Small-time, low-cost lobbying firm goes after the little guys
Small-time, low-cost lobbying firm goes after the little guys
Paul Kanitra says Keys to the Capitol is breaking into an industry that is "stagnant and stuck in its ways." (Marvin Joseph/the Washington
The effort, which formally launches Friday after months of preparation, amounts to a bold experiment to remake the idea of Washington lobbying, where fee schedules are opaque and opulence is often viewed as part of the price of doing business.
Can't even consider signing the $10,000-a-month retainers required by many top Washington firms. Instead, Kanitra's company offers contracts starting at $995, month-to-month agreements and prices and other details spelled out on the company's Web site.
"I guess you can call it McLobbying," said Kanitra, 30, adding that his inspiration comes from such cost-killers as McDonald's, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. "Every other industry embraced this kind of model a decade ago or more. The lobbying industry is stagnant and stuck in its ways."
To K Street veterans and good-government advocates, Kanitra's gambit is either a brilliant or a foolhardy attempt to create a populist niche within Washington's $3.5 billion lobbying market. Whether successful or not, the idea underscores rapid changes rocking the profession amid an economic downturn, an expanding government role in health care and other industries and continued attempts to limit the impact of lobbyists on the political process.
Veteran lobbyists say they already face strong pressures to curb rates and better explain costs to clients, who have tighter budgets and easier access to government data through the Internet. Patton Boggs and other lobbying behemoths increasingly offer legislative analyses and other general products for free, hoping to lure paying customers with more specialized services. Many smaller boutique lobbying firms, meanwhile, focus only on one subject area, such as health care or energy.
As a result, many lobbying experts say, even less attention is being paid to humbler citizens, businesses or associations searching for a way to make themselves heard in
Washington.
By Dan Eggen
Can't even consider signing the $10,000-a-month retainers required by many top Washington firms. Instead, Kanitra's company offers contracts starting at $995, month-to-month agreements and prices and other details spelled out on the company's Web site.
"I guess you can call it McLobbying," said Kanitra, 30, adding that his inspiration comes from such cost-killers as McDonald's, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. "Every other industry embraced this kind of model a decade ago or more. The lobbying industry is stagnant and stuck in its ways."
To K Street veterans and good-government advocates, Kanitra's gambit is either a brilliant or a foolhardy attempt to create a populist niche within Washington's $3.5 billion lobbying market. Whether successful or not, the idea underscores rapid changes rocking the profession amid an economic downturn, an expanding government role in health care and other industries and continued attempts to limit the impact of lobbyists on the political process.
Veteran lobbyists say they already face strong pressures to curb rates and better explain costs to clients, who have tighter budgets and easier access to government data through the Internet. Patton Boggs and other lobbying behemoths increasingly offer legislative analyses and other general products for free, hoping to lure paying customers with more specialized services. Many smaller boutique lobbying firms, meanwhile, focus only on one subject area, such as health care or energy.
As a result, many lobbying experts say, even less attention is being paid to humbler citizens, businesses or associations searching for a way to make themselves heard in
Washington.
By Dan Eggen
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