Former FCC chairman joins Sarasota firm

SARASOTA — William Kennard, immediate past U.S. Ambassador to the European Union and former chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has been named a senior adviser at a Sarasota private equity firm.

Kennard, according to a release, will hold the advisory role with Grain Management LLC, which was founded in 2007 by David Grain and focuses its investments in the communications sector. Kennard will work out of the firm's new Washington, D.C., office, where he will focus on investment opportunities in the telecommunications sector, including global opportunities, the firm says. Grain Management also operates and leases cell phone towers.

Kennard chaired the FCC for most of President Bill Clinton's second term, from November 1997 to January 2001. He was then named a global partner and managing director of The Carlyle Group, where he led investments in the telecommunications and media sectors for the $85 billion Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm. President Barack Obama appointed Kennard U.S. Ambassador to the European Union in August 2009 and the U.S. Senate confirmed him in November. Kennard, according to the release, made reinvigorating the U.S.-EU economic relationship and eliminating regulatory barriers top priorities during his tenure.

“Grain's team has an exceptionally strong understanding of the fast-paced and ever-changing communications and technology sectors,” Kennard says in the statement. “I am extremely pleased to be a part of this talented team.”

Grain says he also looks forward to working with Kennard. “Kennard's breadth of domestic and international experience in addition to his deep understanding of the global communications and technology sectors make him an excellent fit for Grain and our strategy moving forward,” Grain says in the statement.