Managing Partner of Fisher Phillips Washington D.C. Office Named to ‘Top Ten People Who Made a Difference in the South'

WASHINGTON, DC (May 17, 2012) - Dennis Cuneo, the managing partner of the Washington D.C. office of Fisher Phillips, has been named for the third time as one of the "Top Ten People Who Made a Difference in the South" by Southern Business & Development Magazine (SBD). He was named this year because of his work in bringing clean tech investment to the South. Cuneo, who has deep experience helping companies start up operations, served as a senior vice president of Toyota Motor North America prior to joining Fisher Phillips. Cuneo led site selection for Toyota and now does the same for venture backed companies out of Silicon Valley. He has worked on projects that have added over $10 billion in new investment and 20,000 jobs to the American economy.

Mike Randle, the Publisher of Southern Business & Development, said Cuneo was selected because he "has been very good to the economy of the American South for years. From his Toyota and Toyota-related projects that have landed in Southern States from Texas to West Virginia and most every state in between, to his recent flurry of clean tech industry deals that are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new facilities in the South, I can think of only a handful of individuals who have had a more profound effect on the South's economy."

SBD's Top Ten list, which is published annually, has included Governors, economic development officials, industry leaders and even Brad Pitt, who was cited in 2008 for his work in rebuilding New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. This year's list, which names Cuneo, also includes Texas Governor Rick Perry, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and several economic development officials in the South.

Governor Haley Barbour, who has also been named to SBD's Top Ten list over the past several years, commented that " in Mississippi, we hold Dennis Cuneo in particularly high regard. Not only has he been instrumental in bringing the most sought after economic development project in the country in 2007 to our state - Toyota's eighth North American assembly facility - he also has been a strong ally in our effort to bring advanced energy projects, especially in alternative energy, to Mississippi. Plus he's both a real pro and a gentleman."

Cuneo serves on the boards of two S&P 500 companies, AK Steel (NYSE: AKS) and BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA), and is an advisor and investor in five Silicon Valley venture backed firms in the solar, bio-fuels, bio-products and nanotechnology fields. He also serves on the Visiting Committee of the University of Chicago's Physical Sciences Division and is a member of the Board of Trustees of Loyola University in New Orleans and the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He has held three gubernatorial appointments and served as Board Chair of the Cincinnati Branch of the Federal Reserve.

Cuneo received his bachelor's degree from Gannon University, a Master of Business Administration from Kent State University and a law degree from Loyola University in New Orleans.

Established in 1992, Southern Business & Development Magazine is a leading publication reporting on economic development in the Southern Region.