Steve Marchand

Steve Marchand
Mayor Steve Marchand
Mayor of Portsmouth, NH
In office January 9, 2006 – January 3, 2008
Preceded by	Evelyn Sirrell
Succeeded by	Thomas G. Ferrini
Personal details
Born	(1974-01-10) January 10, 1974 Manchester, NH
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Sandi Hennequin

Steve Marchand (born January 10, 1974) is an American politician and former Mayor of Portsmouth, New Hampshire from 2005 to 2008. He is currently the Principal of SRM Consulting, a public affairs and strategic communications firm. In 2014, Marchand assumed the role of New Hampshire State Director for No Labels, a national organization dedicated to bringing people across the ideological and political spectrum together to identify, and work together to solve, the nation’s most pressing challenges. Prior to that, he served as the Director of Corporate Relations for the University of New Hampshire, working with business leaders across the state to match industry’s greatest needs with UNH’s resources and expertise.

Marchand was an early Democratic primary candidate for U.S. Senate for the 2008 election, but he dropped out of the race in 2007 and endorsed former Governor Jeanne Shaheen.

During the 2008 New Hampshire Presidential Primary, Marchand endorsed Democratic presidential candidate, Governor Bill Richardson.

Family and youth

Steve Marchand was born and raised on the west side of Manchester, New Hampshire. A first-generation American, Steve's parents came to New Hampshire from Quebec, Canada. His father, Normand, was a carpenter, and his mother Suzanne was a mill worker. He has a sister named Joanne. Steve attended Manchester and Goffstown public schools and was the first member of his family to attend college.

Education and early career

Marchand received a B.S in International Relations and a B.A. in Public Affairs from Syracuse University in 1996. He went on to receive a Masters in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University in 1998.

Following college, Marchand began his professional career at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), working with public and private sector clients to implement database management systems. He later joined Maximus, a government management consulting firm, in its state and local government division. Marchand played a key role in improving the performance of local government departments across the U.S., with an emphasis on public safety.

In 2000, Marchand was named as Regional Director of the Concord Coalition a nonpartisan, grassroots organization advocating fiscal responsibility and generational fairness. He coordinated operations in New England and New York state.

Marchand went on to found Pembroke Strategies, an international public policy consulting firm. He worked with major national organizations, such as the AARP and SEIU, to develop sound and efficient U.S. public policy. He has also worked with delegations from various developing nations to promote democracy and to create emergency management systems.

Marchand's political consulting includes acting as campaign director for former Executive Councilor Jim Normand's 2002 New Hampshire gubernatorial primary campaign. Marchand also served as deputy campaign manager, overseeing policy and communications, for State Sen. Mark Fernald's 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Marchand acted as campaign director for 2004 1st Congressional District nominee Justin Nadeau.

Following the 2002 campaign season, Marchand was named New Hampshire's political "Rising Star" of the year by the influential political web site PoliticsNH.com, as well as one of the 105 people with the greatest influence on the 2004 New Hampshire Presidential Primary.

In March 2008, Marchand started his own political consulting firm, The Marchand Group.

Public service

First elected in 2003 to the Portsmouth City Council, Marchand served on the City Council from 2003–2005 and was re-elected in 2005. He received the highest numbers of votes in the 2005 election, making him Mayor of Portsmouth. He was sworn into office as Mayor on January 9, 2006. Since then, he has been a leader on increasing accountability in government and restraining tax increases. He reformed the city's budget process into an "outcome-based" model, emphasizing transparency, public input, and results-based policy-making to deliver the city's goals quickly and efficiently.

Under Mayor Marchand, the City of Portsmouth has become a national leader in 21st century green energy policy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving energy, and saving taxpayers money.

With Save Our Shipyard, Steve fought to save the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005.

Marchand was the co-chair of City Year's 2007 national convention.

On November 16, 2010, Marchand held a No Labels gathering of over 100 people at his home.

U.S. Senate campaign

On January 12, 2007, Marchand announced his intention to seek the U.S. Senate seat then held by Republican John E. Sununu. After former governor Jeanne Shaheen entered the race in September, however, Marchand withdrew from the campaign and endorsed Shaheen, who went on to defeat Sununu in the general election.

External links

• Official U.S. Senate campaign website
• Profile at SourceWatch