About Our Name

AJW is named for a man whose simple, successful life embodies the values that guide us today: integrity, hard work, and the insight to take a chance on new technologies.

Albert Joseph Weathers was born in 1900, the child of Irish immigrants.  The family lived in a small house without plumbing behind their grocery stand in Lima, Pennsylvania. In 1916, facing limited prospects, Eb Weathers heard that a man was selling automobiles a few towns away.  He knew he’d found his opportunity, even though he had never ridden in a car.

After several days walking, the 16-year-old’s charm and determination convinced the salesman to give him a car to sell back in Lima. After a quick driving lesson, he brought the 1916 Dodge Brothers Roadster to his father’s grocery and put a hand-painted “For Sale” sign on the bumper. It sold that day.

To the salesman’s great surprise, Eb came back a few days later, cash in hand and an older brother in tow, asking for two cars and a driving lesson for his brother. Today, Weathers Dodge is the oldest continuous Dodge dealership in the nation, still standing on the same spot on West Baltimore Pike in Lima.

Eb knew that success comes from treating people right, not misleading or bullying them into something they don’t need.

What does that have to do with a Washington D.C. public policy firm started 87 years later?  Albert Joseph Weathers was Chris Hessler’s grandfather. And while Chris is the only one at AJW who knew Mr. Weathers, we’ve all been inspired by someone whose integrity and vision have set the path for others to follow.