Issue Areas and Expertise
We know your issue, because we’ve been there.
Let us show you how we can shape change to your advantage.
Agriculture & Nutrition
Michigan has a diverse agricultural economy. We proudly represent a diverse range of agribusiness clients, including the state’s largest ag lender, wine producers, and horse racing interests, to name a few.
Click the button below to email Rob Elhenicky & Nate Love to learn more.
Alcoholic Beverage Regulation & Liquor Control
Complex alcohol regulation is always on tap in Michigan. Fortunately, we know Michigan’s three tier regulatory system from every angle. We represent the world’s largest spirits and adult beverage manufacturer, as well as the nation’s largest retailer. We also represent Michigan’s fast-growing wine industry. We handle licensing matters from the routine to the very complex. We also lead on policy issues like direct shipment to consumers, creating resort licenses, and new product approvals, to name a few.
Click the button below to email Rob Elhenicky and Nate Love to learn more.
Appropriations & State Budget
The $60 billion annual state budget is the heart of Michigan’s legislative process. Funding opportunities—and challenges—abound. Our team features former a Senate Appropriations Chair, giving you an upper (experienced) hand in securing state funding for your organization.
Click the button below to email Dave Hildenbrand and learn more.
Associations & Nonprofits
Voices are stronger together. We often bring competitors together to form trade associations and create new industry representation. We also help clients manage existing associations and launch non-profit organizations.
Click the button below to email Nate Love and learn more.
Automotive & Manufacturing
Michigan put the world on wheels. We proudly represent automakers, suppliers, and other manufacturers on economic development, regulatory, and tax issues.
Click the button below to email Dave Hildenbrand and learn more.
Biotech & Pharma
Biotech and pharmaceutical manufacturers save lives. They treat disease and improve our quality of life. However, they face a constant barrage of legislation which threatens to drive up their cost of doing business. We have a long track record of defending this vital industry on liability, funding, and regulatory issues. We also help increase access through collaborative efforts with the industry’s patient advocacy partners.
Click the button below to email Melissa McKinley and learn more.
Business Development
Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, associations, nonprofits, educational institutions, healthcare systems, and local governments. This gives us a unique opportunity to bring clients and contacts together to collaborate on shared interests.
Click the button below to email Jason Sheppard and learn more.
Capital Outlay
Life-changing education and research takes place in the buildings we helped to get built through state funding. Learn more about our over $250 million portfolio here.
Click the button below to email Melissa McKinley & Dave Hildenbrand to learn more.
Cannabis
Whether it’s medical or recreational, legal cannabis is here to stay. Our clients run the gamut from large growers to minority-owned micro-business licensees. Whether your issues are licensing, policy or regulation, we can help.
Click the button below to email Nate Love and learn more.
Criminal Justice & Judiciary
We led a bipartisan criminal justice reform effort to reduce jail overcrowding on behalf of Pew Charitable Trusts. These efforts are now a national model. You can learn more about the reform effort by clicking here.
Click the button below to email Melissa McKinley and learn more about our services.
Cultural & Creative Institutions
Michigan’s creative and cultural institutions have a $14 billion economic impact statewide. They also provide more than 100,000 jobs. We proudly represent museums, libraries, music venues and other cultural institutions on state funding and policy issues.
Click the button below to email Melissa McKinley and learn more.
DEI
Diversity is not just a buzzword. It’s a mission for all of us. Our DEI consulting services help you build teams that reflect the values of the communities you serve.
Click below to email Danielle El-Amin and learn more.
Economic Development & Incentives
Incentives often mean the difference between success or failure for major economic development projects. We have deep experience with tax credits, TIFs, and direct funding for economic development projects.
Click the button below to email Dave Ladd and learn more.
Education: K-12
We have Michigan’s preeminent K-12 lobbying practice. Our K-12 experience dates from before the passage of Proposal A in the early 1990s. We know how to blend legislative and department advocacy to achieve results.
Click the button below to email Dave Ladd & Melissa McKinley to learn more.
Education: Higher Education & Community Colleges
Higher Education transforms lives. We proudly represent public universities, community colleges and independent colleges on wide range of funding and policy issues.
Click the button below to email Dave Ladd and learn more.
Energy
Energy policy is always on the agenda in Michigan. Our team has been involved in the last three major energy policy rewrites in Michigan on behalf of utilities and other groups.
Click the button below to email Jim Kirsch and learn more.
Environment & Natural Resources
Balancing the need for jobs with the need to protect our natural environment is a perennial issue in the Great Lakes basin. We have been a part of the debate for decades.
Click the button below to email Dave Ladd and learn more.
Financial Services & Insurance
We’ve successfully handled numerous regulatory matters including financial services and insurance. Our combination of legal skills and political savvy helps us resolve issues before they become headlines.
Click the button below to email Melissa McKinley and learn more.
Fire Safety & Services
We represent every major statewide fire services organization, including the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union and the Detroit Police & Fire Retirement System. We help fire fighters keep our communities safe by protecting their interests on labor and regulatory issues.
Click the button below to email Melissa McKinley and learn more.
First Amendment & Media Access
As advocates, we depend on the right to petition the government. As citizens, we depend on freedom of the press. From open meetings to freedom of information, we help broadcasters and other media outlets keep the government honest. As the media industry continues its evolution, we remain vigilant in ensuring both access to information and the ability to report the facts.
Click the button below to contact Rob Elhenicky and learn more.
Gaming
Michigan has a complex gaming environment. You can bet we have successfully represented commercial casino interests, tribes, horse racing tracks, and iGaming providers.
Click the button below to contact Rob Elhenicky and learn more.
Government Contracts & Procurement
State and local governments are major purchasers. The State of Michigan’s Department of Technology, Management and Budget (DTMB) alone purchases over $2.7 billion in goods and services annually. We position clients before a formal request process for proposal to create new purchasing opportunities. We also help keep major initiatives funded after procurement.
Click the button below to contact Nate Love and learn more.
Great Lakes & Maritime
As Midwesterners, the Great Lakes are a part of our identity. From boating to commerce to shoreline protection, we’ve done it all.
Click the button below to email Dave Ladd, former Director of the Office of Great Lakes and learn more.
Healthcare
Healthcare affects everyone. Kelley Cawthorne has Michigan’s premier healthcare practice. We represent the full spectrum of providers, practitioners, hospitals, and medical schools. Whether it’s funding, regulation, or policy, we have you covered.
Click the button below to contact Melissa McKinley and learn more.
Healthcare: Certificate of Need
Healthcare is highly regulated. Achieving success takes an expert like Carrie Linderoth. Carrie has over twenty years of experience navigating Michigan’s complex Certificate of Need (CON) regulatory scheme from a legislative, administrative, and legal perspective. In recent years, she has won regulatory approval for over $500 million in healthcare facility and technology investments.
Click the button below to contact Carrie Linderoth and learn more.
Licensed Professions & Scope of Practice
We have a long history of successfully representing licensed professionals in the medical and design fields, among many others. We help protect your profession from bad actors, overzealous regulators, and encroachment by competing interests.
Click the button below to contact Jim Kirsch and learn more.
Lobby Law Reporting & Compliance
We assist our clients in lobby law registration, reporting and compliance as a part of our standard retainer agreements.
Click the button below to contact Natasha Oxender and learn more.
Mining
From iron ore to aggregates, mining is alive and well in the Midwest. We promote this vital industry and protect it from overzealous regulation at the state and local level.
Click the button below to contact David Ladd and learn more.
PAC Development & Strategy
We are on the leading edge of the Citizens United campaign finance revolution. Our experts work with clients and candidates on Political Action Committee (PAC) strategy, development, and the appropriate use of nonprofits to educate the public and influence the policy debate.
Click the button below to contact Nate Love and learn more.
Real Estate: Development & Construction
We help builders and developers with state-funded projects and economic incentives. We also secure local zoning and permitting approvals. In recent years, we grew by helping builders comply with community benefit ordinances which are often a condition for receipt of incentives and tax breaks. Our efforts are literally changing the skylines of major urban centers.
Click the button below to contact Dr. Oscar King, III and learn more.
Real Estate: Landlord Tenant & Property Management
We represent the leading statewide association of property managers on all issues affecting multifamily housing, including resident safety, information security, inspection practices, and fair housing.
Click the button below to contact Jim Kirsch and learn more.
Sports & Entertainment
We have successfully represented professional sports teams, sports commissions, and live music venues on taxation and funding issues. We even helped save live music in Michigan during COVID-19 by securing over $7 million in state funding for small and independent performance venues.
Click the button below to contact Dave Hildenbrand and learn more.
Survivor Advocacy
We led a groundbreaking legislative effort to secure justice for the survivors of the atrocities committed by Dr. Larry Nassar. These efforts were part of a complex legislative, public relations, and legal strategy which led to a $500 million settlement of complex civil litigation.
Click the button below to contact Rob Elhenicky and learn more.
Telecommunications
Jim Kirsch spearheaded state and local issues for AT&T for over a decade. He remains at the forefront of updating state laws to reflect the constantly evolving advances in the telecommunications industry, including advances into the multimedia market, transitioning to mobile broadband, and implementation of a 5G network.
Click the button below to contact Jim Kirsch and learn more.
Tourism & Convention
Tourism is big business in the Great Lakes region. We represent hoteliers, convention centers and other tourism job creators on a variety of issues.
Click the button below to contact Jim Kirsch and learn more.
Transportation & Infrastructure
We’ve been “fixing the damn roads” and bridges for decades. We represent workers from every part of the process, from the people who supply the materials to the people who build the roads and the people who design them.
Click the button below to contact Melissa McKinley and learn more.
Tax Policy
Tax policy is like the weather. If you don’t like it, wait five minutes, because it will probably change. Tax credits, tax cuts, tax reform, tax collections…you name it, we’ve done it all successfully for our clients.
Click the button below to contact Dave Ladd and learn more.
Contact Us
Click the button below to get in contact with our experienced and talented team of lobbyists.
