Author: ally

City & State Highlights MultiState’s Denisse Girón in the 2026 Albany 40 Under 40

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Denisse Girón, Assistant Vice President at PPHC firm MultiState, has been highlighted by City & State in the organization’s annual Albany 40 Under 40 list.

The Albany 40 Under 40 list recognizes 40 individuals under the age of 40 who are rising stars in state politics and government. City & State receives hundreds of nominations for this prestigious list, and only a select few make the cut.

Denisse Girón was first introduced to local politics by her mother who helped plan an annual Central American parade on Long Island.

Girón and her family, who emigrated from Costa Rica, attended public hearings to secure funding and met Nassau County elected officials and took photos with them at the parade every year.

“It was really important for my mom to teach us about our culture,” Girón says. “Being a young Latino on Long Island, it’s hard to stay away from politics.”

Girón attended Hofstra University, where she saw Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, Donald Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton at two presidential debates on campus. But her interest in politics grew out of her volunteer work with Planned Parenthood and a fellowship at Make the Road New York.

Read Girón’s full profile from City & State.

KP Public Affairs Celebrates 30-Year Anniversary with Third Generation Leadership

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SACRAMENTO, CA – PPHC firm KP Public Affairs is excited to celebrate its 30-year anniversary and announce its third generation leadership with a new management team.  

As one of the longest standing and consistently effective advocacy and public affairs firms in California, KP’s work continues to expand in all practice areas including legislative and regulatory advocacy, policy consulting, public relations, and procurement.  

The firm’s new management team will be led by Alison MacLeod, John Doherty, and Brian White, and will oversee day to day operations alongside partners Jon Ross, Ed Manning, Mike Burns, Jeff Sickenger, Jenny Dudikoff, Vanessa Cajina, Patrick George, and Pat Joyce. 

KP began in the mid-1990’s by combining two firms to create the largest lobbying firm in the state with clients that represented every major industry and local government sector in California. KP has evolved over the last three decades to become a full-service, integrated public affairs firm with a comprehensive public relations and regulatory consulting practice. Throughout this growth, the company has maintained a boutique feel with the highest level of service and dedication to client success. 

“We are focused on delivering client successes today, while positioning the firm for future growth with continuous expansion of our expertise and capabilities. KP has a strong foundation of clients across industry sectors and interest areas, and we have a highly talented team of professionals that are working every day to meet our clients’ goals,” said Alison MacLeod, John Doherty, and Brian White. 

Read the full story from KP Public Affairs.

Seven Letter Expands Nationwide – New Offices and Experts in Los Angeles, New York City, and Huntsville   

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Firm’s growth provides clients coast-to-coast advantages and sector-specific strengths, bolsters strategic digital capacities   

  • Seven Letter launches three new offices in LA, NYC, and Huntsville, Alabama   

  • Brandon Shaw, former Comms VP for Disney and Hulu, entertainment industry expert, will be named Seven Letter partner based in LA  

  • Longtime Seven Letter team member Holly Jackson to open Huntsville office serving defense and aerospace sectors  

  • Marley Hambourger adds NYC office and strengthens digital advertising offering   

WASHINGTON, DC – (January 8, 2026) – Seven Letter, an expertise-powered bipartisan strategic communications firm, today announced a major geographic expansion involving the addition of three new offices – Los Angeles, New York, and Huntsville – to bolster its growing nationwide offerings and emerging specialized practices. This development includes the addition of senior-level counselors to open the new offices and support the expansion.   

“Seven Letter isn’t just growing geographically, but strategically,” said Erik Smith, CEO and Founder. “This expansion allows us to be closer to the industries that are driving our growth. We have always emphasized providing senior-level counsel at every step – and now we can do so across more sectors and in more geographies. I’m excited about what’s to come for our clients and our team.”   

Read the full announcement from Seven Letter.

Seven Letter named one of PRWeek’s 2025 Best Places to Work

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For the third year in a row, Seven Letter was named one of PRWeek’s Best Places to Work. The honorees are selected from a group of nearly 100 agencies and in-house teams to showcase the companies that rise above the pack by committing to their employees’ professional and personal well-being.

From PRWeek:

Seven Letter has earned a reputation for its attention to building a successful, collaborative team. The agency places a high priority on its people. 

“It knows its people are the greatest resource and treats them that way,” explained one staffer. The value leadership places on its workforce is not only felt by employees, it’s also echoed in the way they speak about each other.  

Read the full Seven Letter profile from PRWeek.

Pagefield’s Oliver Foster recognized as one of Mace Magazine’s Top Political Consultants

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Oliver Foster, CEO of Pagefield has once again been recognized by Mace Magazine as one of the publication’s Top 100 Political Consultants for 2025/26. Peer-reviewed by top industry pros, the list covers the best advisers at the forefront of influencing politics, policy, and public affairs today.

From Mace Magazine:

Oliver Foster co-founded Pagefield after a decade working inside British and European political institutions, industry trade bodies, and high-profile listed companies. He is an integrated campaigning specialist, with over 20 years’ experience protecting, promoting and rebuilding corporate reputations through a combination of public affairs, public relations and crisis communications.

Read Oliver Foster’s full profile.

Forbes Tate Partners launches Beltway Social: digital insights made easy

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Forbes Tate launched the first edition of Beltway Social last week, analyzing conversation around the government shutdown.

Beltway Social follows over 20,000 X accounts belonging to Members of Congress and their staff, key executive branch personnel, NGO leaders, and other influencers and boldface names from around the Beltway.

We analyze the people, topics, and trends that are dominating the conversation in Washington. This index is a summary of those conversations, plus a comparison with the broader national conversation.

Youʼll get a sense of where Washington is and where itʼs going — and when the conversation inside the Beltway is completely out of touch with the country as a whole.

Keep up with new analyses released weekly on Forbes Tate’s Social Insights page.

PPHC announces unaudited interim results for the first half of 2025

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Strong organic growth reinforced by strategic M&A to deliver record revenue and EBITDA

Public Policy Holding Company, Inc., (“PPHC”, the “Company” or the “Group”),a leading global strategic communications provider, offering a comprehensive range of advisory services in the areas of Government Relations, Public Affairs, and Corporate Communications, today announces its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2025 (“H1 2025” or the “Period”).

Financial Highlights

  • H1 revenue increased by 23.6% to $87.9m (H1 2024: $71.1m), with organic growth contributing 7.6% and the balance driven by three acquisitions made in 2024 and 2025.
  • Record adjusted EBITDA1 of $21.4m, up 14.1%, achieved at a 24.4% margin.
  • Adjusted Net Income of $15.6m was up 19.9% (H1 2024: $13.0m) with an increase in finance costs offset by a more favourable effective tax rate.
  • Adjusted fully diluted EPS of $0.12 was up 13.0%, with fully diluted share count increasing by 6% (basic sharecount by 4%).
  • The Group’s balance sheet remains robust with free cash flow of $11.7m (H1 2024: $5.8m), allowing for continued progress against stated strategic goals via organic investment and earnings accretive M&A.
  • Net Debt of $42.2m (H1 2024: $28.3m) reflects a prudent leverage ratio and the allocation of $24.0m to fund the earnings accretive acquisition of TrailRunner in H1 2025.
  • The Board retains strong confidence in the Group’s outlook and has declared an interim dividend of $0.023 per Common Outstanding Share, in line with the revised dividend policy announced in January 2025.
 All in $’000, unless otherwise noted
 H1 2025H1 2024$ Change% Change
Group Revenue87,89971,13416,76523.6%
Adjusted EBITDA21,44618,7982,64814.1%
Adjusted EBITDA margin24.4%26.4%N/A(2.0)pts
Adjusted Net Income15,55112,9712,58019.9%
Adjusted EPS fully diluted$0.12$0.11$0.0113.0%
Dividend paid, per share$0.05$0.10$(0.05)(51.5)%
Net Debt at period-end(42,226)(28,294)(13,932)49.2%

Operational Highlights

  • Significant progress in line with the Group’s stated growth strategy, with earnings accretive acquisitions providing an enhanced complementary range of services to the Group’s international client base:
    • Organically, the Group recorded 7.6% growth in revenue which represents a significant step-up from the 2.7% growth in FY 2024 and the 2.0% in FY 2023, supported by a strong rebound in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
    • Acquisition of TrailRunner significantly expands the Group’s capabilities in Corporate Communications – which includes crisis and reputation management, financial, and legal communication – providing significant revenue opportunities via referrals and joint business in conjunction with the pre-existing Group.
    • TrailRunner is headquartered in the fast-growing state of Texas (recognised as the 8th largest economy in the world), and has additional offices in New York, Northern California, Nashville, UK, UAE, and China. Back-office integration has completed.
    • Post-period, the Group also announced the acquisition of Pine Cove Strategies, a premier Texas-based strategic consulting firm, adding to the Group’s state government relations capabilities.
  • Revenue remained highly diversified with the top 10 Group clients representing 9.4% of revenue in H1 2025 versus 8.7% at the end of FY 2024 and 10.8% for FY 2023.
  • By segment:
    • Government Relations grew at 6.2% (4.1% organically).
    • Corporate Communications & Public Affairs (formerly: Public Affairs) increased by 81.2% (14.7% organically), benefiting from the rebound in demand for communication services following the conclusion of the 2024 US elections.
    • Compliance and Insights Services (formerly: Diversified Services) continued its strong growth at 19.2% (reported and organic).
    • Overall, we made significant progress on our strategy to diversify our revenue mix, with complementary service offerings, with Corporate Communications & Public Affairs increasing strongly to 32.0% of revenue (H1 2024: 21.8%) and Government Relations now representing 60.8% (H1 2024: 70.8%). Compliance and Insights Services marginally decreased to 7.1% (H1 2024: 7.4%).
  • An expansive client base of c.1,300 Group clients is supported by sustained high retention rates, with the Group directly representing approximately half of the Fortune 100 and a quarter of the Fortune 500, in addition to many more via trade associations.
  • The quality of PPHC’s operating companies in Federal Government Relations continues to be reflected in the H1 2025 Lobbying Disclosure Act (“LDA”) rankings, with Group agencies, when aggregated, topping the rankings for the period.

Stewart Hall, CEO of PPHC, commented:

“We have made continued progress in H1 2025, with significantly higher organic revenue growth of 8% and earnings accretive acquisitions delivering a strong financial performance. As anticipated, we have seen increased demand for our services following the conclusion of 2024 U.S. elections, in particular in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, with our teams delivering critical work for our clients across multiple geographies.

“Following recent acquisitions, PPHC is now firmly established as a leading global strategic communications company and we are well placed to deliver continued growth in line with our stated strategy. 

“With strong momentum across all of our service lines and a robust pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities, we are confident in our outlook and ability to continue delivering meaningful returns to our shareholders.”

1 EBITDA definition adjusted from prior reporting to exclude M&A costs.

TrailRunner International’s Zack Kozlak Highlighted in PRWeek’s 2025 40 Under 40

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Zack Kozlak, Head of US at PPHC member company TrailRunner International, has been named to PRWeek’s 2025 40 Under 40 list.

This prestigious recognition celebrates Zack’s exceptional leadership, strategic vision, and unwavering commitment to delivering outstanding results for clients. It also reflects the high caliber of talent and expertise that defines the TrailRunner International team.

Congratulations to Zack and everyone at TrailRunner on this well-earned honor.

LPA Adds Strategic Communicators to Support Client Growth

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Lucas Public Affairs (LPA), a leading California-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, is pleased to welcome three accomplished professionals to its growing team: Julianne Gray, Kimaya Gokhale and Linnea Leidy. Their wide-ranging experience in public policy, strategic communications and stakeholder engagement will enhance the firm’s ability to support clients across California’s policy and political landscape.

“All three of these professionals – Julianne, Kimaya and Linnea – are already having a meaningful impact on our client work,” said Cassandra Walker Pye, President of Lucas Public Affairs. “Each brings fresh perspectives, important connections in and around the Capitol and great energy that adds to our culture. We’re thrilled to have three exceptional colleagues join our already exceptional team.”

Read the full story from Lucas Public Affairs.

PPHC to Acquire Pine Cove Strategies

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Public Policy Holding Company, Inc. (AIM: PPHC), the leading government relations, public affairs and strategic communications group, has entered into a binding agreement on 11 July 2025 to acquire the business and assets of Pine Cove Capital, LLC, a premier Texas-based strategic consulting firm (the “Acquisition”), for an initial consideration of $3.0 million and a total potential consideration of $13.0 million. Upon completion, which is anticipated to occur in August 2025, the Acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to the Group’s underlying earnings.

Based in Austin, Texas, Pine Cove Capital is led by the Honorable George P. Bush, who previously served as the 28th Land Commissioner for the State of Texas.

Following completion, under Commissioner Bush’s leadership and operating under a new name, Pine Cove Strategies (“Pine Cove”) intends to establish and build a Texas state government relations practice in addition to its existing strategic consulting offering.

Acquisition highlights

  • The Acquisition is in line with the Group’s growth strategy to expand into certain key US state capitals, complementing the Group’s federal capabilities with best-in-class local market expertise. Texas, as one of the largest state economies and most consequential for public policy activities, has long been one of the Group’s stated priorities for local government relations expansion.
  • Austin, the capital of Texas, is a critical nexus of business, politics, and regulatory affairs. Together with the April 2025 acquisition of TrailRunner International, this Acquisition enhances the Group’s ability to deliver top-tier strategic communications and government relations services across Texas, supporting clients at greater scale both locally and nationally.
  • Pine Cove will become PPHC’s third state government relations operation, alongside KP Public Affairs (California) and O’Neill and Associates (Massachusetts). Combined with MultiState’s 50-state reach, this further strengthens PPHC’s leadership in the fragmented state government relations market.
  • The business assets of Pine Cove Capital, LLC will be acquired through a newly formed wholly owned subsidiary, Pine Cove Strategies, LLC, which will retain its brand and operate independently. The Group sees strong revenue and profit synergy potential across its 1,300+ client base.
  • Upon completion, the Acquisition is expected to be immediately accretive to underlying earnings per share. 

 Overview of Pine Cove Capital

  • Pine Cove Capital is a strategic consulting firm that serves as a long-term partner to clients ranging from start-ups to established businesses and Fortune 500 companies.  It advises and supports clients in navigating regulatory and complex business challenges. The founders, Commissioner George P. Bush and Amanda Bush, are native Texans with combined experience of over 40 years in government, business and law. Pine Cove Capital has a far-reaching network throughout Texas, the second largest state economy in the US and would rank as the 8th largest economy in the world.
  • Commissioner Bush is an attorney, businessman and former Naval Intelligence Officer.  Before co-founding Pine Cove Capital, he served as the 28th Texas Land Commissioner.
  • Amanda Bush is an attorney who practiced commercial law for 14 years before co-founding Pine Cove Capital. She has sat on the Board of Directors and Board of Advisors for several clients.

Stewart Hall, CEO of PPHC, commented:

“Texas is a priority market and of critical importance to the national and global economy. It is also a state that is currently experiencing a significant influx of business. PPHC, with unmatched local scale, is set to capitalise on this as the requirement for our capabilities increases. I’m therefore extremely pleased to welcome Pine Cove to the PPHC family. With George and Amanda’s deep relationships and proven track record in Texas politics, we’re looking forward to turbo charging Pine Cove’s growth by adding a government relations practice to its existing strategic communications services, and through the cross-referral of work within the broader PPHC network.”

Commissioner George P. Bush, Managing Partner of Pine Cove Strategies, commented:

“Joining PPHC marks a transformative step for Pine Cove Capital and our clients,” said Commissioner Bush.  “By combining our deep Texas roots and local expertise with PPHC’s national scale and resources, we can deliver a broader suite of services and greater strategic value to organizations navigating today’s complex policy and business landscape. This partnership empowers us to offer clients seamless access to top-tier government relations and communications capabilities—both in Texas and across the country—while retaining the personalized service and trusted relationships that define our firm. Together, we are uniquely positioned to help clients achieve their goals in one of the world’s most dynamic markets, leveraging PPHC’s extensive network and proven track record of success.”