Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is facing another shakeup in his administration as his chief of staff, Doug Friednash, leaves for a job in the private sector.
Friednash’s departure, announced Monday, comes amid a wave of other in recent months that have impacted everything from to and as the term-limited Hickenlooper works to seal his legacy in just over a year.
Replacing Friednash will be businessman and lawyer , who has held senior roles at the Colorado-based restaurant chains Quiznos and Smashburger.
For what Meyers has in business acumen, however, he is lacking in political experience — especially when compared to Friednash — as Hickenlooper prepares to work with a politically split legislature before leaving office.
Friednash in 2015, replacing , after serving as and as a state lawmaker. He is leaving his post to return to the Denver lobbying and law powerhouse .
“Doug is a longtime friend and colleague of mine,” Hickenlooper said in a written statement. “These last few years he has been at the center of so much of our success. His judgment, his robust network of relationships, and his loyalty to me, and especially to Colorado, will be sorely missed.”
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck says Friednash will start at the firm on Jan. 2, 2018, and chair a new national political strategies group.
“Our firm was built on a commitment to public service and we’re delighted to welcome Doug back to the firm following the tremendous contributions he made to Colorado as Governor Hickenlooper’s chief of staff,” Adam Agron, Brownstein’s managing partner, said in a news release.
Among those who have announced their departures from Hickenlooper’s administration in the past several months are CDOT chief Shailen Bhatt, Department of Labor and Employment head Ellen Golombek and , who led the agency that oversees .
Also, Barbara Brohl leading the Colorado Department of Revenue in August, and in June, from his position as executive director of the Department of Regulatory Agencies . They have since been replaced.
Hickenlooper says he feels confident the departures won’t distract from his agenda during his final year in office — but rather would kick-start innovation.
“We’re going to get a ton of stuff done in this last year,” he said last month after another top state official — Bank and Financial Services Commissioner Chris Myklebust — . “I’d like to get some of these jobs placed in the next few weeks. I’m not going to go out and do a national search — I don’t have time for a national search. Luckily, I think we’ve got real talent here in Colorado in pretty much every place you look.”
Hickenlooper last week announced that he was replacing Bhatt , who has been serving as the No. 2 at CDOT.
Meyers will begin his role in December.
“We have so much still to do in the next 408 days,” Hickenlooper’s statement Monday announcing Meyers’ job said. “Pat will bring a broad variety of experience to that work. I can’t wait to get started.”