- One-person influence shops are vulnerable to political shifts
- Lone K Street denizens say they are ‘scrappy’ entrepreneurs
Lobbyists usually run in herds at bipartisan firms, but a slice of K Street takes a lone-wolf approach to the influence game.
Those who opt to go it alone say it makes for a leaner, more nimble operation, reduces potential client conflicts, and gives them control over how they operate the business. In good times, a single-lobbyist enterprise can rake in big money that the rainmaker doesn’t have to share. But risks abound.
More than 50 solo shops reported revenue of $1 million or more last year, according to a Bloomberg Government analysis of federal lobbying disclosures, accounting for nearly $80 million in fees.
“We tend to be scrappy,” said Missy Edwards, who opened her shop, Missy Edwards Strategies, in 2010, and last year disclosed $1.3 million in fees from Truckload Carriers Association, Shein Technology, and other clients.
Edwards said she left a bipartisan firm for the more entrepreneurial approach of owning her company. With ties to Senate Republicans, she said, business has been stable over time, with the pace this year more relentless as clients work to influence tax, tariff, and other debates.
Other one-person shops have seen business fall off.
Solo lobbying firms are more vulnerable to the whims of elections, and often rise or fall on which policy fights are hot at the moment. The presidential transition and flip in control of the Senate can ripple into K Street bottom lines, with one-person firms especially susceptible.
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To contact the reporter on this story: Kate Ackley at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bennett Roth at [email protected]; George Cahlink at [email protected]
