Former 10-year Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Adds to Hawk Strategies’ First-Class Business Consulting Team
Hawk Strategies, the region’s premier transportation and infrastructure consulting firm, is very excited to announce the addition of Justin Simmons as a Senior Associate. Justin recently completed a ten-year run as the elected representative of the 131st District in the Pennsylvania
State House of Representatives. His career in public service brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and relationships to the Hawk Strategies team. Justin’s addition brings Hawk Strategies’ abilities as strategic business, government affairs and marketing consultants into Pennsylvania with especially
deep roots in the Lehigh Valley.
Justin was born in Langhorne, Pennsylvania and other than college, has lived his entire life in the Lehigh Valley. Like CEO Anthony Attanasio ‘02, Justin is a fellow Hawk, having earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia in 2008. Justin began to pursue his career in state government during his senior year at Saint Joseph’s where he worked as an intern for State Senator Rob Wonderling. After completing his internship, Justin worked part-time as a district legislative aide for Senator Wonderling and was then offered a full-time position where he was responsible for managing the Senator’s Northampton County office.
Justin’s unwavering fervor for politics, public policy and his community ultimately led him to the decision to run for State Representative in his district in January of 2010. At the age of 23, he went on to win the primary election, and then the general election at the age of 24.
His successful elections into the Pennsylvania House of Representatives made him the second youngest individual to ever be sworn into office in the history of the state’s General Assembly. Justin served the 131st legislative district for the next five terms. After serving as State Representative for a decade, Justin made the decision to retire from elected office and enter the private sector at the end of 2020.
Over the course of Justin’s legislative career, he served on eight different House committees. Those committees included: Transportation; Urban Affairs (he served as Secretary in the 2011-2012 session); Health (he served as Secretary in the 2013-2014 session); State Government (he served as Subcommittee Chair on State Government Operations in the 2013-2014 session); Liquor Control (he served as the Subcommittee Chair on Licensing in the 2019-2020 session); Education; Human Services; Insurance; and Children and Youth. Justin was also State House appointee to the Pennsylvania Community Development Bank and served on the Select Committee on Property Taxes in the 2011-2012 session.
While serving in office, Justin was successful in introducing several pieces of legislation that were signed into law by Governors of both parties. These pieces of legislation included child protection laws and home-rule county tax policy. In addition, Justin successfully introduced legislation that was incorporated into state budget code bills and were signed by Governors of both parties.
Proud of his district, Justin spent a significant amount of time in office working towards initiatives that would strengthen the business climate in the Lehigh Valley, create jobs and enhance the lives of residents through revitalization and beautification projects. Justin was successful in bringing millions of state tax dollars back to his district for projects such as library expansions, as well as several major infrastructure projects that attracted economic development from top tier companies like Wawa, McDonalds and St. Luke’s Health Care Network. Among many other funding initiatives, Justin was also responsible for securing funding for one of the oldest communities in Lehigh County to replace crumbling sidewalks, crosswalks, and curbing, as well as the installation of lights throughout the community to enhance safety for its residents. Justin currently resides in the township he grew up in and represented in the General Assembly. He is the proud father of his daughter, Reagan, and their two dogs, Bailey, and Toby.
Please join us in welcoming Justin Simmons to the Hawk Strategies team.