Bruce Coppa, former chief of staff for Gov. Neil Abercrombie, has been hired by the lobbying firm Capitol Consultants of Hawaii as executive vice president.

Coppa, 60, first worked for Abercrombie as comptroller and director of the Department of Accounting and General Services. In 2011 he was picked by Abercrombie as his chief of staff.

 Prior to that, Coppa was vice president of E.E. Black, a Hawaii construction company, and the original executive director of Pacific Resource Partnership. He was also chief operations officer of Communications Pacific, a Honolulu communications and public relations firm.

“One of the best known and most trusted leaders in our community, Bruce is a winner who brings local, national, and international relationships, skills, and abilities to the firm. We are very happy that he has agreed to join us,” said G.A. “Red” Morris, co-founder and Chairman of Capitol Consultants of Hawaii.