HospitalityMaine hires new director of government affairs

Photo / Mark Ellis Nathen Cloutier is HospitalityMaine's new government affairs director. He previously worked for five years at Eaton Peabody Consulting Group in Augusta.

Write a Comment

By Renee Cordes

HospitalityMaine has hired Nathen Cloutier, formerly with Eaton Peabody Consulting Group in Augusta, as its new government affairs director. The Topsham resident started his new role in late November, succeeding Greg Dugal, who retired last month after a long tenure with the association.

Cloutier spent five years as a government affairs consultant at Eaton Peabody, with clients in sectors including child care, housing and energy, according to a spokeswoman for HospitalityMaine.

He also led a 2020 referendum campaign to protect a law that required school-age students to have certain vaccinations for preventable diseases in order to attend public schools.

At HospitalityMaine, Cloutier will lead efforts to advance the organization's legislative and political agendas in Augusta and Washington, D.C., and advocate on behalf of Maine restaurants and lodging establishments.

“Nathen is a wonderful addition as our director of Government Affairs and will bring a fresh and balanced voice to our team,” said Matt Lewis, president and CEO of HospitalityMaine, who hired Cloutier after a lengthy search. “He will be an invaluable force continuing to fight for our members and for the hospitality industry at large.”

HospitalityMaine, the state's only nonprofit devoted to the hospitality industry, has a staff of seven, including two employees of the organization's Education Foundation. The organization does not disclose its budget information.

Cloutier most recently worked at Augusta-based government affairs firm Eaton Peabody, where he represented a wide range of clients in front of the Maine Legislature. His political career includes advising local, state and congressional candidates and leading state referendum campaigns.

"I am proud to join HospitalityMaine and support Maine's first-rate hospitality industry," Cloutier said. "The hospitality industry serves as the backbone of Maine's economy, so I am excited to help advance the interests of our members. In Maine every paycheck makes a huge difference, so I want to make sure our hospitality businesses thrive."

Cloutier is a 2015 graduate of the University of Maine, where he studied secondary education, French language and literature and English language arts and English as an additional language, according to his LinkedIn profile. He graduated from Mt. Ararat High School in Topsham in 2011.