Jeff McAlvey

Jeff McAlvey began a tenure lasting nearly 14 years with Governor John Engler, starting in 1984 when Engler began serving as Senate Majority Leader. When Engler became Governor in 1991, Jeff assumed the role of the Governor’s Director of Legislative Relations. In that position, he coordinated all of the activities of the Engler Administration in the Michigan Legislature. This included the development of the Governor’s initiatives into legislation and the planning and execution of the strategies necessary to secure the successful passage of that legislation.

The role required him to work closely with all members of the Governor’s Cabinet and the entire Michigan Legislature. Major legislative accomplishments during Jeff’s tenure as the Governor’s Legislative Director include 24 tax cuts, welfare reform, the recodification of the Mental Health Code and the School Code, the privatization of the State Accident Fund, the authorization of Charter Schools and Schools of Choice, and Workers’ Compensation reform.

Jeff served in this capacity until May of 1997, when he left the Governor's staff to begin McAlvey & Associates. Having worked extensively in both the Legislative and Executive branches of state government, he is uniquely qualified to represent clients before state government and help them reach their goals as they relate to pending legislation, government regulation, and state procurement

Jeff has represented a broad range of clients--large and small--including: higher education, corporations, city government, a community mental health board, health care organizations, a charitable organization, and a variety of others.

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Rusty Merchant

Rusty Merchant currently serves as an associate with the firm of McAlvey & Associates, a full service governmental and political consulting firm with offices in Lansing and Grand Rapids.  Rusty manages the operations of the Grand Rapids office and represents a variety of clients at the local and state level.

Prior to joining McAlvey & Associates, Rusty served as Vice President for Public Policy and Government Affairs at the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. There, he was responsible for advocacy at the local, state and federal levels. Prior to his service with the Chamber, Rusty served in the Office of Majority Floor Leader Andrew Raczkowski
(R-Farmington Hills) where he served as Chief-of-Staff from August of 1997 to March of 2000.  His responsibilities included assisting the Representative on the House floor and overseeing the day to day operations of a leadership office.  Floor duties included scheduling legislation, parliamentary procedure, assisting members in moving legislation through the process, and serving the needs of the Speaker of the House.

Rusty began his career as a Legislative Aide to the late State Senator Douglas Carl
(R-Shelby Township) where he monitored the Senator’s legislation and served as the chief aid to the Senate Finance Subcommittee to Combat Cigarette Smuggling.  He was also instrumental in drafting legislation (Recommended by the subcommittee) that has garnered tens of millions of dollars of lost revenue to the state School Aid fund.

Rusty is a graduate of Grand Valley State University where he received a B.S. in Public Relations.  He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the YMCA, Ridge Park Charter Academy, the Grand Rapids Township Board of Trustees, and the Kent County Community Corrections Advisory Board.  Rusty was also recently identified in Grand Rapids Magazine as one of the top twenty community leaders under forty to watch in West Michigan.

Rusty, his wife Jane, daughter Peyton, and sons Gavin and Grayson live in Grand Rapids Township.  Rusty is originally from Port Huron, MI.

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Angie Keilen

Angie Keilen is a veteran of the Lansing political scene.  She most recently ran the Transition Office of former Governor John Engler prior to joining McAlvey & Associates.  Angie served in other various capacities for Gov. John Engler including coordinating the Governor’s daily schedule and surrogates for critical events while working closely with his Security Detail to arrange logistics for the governor’s extensive travel calendar.  Prior to her years in the governor’s office, Angie gave tours of Michigan’s State Capitol and proved her extensive organizational skills by managing the Capitol Information Desk--assisting with the operations necessary to serve more than 100,000 visitors per year to the State Capitol.  Angie also spent time interning for now Sen. Alan Cropsey while he served in the House of Representatives.  Angie performs her current duties at McAlvey & Associates full-time while she pursues her Bachelors degree in Political Science.

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