Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) is aiming to bolster his communications team with the additions of Jessica Ferguson and Andi Fouberg, both of whom were journalism majors in college.

Ferguson, hired as Thune’s new press secretary, has for the past two years served as deputy press secretary for the House Republican Conference, chaired by Rep. Deborah Pryce (Ohio). After graduating from the University of Florida in 2002 with degrees in journalism and Spanish, Ferguson landed her first job on Capitol Hill, working in the office Rep. Ric Keller (R-Fla.). She is a native of Boca Raton, Fla.

Fouberg is slated to assume her new position as Thune’s deputy communications director in November. For now, she is serving, as she has for the past nine months, as Thune’s state director, operating out of his office in Sioux Falls, S.D. During Thune’s 2000 Senate campaign, Fouberg served as director of community affairs.

Before signing on for Thune’s campaign, Fouberg spent time working for South Dakota University, the South Dakota Republican Party and the South Dakota Board of Regents.

A native of Letcher, S.D., Fouberg graduated from South Dakota State University in 1999 with degrees in journalism and political science.

“Jessica and Andi will be great additions to our communications team,” Thune said in a statement. “Their combined experience will greatly benefit this office and the people of South Dakota.”

Burns’ Legislative Director Joins Lobbying Firm. After seven years as legislative director to Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and 11 years on the Senator’s staff in total, Ric Molen has been added to the lobbying team of Lent Scrivner & Roth, a government relations and strategic planning firm.

The firm hopes to capitalize on Molen’s experience helping Burns, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, shepherd the Senator’s funding priorities through the appropriations process. As legislative director, Molen also helped mold Burns’ agenda before the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Before his promotion to legislative director, Molen put in four years as Burns’ staff associate to the Appropriations Committee, focusing on issues addressed by the subcommittees on Agriculture, Interior, and Energy and Water.

“Ric’s broad Senate experience will clearly provide added value to our clients and will expand our existing capabilities in the Senate on both appropriations and legislative issues,” firm partner Michale Scrivner said in a statement. Added partner Alan Roth: “We’re very excited to have Ric on board. His addition to the firm reinforces our commitment to provide clients with bipartisan and bicameral capabilities.”