The Saint Consulting Group

Last updated

The Saint Consulting Group (TSCG) was a privately held management consulting firm based in Hingham, Massachusetts. The Saint Consulting Group worked in land use consulting, generating public support to help companies navigate the local governmental approval process. The firm is reported to have had annual revenues of $30 million by providing political experts, media experts, and lawyers on behalf of casinos, colleges, grocery and retail chains, medical groups, utilities, and heavy industries. [1]

Contents

Saint specializes in using political-campaign tactics, such as petition drives, phone banks, door-to-door discussions, and websites, to support or oppose controversial projects, such as oil refineries, shopping centers, quarries, and landfills.

As of 2008, the company employed approximately 90 land use experts in 10 offices in the United States and an international office in London, England. [2]

Consulting Magazine named Saint Consulting one of their "7 Small Jewels" in 2007. [3] The annual "Small Jewels" list highlights exceptional firms with less than 250 employees.

History

P. Michael Saint is a graduate of College of the Holy Cross with a degree in political science, [4] he earned his master's in business administration from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. [5] Saint, a Boston native, previously worked as journalist [6] before serving as the press officer for former Massachusetts lieutenant governor Thomas P. O'Neill III (son of Tip, former U.S. House Speaker). [1]

After serving on O'Neill's staff, Saint founded Saint Consulting in 1983 as a one-man operation, doing public relations and political work. He began to focus on land use in the mid-1990s and met Patrick Fox, who was running political campaigns in Massachusetts. [7]

Current business

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Saint Consulting has conducted about 1,500 campaigns in 44 states. Approximately 500 of those campaigns have been to block a development; many opposition campaigns have been clandestine. Many of Saint's covert projects oppose new Walmart stores, by funding local opposition groups and paid for by Walmart's competitors or unions who oppose the non-union Walmart. [8] Funding typically comes from large rival supermarket chains. [8]

As of 2009, Saint is currently working on 135 cases in the U.S., UK and Canada. [1] As of 2006, the company had about 55 employees, most with backgrounds in grassroots political campaigns. [6]

In 2009, three members of the Saint Consulting Group, Mike Saint, Robert J. Flavell, and Patrick F. Fox wrote the book Nimby Wars. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walmart</span> American multinational retail corporation

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States, headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas. The company was founded by brothers Sam and James "Bud" Walton in nearby Rogers, Arkansas in 1962 and incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law on October 31, 1969. It also owns and operates Sam's Club retail warehouses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asda</span> British supermarket chain

Asda Stores Ltd. is a British supermarket chain. Its headquarters are in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of Yorkshire. It expanded into Southern England during the 1970s and 1980s, and acquired Allied Carpets, 61 large Gateway Supermarkets and other businesses, such as MFI Group. It sold these acquisitions during the 1990s to concentrate on the supermarkets. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until 1999 when it was acquired by Walmart for £6.7 billion. Asda was the second-largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom between 2003 and 2014 by market share, at which point it fell into third place.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Ehrlich</span> Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007

Robert Leroy Ehrlich Jr. is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 60th Governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007. A Republican, Ehrlich represented Maryland's 10th legislative district in the House of Delegates from 1987 to 1995 and Maryland's 2nd Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.

Carrs–Safeway is a supermarket chain that is based in Anchorage, Alaska, and is a subsidiary of Albertsons. It was acquired in April 1999 by former parent Safeway from an employee ownership group, who itself had purchased the company from founder Larry Carr and his partner Barney Gottstein in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safeway</span> American supermarket chain

Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, with its parent company, Albertsons, headquartered in Boise, Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Walmart</span> Criticism against large retailer based in the United States

The American multinational retail chain Walmart has been criticized by many groups and individuals, such as labor unions and small-town advocates, for its policies and business practices, and their effects. Criticisms include charges of racial and gender discrimination, foreign product sourcing, anti-competitive practices, treatment of product suppliers, environmental practices, the use of public subsidies, and its surveillance of its employees. The company has denied any wrongdoing and said that low prices are the result of efficiency.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seiyu Group</span>

Seiyu GK, or Seiyu Group, is a Japanese group of supermarkets, shopping centers and department stores, headquartered in Akabane (赤羽), Kita, Tokyo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Thumb (grocery store)</span> Supermarket chain in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas

Tom Thumb is a chain of supermarkets in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It operates under the name Tom Thumb for traditional grocery stores and Flagship Tom Thumb for higher end stores in affluent areas. It makes up part of the Southern division of Albertsons. When combined with sister chains Albertsons and Market Street, it is the number two supermarket group in the competitive Dallas/Fort Worth area behind Walmart. The chain's distribution center is in Roanoke, Texas.

<i>Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price</i> 2005 film

Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price is a 2005 documentary film by director Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films. The film presents a negative picture of Walmart's business practices through interviews with former employees, small business owners, and footage of Walmart executives. Greenwald also uses statistics interspersed between interview footage, to provide an objective analysis of the effects Walmart has on individuals and communities.

Working Families for Walmart is an advocacy group formed by Walmart and the Edelman public relations firm on December 20, 2005. It has been used to praise Walmart in a show of opposition to union-funded groups such as Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch. The group is financially supported by Walmart and is headquartered in Edelman's Washington, D.C. office. It is not organized as a non-profit, and is not required to disclose its sources of funding.

Walmart Watch, formed in the spring of 2005, was a joint project of the Center for Community and Corporate Ethics, a nonprofit organization studying the impact of large corporations on society, and its advocacy arm, Five Stones. The Walmart Watch group was based in Washington with the claimed goal to challenge Walmart to become a better employer, neighbor, and corporate citizen in order to improve the wages, health benefits, and treatment of workers.

Walmart Canada is a Canadian retail corporation and the subsidiary of U.S.-based multinational retail conglomerate Walmart. Headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, it was founded on March 17, 1994, with the purchase of the Woolco Canada chain from the F. W. Woolworth Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Walmart</span> History of American retail corporation

The history of Walmart, an American discount department store chain, began in 1950 when businessman Sam Walton purchased a store from Luther E. Harrison in Bentonville, Arkansas, and opened Walton's 5 & 10. The Walmart chain proper was founded in 1962 with a single store in Rogers, expanding outside Arkansas by 1968 and throughout the rest of the Southern United States by the 1980s, ultimately operating a store in every state of the United States, plus its first stores in Canada, by 1995. The expansion was largely fueled by new store construction, although the chains Mohr-Value and Kuhn's Big K were also acquired. The company introduced its warehouse club chain Sam's Club in 1983 and its first Supercenter stores in 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Centre (Saskatoon)</span> Shopping mall in Saskatchewan, Canada

The Centre is a major shopping mall located south-east of the junction of Circle Drive and 8th Street in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the Wildwood neighbourhood. Sometimes commonly referred to as The Centre At Circle And 8th or The 8th Street Mall It is currently anchored by Sport Chek, Saskatoon Co-op, Rainbow Cinemas, the Centre Cinemas, Shoppers Drug Mart, Best Buy, Indigo Books and Music and Dollarama. Until 2003-2005, Canadian Tire and Walmart were also part of this mall. They both moved to the big box development of Preston Crossing; a Zellers department store that had operated in the west end of the mall since it was built in the early 1970s subsequently relocated from its original location to occupy the vacated Walmart location at the east end. The Zellers has since closed and has been converted into Target, which also subsequently closed. The Centre boasts more than 90 shops and services, several art display spaces in Centre East, and a 2-level temperature-controlled underground parkade.

RLS Supermarkets LLC, doing business as Minyard Food Stores, was a privately owned supermarket chain in Texas.

Walmart Inc. is an American multinational retail corporation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug McMillon</span> American businessman

Carl Douglas McMillon is an American businessman, and the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Walmart Inc. He sits on the retailer's board of directors. Having first joined the company as a summer associate in high school, he became the company's fifth CEO in 2014. He previously led the company's Sam's Club division, from 2005 to 2009, and Walmart International, from 2009 to 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kurt Jetta</span>

Kurt Jetta is a consumer researcher who studies data about multinational corporations through his firm, TABS Analytics, which is based in Shelton, Connecticut. The corporations Jetta has analyzed include Amazon, Family Dollar, Dollar Tree, Walmart, Apple, Kmart, JcPenney, and Sears. In addition, Jetta has also studied the organic food industry, the vitamin industry, and the online grocery industry. Other investigations led by Jetta include sociological research that pertains to the purchasing habits of various ethnic groups. In the area of trade promotion, Jetta has developed an alternative methodology to current industry baseline models. Jetta also analyzes rewards programs. He was a 2017 Republican candidate in Florida’s 21st Congressional District.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Lambert, Emily (16 February 2009). "Forbes.Com: Nimby Wars".
  2. ↑ "Venture Nashville". Venture Nashville. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  3. ↑ "Consulting Magazine" . Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "HolyCross.edu" . Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  5. ↑ "Owen Graduate School" . Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  6. 1 2 Dolloff, J. Holly (19 March 2006). "Nashville Business Journal" . Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  7. ↑ "Forbes" . Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  8. 1 2 Rival Chains Secretly Fund Opposition to Wal-Mart, Ann Zimmerman, Wall Street Journal, June 7, 2010.
  9. ↑ Michael Saint, P.; Flavell, Robert J.; Fox, Patrick F. (2009). Amazon.com. ISBN   978-0615306520.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.