I
n a city that prides itself on the blood sport of politics, good guys are supposed to come in last. Often they do. It’s just business, nothing personal, you understand. Dog-eat-dog. The jungle. Dogged Darwinism. Smash-mouth democracy at its finest. Bring it on!
JAY KITCHEN, A FORMER TELECOM policy-maker and wireless leader nearly four decades before retiring from tower association PCIA in 2005, defied convention. He managed to effectively advance wireless policy during a turbulent period of unparalleled technological change without abandoning the personal touch that won him the respect and admiration of many in government and industry.
In some respects, especially considering the wireless policy-making and lobbying world of today, Kitchen was old school. How many association executives in the nation’s capital actually understand how it all works? Not just the politics, but the technology that helps the industry exist in the first place.
Roots at the FCC
After graduating in 1968 from Virginia Tech with an electrical engineering degree, Kitchen joined the Federal Communications Commission’s then-Safety and Special Radio Services Bureau (the forerunner of the Private Radio Bureau and later the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau). His talents eventually caught the attention of top telecom regulators. Kitchen became a special engineering assistant to former commissioner Charlotte Reid in 1974, and in 1976, joined the staff of former commissioner Margita White in the same capacity. Three years later, Kitchen was named president of the National Association of Business and Educational Radio. In 1994, NABER and PCIA merged, with Kitchen tasked with overseeing the newly constituted trade group.
Technological and regulatory changes in the wireless space-not to mention the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks-during Kitchen’s tenure at NABER and PCIA were especially challenging. But Kitchen weathered storm after storm, scoring many professional and personal achievements along the way. His involvement in the wireless industry coincided during the revolutionary wireless boom of the 1980s and 1990s. Still Kitchen’s contributions to the wireless industry could be easy to overlook as his easy-going personality and hands-off management style lacked the flash of other high-profile industry lobbyists in town. Kitchen and his troops, however, were at the table during the major wireless debates of the day.
“I had a great time. I mean I just thoroughly enjoyed my job. I enjoyed the time at the commission immensely,” Kitchen said. “I got to work with some really great people. And then moving to NABER and ultimately to PCIA, to be with those people in the industry that were really setting the course, making things happen, was always a thrill. And to work with or work beside some of these real giants in the industry-the list is real long, the people I have dealt with-it’s just all been a blast. It really has.”
A long list, indeed. Kitchen has special affection and appreciation for Richard Wiley, FCC chairman from 1974 through 1977. Wiley now heads a powerhouse Washington, D.C.,-based communications law firm.
Kitchen fondly recalls a surprise encounter with Wiley when the former was a bureau-level staffer. “I can remember being at a cocktail party and having Dick Wiley turn to me and say, ‘Jay, how’s everything on the fourth floor?’ I was just so shocked that he even knew my name at that point, much less where I worked and that kind of thing. Dick was absolutely tremendous about helping and advising me, and I looked to him a number of times for advice and I always appreciated what he did for me.”
Wiley said it doesn’t surprise him that Kitchen did so well at the FCC and in industry. “He was one of the best staffers I ever ran into at the commission,” said Wiley.
Mentor and friend
The former FCC chairman said Kitchen had an effective combination of professional, personal and political skills. “Jay really was one of the pillars of the wireless industry,” Wiley stated.
Before it became a glitzy $120 billion industry, there were two-way radio dealers. Kitchen, with his engineering background, FCC experience and folksy demeanor, had a knack for connecting with the small businessmen and industry giants alike. And he could get results when it came to advocating wireless policies before federal regulators and Congress, noted Leonard Kolsky, a former Motorola Inc. government relations manager.
“He’s a person guy and a fair manager. He’s a technical guy. He understands what the end users are really up against,” said Terry Zaccarino, president of Communications Electronics of Virginia and a longtime Kitchen friend. “He was not scared to roll up his sleeves and help. . He understood his job very well and did it very well.”
Kitchen put a premium on his work force.
“My No. 1 comment to people was that when they came in the door and became an employee I recognized with them and all the other employees that the assets of the association walked out of the door every day at 5 o’clock or 6 o’clock or 7 o’clock-more like 6 o’clock or 7 o’clock because they were dedicated people and worked hard,” said Kitchen. “But it was the people that made the difference. It was the people, not only with the ability to comprehend the issues and help the industry mange those issues, it was the ability to work together as a team. I think we had some tremendous team players in the organization that really helped move the organization forward. And again, there was a real host of them over the years that were really just great people.”
Kitchen said he’s proud to have watched former employees advance in their careers. And they are equally grateful to him for having worked with him.
“Jay was a great boss and mentor to me. I was a fairly young manager back in the NABER days and Jay provided me with really helpful direction, never micro-managed me,” said John Sherlock, a former NABER and PCIA executive who today is assistant professor and director of the M.S. Degree Program in Human Resources at Western Carolina University.
“He always said it was my decision, but pointed out things I should be considering,” Sherlock said. “Jay was an excellent role model for me-his ability to ‘connect’ with so many different types of people in our industry was something I have always admired. It didn’t matter who he was talking with-a senator, two-way radio dealer or technician, FCC staffer, journalist, etcetera-his friendly, personable style always got them to smile and feel comfortable. I feel so fortunate to have had Jay as a boss-even more fortunate to have him as a close friend.”
Donald Vasek, a frequency coordinator from the Kitchen-era and now an executive at the Enterprise Wireless Alliance, also praised Kitchen’s management style.
“He’d never ask anyone to do a job he wouldn’t do himself,” said Vasek, who got his professional start from Kitchen.
Difficult decisions
Rob Hoggarth, a government affairs specialist who worked with Kitchen at NABER and PCIA, said Kitchen deftly balanced the serious and light-hearted aspects of work.
“The Jay Kitchen I worked with was a man who had already successfully fought and won many professional and personal battles in his life. Those previous experiences helped him to retain a strong passion for expanding the reach of the wireless industry, and also gave him a real sense of perspective,” said Hoggarth, now a now a principal law and policy consultant for the Teokumu Group. “The Jay of the 1990s was a principled fighter who used all the tools available to him. He demanded a lot from his members and his staff, but he also emphasized the need for balance in life. He really valued personal connections and relationships and ultimately saw the good in just about everyone.”
A key moment for Kitchen was 9/11, the tragic even that unfolded right as PCIA’s trade show in Los Angeles was due to begin. Four individuals associated with the trade group lost their lives that day. There was also the question of the trade show itself.
“I think one of the finest decisions that I made while I was running an organization was the decision to pack up everybody and send them home and refund all of the money to the exhibitors that had paid to be at the show,” Kitchen said. “PCIA took one heck of a beating over that financially, and some say it probably caused PCIA to drop in size sand stature from where it was. I go back to say it was a decision that I made based on what my integrity told me I had to do. To cancel that show was a huge decision for the association. But I made it and still stand by it.”
