to Italy Thomas M. Foglietta Joins Cassidy & Associates; Will be Based in Rome Office.

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2001

Former Rep. Thomas M. Foglietta, who recently stepped down as U.S. Ambassador to Italy, has joined Cassidy & Associates as a senior vice president based in Rome, where he will help Italian, European and U.S. clients navigate various policy arenas here and abroad, Gerald S. J. Cassidy, chairman and CEO of The Cassidy Companies, Inc., announced today.

"Ambassador Foglietta was one of the most successful U.S. ambassadors to Italy in recent history, performing a difficult task with great skills," Cassidy said. "With close ties to leaders in the United States, Korea, Italy and the European community, Ambassador Foglietta will help our U.S. clients face challenges in Europe. In turn, he also will help our European clients meet their business goals when their business interests involve U.S. legislative and regulatory processes."

Ambassador Foglietta will be based in the Rome office of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, serving U.S., Italian and other European worldwide clients of The Cassidy Companies, which operates the public affairs and government relations arms of Weber Shandwick Worldwide.

"I am excited and pleased to join the immensely talented people at the Cassidy Companies," Foglietta said. "I'm particularly proud to be associated with a firm that has such a strong presence in Washington and a strong national and international network with Weber Shandwick Worldwide. That's what clients are looking for, and there's no better firm to provide the right mix to meet all their needs than the Cassidy Companies."

Marty Russo, vice chairman, president and chief operating officer of Cassidy & Associates, added: "I am especially pleased to have Ambassador Foglietta join our team because, as a former House member myself, I know the respect he earned wherever he has served. Ambassador Foglietta is widely respected for knowing the issues, serving as a leader, and getting things done. He will be able to provide the same skills to clients here and in Europe, as well as helping generate business among European corporations."

Foglietta, the youngest elected councilman of a major U.S. city, served on the Philadelphia City Council from 1955 to 1975. From 1980 to 1997 he served in the U.S. House, where he held a seat on the House Appropriations Committee. He resigned from the House in 1997 to serve as U.S. Ambassador to Italy, which he held until earlier this year.

While in the House, Foglietta founded the Urban Caucus in 1991 as an outgrowth of his concern for urban issues such as transportation, jobs and economic development. He also worked on developing democracy and preserving human rights in Korea, Haiti and Central American nations and Africa. In Africa, the Ambassador worked to alleviate the famine in Ethiopia of the 1980's.

Foglietta practiced general law in Philadelphia from 1953 to 1980, and he served as a district director in Philadelphia for the U.S. Secretary of Labor in the mid-1970s. A Philadelphia native, Foglietta received his undergraduate degree from St. Joseph's University and a law degree from Temple University. He also studied Urban Planning and Development at the Fels Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and served on the board of Academic Overseers of the University of Monte Carlo, Monaco.

The Cassidy Companies, Inc, the government and public affairs arm of Weber Shandwick Worldwide, is also Washington D.C.'s largest public affairs consultancy and provides public relations and public affairs, government relations, litigation communications, and opinion research services. The Cassidy Companies includes two government relations firms, Cassidy & Associates and The Rhoads Maguire Group; Powell Tate, a public relations firm; SWR Worldwide, an opinion research firm; Bork & Associates, a litigation communications firm; and Murphy, Pintak, Gautier and Hudome (MPGH), an advocacy advertising firm.