Tom R. Skancke
Founder. President. CEO. Nice Guy.
Tom Skancke isn’t simply the founder, president and CEO of The Skancke Company. He’s also one heck of a nice guy. And in a business built on relationships – that’s important. Of course, our clients know that experience matters too. That’s why they benefit from Tom’s extensive experience in strategic positioning, corporate image campaigns, crisis management and high-level strategic planning for Fortune 500 companies.
Going West
Tom founded The Skancke Company in 1989, after identifying an undeniable need for a strategic positioning and public affairs firm working with a unique approach. focused on Las Vegas government projects. Since that time, the company has grown beyond Las Vegas and now has additional offices in Newport Beach, CA and Washington, D.C. Tom and his team have become known throughout the West as experts in public affairs. Not bad for a kid from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
LeadershipA Darn Good Success Rate
Tom’s campaign success rate is darn good. (Go ahead, ask him about it.) He has put his expertise to work for a range of campaigns, from local city council races to US Senate bids. Tom has been a pivotal influence on country-wide riverboat gaming referenda and has spent a majority of the past 15 years focusing on major transportation infrastructure projects throughout the West. His efforts paid off – nearly $1 billion in federal, state and local funding to be exact. In 2005, United State Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, appointed Tom to the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission. First Commission of it’s kind since the Clay Commission of the 1950’s from the Eisenhower Administration. Boy was this an experience of a lifetime. Not everyone gets appointments like this. In 2006 Arizona State University president, Michael Crow, appointed Tom to the North American Center for Transborder Studies. In 1999 former Governor Kenny Guinn appointed Tom to the CANAMEX Corridor Coalition where he served for 6 years and served as chair for 3 years.1992, Tom traveled to 39 of the 48 contiguous states doing gaming development for a publicly-traded gaming company, and boy, was that fun.
Controversy? Bring it on.
Tom isn’t averse to controversy. In fact, he likes it. But Tom is also successful because he likes what he does and he does it well. At The Skancke Company, we’ve proven time and again that controversy creates momentum. And momentum, in the right hands, creates results.
A Strategist to the Core
Tom is an unflagging advocate for his clients. He’s a strategist to the core. Thoughtful and incisive, Tom takes an analytical – yet original – approach to everything he does for his clients. His unique experience and insight allow him to tackle a thorny situation and swiftly turn it into a cogent plan of action. Tom’s really good at finding ingenious answers to complex questions. Some might even say he’s gifted in discerning solutions where others only see problems. The bottom line is that Tom is a hard worker and he gets results — the results his clients want.
What About This Nice Guy Stuff?
Tom still advises several elected officials in what is perhaps the closest thing he has to spare time. He is active in the Las Vegas community, serving on the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Business Council and the YMCA Public Policy Committee. Tom enjoys golf (when he has time…but his clients and company come first(perhaps the only similarity he shares with other lobbyists) and downhill skiing. When traveling across the country, you might even catch Tom reading some political book or novel. But more often than not, he’s listening to an opera. Tom’s a huge opera buff. Some may not like the opera because it’s passionate and ambitious, but that’s exactly why it appeals to a big-picture kind of guy like Tom. It’s the orchestration he loves most.