Alexia Poe

Update: 22 Sept. 2015: Poe's position as CD has been filled by Haslam Press Secretary David Smith, the Governor announced today.-Ed.

ALEXIA POE, communications director the past four-plus years for the office of Gov. Bill Haslam, has left state employment to form her own consulting practice.

Poe Consulting, a strategic communications firm providing public-affairs, public relations and related services, and operating as a sole proprietorship, will begin operations after Labor Day, 41-year-old Poe told Venture Nashville, this afternoon.

Poe's last day with the governor's staff was Aug. 21, and she did zero business development prior to her departure, she said. Her departure this month had been signaled by the governor's office in June.

The new practice will be sector-agnostic, and Poe said she'll have no more than perhaps half a dozen clients, allowing her to retain control over her time and accept assignments, selectively. She has no plans to hire staff, she said. Her Web URL is reserved, but her site has not yet been activated.

Her departure followed close-behind that of Haslam Chief of Staff Mark Cate, who earlier this month formed Stones River Group, a strategy-consulting firm.

Immediately prior to joining the governor's staff in early 2011, Poe was director of Metro/Nashville Mayor Karl Dean's office of economic and community development.

Her earlier communications and public-affairs posts included service as deputy press secretary in the Office of First Lady of the United States Barbara Bush; and, as press secretary to then-Gov. Don Sundquist (R). She also worked for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN).

Poe also held public-affairs roles with Gaylord Entertainment, and earlier served nearly two years as a reporter with WKPT-TV in Kingsport/Tri-Cities.

The Knoxville native resides with her husband, Charley Poe, and their two young children reside in Nashville.

Both Poes are University of Tennessee alumni. Charley Poe is director of governmental relations for Eastman Chemical, according to his LinkedIn profile. VNC