By Bill Britt
Alabama Political Reporter
Like all Executive Branch personnel, Yellowhammer Multimedia founder Cliff Sims recently filed his Federal Public Financial Disclosure Report, in which, among other things, revealed he is selling his once thriving news outlet.
Sims, who now serves as Director of White House Message Strategy in the Trump administration, enjoyed unfettered access to the Alabama House Republican Caucus for years during the heady days of former disgraced Speaker Mike Hubbard’s short reign. Sims, who currently works in the West Wing, once again finds himself at the heart of a revolution.
In his disclosure, Sims reports he has entered into an agreement to sell Yellowhammer Multimedia to Birmingham-based StrategyWise for $250,000, and that a letter of intent was signed by both parties outlining terms and conditions of the transaction.
According to a 2015 Birmingham Business Journal report, as a start-up, StrategyWise, “looks to create that value by performing company-wide data audits and consulting with businesses on how to turn their disparate data into meaningful insights, especially on the marketing side.”
The 2015 report said the company had already provided “data consulting services for companies like Alabama Power, Samsung, and The Birmingham Zoo, among others.”
The company website says it “help[s] companies and governmental entities create value by capturing, analyzing, and applying data insights to drive policy formation, business process improvement, and game-changing innovations.”
Joshua Jones, who is StrategyWise’s managing partner, once had Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh as a partner in the venture.
The Alabama Political Reporter first recognized Jones as a lobbyist when in 2013 he was Vice President of Governmental Affairs at Sarrell Dental. Jones came to APR’s attention because of his affiliation with Sen. Marsh’s daughter, Christine Elizabeth Marsh, who at the time was a registered lobbyist for Sarrell Dental.
Strategy Wise LLC, (formerly Sagacia LLC) of which Jones was the sole owner was later joined by Sen. Marsh. However, on Dec. 31, 2014, Marsh withdrew from the company.
In his filings, Sims states he earned $65,000 in Salary/Bonus at Yellowhammer Multimedia. He lists an additional $265,435 in salary from Yellowhammer Strategies, another entity in which he was Principal from May 2012 until January 2017, according to his filing.
APR was unable to reach Jones to ask how his “global provider of data analytics and business intelligence solutions,” will be used on a website that publishes news and paid content.
