Lobby, Communications Professionals Launch New Consultancy
Texas Capitol Group offers full-range of public affairs and government relations services
January 12, 2006
AUSTIN – The Texas Lobby Group, Walter Fisher & Associates, ROSS Communications Inc., and Sullivan Public Affairs today announced the launch of the Texas Capitol Group – a strategic partnership that brings together a powerful team of professionals offering a comprehensive blend of public affairs services for new clients including corporations, industry associations and coalitions, and non-profit organizations.
The Texas Capitol Group’s services cross the spectrum of government advocacy, strategic communications, media relations, and coalition building, leveraging the expertise of Texas’ leading lobbyists, government affairs experts and communications practitioners. The Capitol Group will be based in Austin.
“The cumulative experience of our team is second to none,” said Mike Toomey, a founder of the Texas Capitol Group and a partner in the Texas Lobby Group. “We understand the complex regulatory, political and public opinion arenas in Texas, and we are well positioned to serve the dynamic needs of clients.”
The Capitol Group’s services include:
- Strategic counsel
- Issue management
- Government relations/advocacy at the local, state and federal levels
- Media relations
- Crisis communications management
- Internal and external communications
- Coalition building
The Texas Capitol Group “broadens our reach, connecting existing clients with seamless access to a wider network of services while offering new clients a full-service public affairs consultancy,” said Rossanna Salazar, a Capitol Group founder and managing partner of ROSS Communications. “In today’s government, political and corporate marketplace, effective communications, coalition building and advocacy are critical to our clients’ success.”
“It’s an unprecedented alliance of experienced, ethical and hard-working professionals,” said Ray Sullivan, a Capitol Group founder and president of Sullivan Public Affairs. “The members of the Texas Capitol Group have proven track records of success at every level of government, politics and the private sector.”
The Texas Capitol Group combines the extensive experience of:
- Mike Toomey – served as chief of staff for Governor Rick Perry and then-Governor Bill Clements; former three-term member of the Texas House of Representatives
- Bill Messer – former four-term member of the Texas House of Representatives; former chairman of the House Calendars Committee; chaired the transition team for state Rep. Tom Craddick when he became Speaker of the House
- Walter Fisher – served as Texas Senate parliamentarian under Lt. Governors David Dewhurst, Rick Perry, Bob Bullock and Bill Ratliff; assistant parliamentarian for the Texas House of Representatives; director of legislative services for the Texas Municipal League
- Lara Keel – former government relations manager for the Texas Association of Business and Chambers of Commerce, the state’s largest business group, lobbying the Texas Legislature and U.S. Congress; former Texas Senate staffer
- Billy Phenix – was environmental policy director for Governor Rick Perry; general counsel for a state senator and Senate Natural Resources Committee; and special assistant to Lt. Governor Bob Bullock
- Rossanna Salazar – served as press secretary to Governor Bill Clements in his second term; press secretary to then-Agriculture Commissioner Rick Perry; press secretary to the 1993 U.S. Senate campaign of Kay Bailey Hutchison; advised Friends of Tony Garza; former reporter
- Ray Sullivan – served as deputy chief of staff to Governor Rick Perry; as spokesman for George W. Bush; on the Washington staffs of U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, Congressman Sam Johnson and Congressman Duncan Hunter; and as a political consultant at Karl Rove + Company
- Wayne Fleenor – former government affairs manager for TXU, Lone Star Gas and the city of San Antonio
- Jennifer Harris – was spokesperson for the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and communications director to then-Texas Railroad Commissioner Tony Garza
- Mona Taylor – previously managed political campaigns of Greg Abbott for Attorney General and David Dewhurst for Texas Land Commissioner; former public affairs director of a statewide trade association; former reporter
For more information about the Texas Capitol Group, see our online announcement at www.texascapitolgrp.com.