SPARKS, Nev., April 14, 2016 – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) today announced a strategic addition to its Washington, D.C. office, bringing aboard Heather Hopkins as Senior Director for Government Relations. Hopkins brings to SNC more than 15 years as a strategic communications and government relations leader, having served in senior positions at the White House, on Capitol Hill for the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and at the Pentagon, including tours in Iraq. Hopkins is responsible for coordinating SNC’s engagement with the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government, the company’s growing communications efforts and other external initiatives.
“As SNC grows, we are committed to meeting and exceeding the standard of excellence expected by our customers in Washington and elsewhere,” said Eren Ozmen, owner and President of SNC. “Heather’s experience articulating clarity of mission and adding efficiencies to government interactions is absolutely an asset to our company.”
SNC continues to attract top talent to support its broad commercial and government solutions. Most recently, SNC was awarded a share of NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 contract to service the International Space Station using SNC’s own space shuttle, the Dream Chaser® Spacecraft. Over more than 50 years, SNC has earned a reputation for delivering customer-focused, high-tech solutions and systems integration across DOD, on time and under budget.
“I am excited to join Sierra Nevada Corporation’s innovative and agile team,” said Hopkins. “The company is at a pivotal point and about to take off to the stars, literally! We are working on a range of interesting solutions that are affordable and have real impact for the military community.”
Hopkins has held numerous positions in government relations and communications both in and out of government, with consistent focus on national security. While at the State Department, she served twice overseas in Iraq for both Ambassadors Bremer and Khalilzad. Under President George W. Bush, Hopkins served on the National Security Council Staff as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director running legislative affairs. Her public service continued after the Bush Administration at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) running strategic communications for the Army and training senior officers in public affairs. Hopkins also worked on Capitol Hill for then-Speaker Newt Gingrich. Most recently, she worked in the private sector at BAE Systems, Inc.
About SNC
SNC is a trusted global leader in aerospace and national security. Our innovative solutions enable connected protection through command, control and communications systems, as well as ISR, cyber, electromagnetic spectrum management, and other high capabilities for national security systems across all domains – sea, land, air, space and cyber. As a longstanding leader in defense technology, SNC is at the optimum intersection of commercial, defense and non-traditional contractors. We are one of the only privately owned mid-tier A&D contractors and we pride ourselves on our ability to invest early and often to ensure mission success on or ahead of schedule. It's part of our mission to always stay one step ahead; working on solutions today to solve the problems of tomorrow. Founded in 1963, SNC is owned by Chairwoman Eren Ozmen and CEO Fatih Ozmen.