Jeffrey L. Barnhart Sr. VP, State Gov. Relations McGuireWoods Consulting LLC

Jeff joined McGuireWoods Consulting in October of 2011 as a senior vice president of state government relations after serving five and a half terms in the North Carolina General Assembly concluding his time as co-chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. He has built a successful practice representing many clients with a primary focus in the area of health care. He also works with clients in the areas of education, transportation and general government. He has done an extensive amount of work in mental health arena and with the recovery community.

In the North Carolina General Assembly, Jeff represented Cabarrus County and chaired health care committees for many years and was a strong health care advocate earning numerous recognitions from organizations such as the North Carolina Pediatrics Society, ARC of North Carolina, North Carolina Association of Public Health Directors, North Carolina Public Health Incubators Collaborative, National Alliance on Mental Health NC, NC Prevention Partners and Autism Society of NC.

Prior to his tenure in the North Carolina House, Jeff served 10 years as a Cabarrus County Commissioner. He also served on the Cabarrus County Water & Service Authority Board of Directors for six years, as well as the Cabarrus Economic Development Board of Directors for nine years. He was the acting County Manager for Cabarrus County for eight months.

In addition to his strong local and state public sector experience, Jeff is a former small business owner who possesses significant private sector experience. He spent three years at the helm of a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and worked at IBM for 10 years in several different capacities from engineering to marketing to management.

Jeff served in the United States Air Force from 1978 to 1982 working in communications security and held a top-secret security clearance. He currently serves on the board of directors of Healing Transitions of Wake County.