Imperium Founder Josh Helton served as a senior strategic consultant to Virginia businessman Glenn Youngkin’s successful gubernatorial campaign. Youngkin, a renowned businessman, won a historic victory in 2021 running an unconventional campaign that united Virginians across party lines.

Helton is recognized nationally for his expertise as an election attorney and campaign advisor, having advised the RNC, the NRSC and the NRCC over multiple election cycles and worked for multiple presidential campaigns.

Imperium serves as the strategic communications advisor to Vanderbilt University's Institute of National Security (INS) and its founding director, Retired General Paul M. Nakasone, leading efforts to build a national brand positioning INS as the country’s premier academic proving ground for the next generation of national security leaders.

We began our engagement by conducting comprehensive stakeholder interviews with General Nakasone, university leadership, and national security experts to develop a cohesive narrative grounded in INS’s core values: institutional neutrality, a culture of service, and actionable solutions. These insights informed a messaging framework that articulates INS’s unique role at the intersection of academia and national security.

Imperium was retained to give strategic counsel and media support to Moore Construction for its 300-acre mixed-use development called Marcelina near the booming market of Clarksville, Tennessee.

Our team worked with the developers to negotiate a difficult political environment while building community support that helped win votes for zoning and entitlement from local planners and the county commission.

Imperium also created and managed media and messaging during the process, working with local and regional media to earn accurate, positive coverage of the development.

In the 2025 session of the Tennessee General Assembly, Imperium was successful working with Montgomery County and the developers to secure $68 million in road funding to support the Marcelina development.

Imperium was tasked with leading the public relations launch of healthcare private equity firm Russell Street Ventures as well as its first portfolio company, Main Street Health.

Led by former Trump administration director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Brad Smith, both launches were of national interest. Imperium worked with firm founders to refine messaging, prepare collateral, and generate social media content. The launches were covered locally by the Tennessean, Nashville Business Journal, and Nashville Post as well as nationally by Business Insider, Politico, and Fierce Health.

Imperium serves as the public relations advisor for a Tennessee-based community bank navigating complex challenges on a national stage related to the bank’s fintech partnerships. Imperium provides strategic guidance on public relations, regulatory communication, digital strategy, and reputation management.

We have worked closely with the bank’s leadership to craft clear and transparent messaging for national media and Washington D.C. policymakers. Our team has supported the institution in responding to a class action lawsuit and managing communications around a consent order with the FDIC. We have handled media inquiries from a range of national and trade outlets, including Fintech Business Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, Bank Dive, and American Banker.

Through this engagement, the bank has been able to effectively communicate its commitment to resolving customer concerns, maintaining transparency, and refocusing operations on community banking under new management. Our efforts have helped stabilize public perception and align communications with long-term business goals.