Wishing you all the best for the Holiday Season and a prosperous New Year. As we prepare to open another legislative session, we are closing an important chapter for the Hamilton Consulting Group.

In 1997, Pat Osborne and I joined Jim Hough to form this firm. Jim is comfortably retired in Naples, where every day is Saturday except when the big paper comes; that’s Sunday.

This week, we’re saying our goodbyes to Pat, who is retiring to Texas and Montana, as the season fits. We expect he will be teaching his grandchildren the finer nuances of government budgeting. With so much time, those traditional hour-long briefings could last days. We will greatly miss Pat, my business partner and friend these past 18 years.

Going in a different direction after six years at Hamilton is Andy Cook. We are honored to have worked with him and proud of his pending appointment as Deputy Attorney General. He also will be sorely missed, but unlike Pat, who is riding off into the sunset, we merely need to cross the street to consult with Andy.

Finally, and not least, Saralee Fassbender, is retiring after 15 years as our do-everything employee. In addition to chief editor of everything written, or spoken, she’s been the glue that kept our business family together through the highs and lows – many more highs than low, however.

With new talent on board, or soon arriving, we expect the next chapters for Hamilton Consulting will be truly our best. But that is a story for our next edition of Tidbits.

Wishing you Peace and Happiness,

Bob Fassbender