Bottom Line

ELECTRIC VEHICLES. Tesla has hired Steptoe & Johnson to work on lobbying related to developments on international trade policy. Leslie Belcher, former chief of staff to Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), will work on the account, among others. Tesla, the manufacturer of electric vehicles, solar products and generation, and energy storage, has a robust lobbying effort in Washington. It spent $700,000 on lobbying in 2018 and worked with firms West Front Strategies, Holland & Knight, Tia Ginsberg and Associates, and the Burton Strategy Group.
 
E-CIGARETTES. NJOY, a New York-based electronic nicotine product company, has hired Zirkelbach Strategies to work on educating officials on product safety and the company’s business practices. NJOY makes and distributes electronic cigarettes and vaping products. Mary Kathleen Zirkelbach will work on the account. She previously worked at Chamber Hill Strategies, Anthem and America’s Health Insurance Plans, among other places, before starting her own firm in 2017.

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FINANCIAL SERVICES. California-based financial services firm Pacific Investment Management Company has hired the Sternhell Group to work on issues related to asset managers. Alexander Sternhell, the former deputy staff director of the Senate Banking Committee, and Mike Ahern, former legislative director to ex-Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif), will work on the account.
 
SPACE. Space Exploration Technologies Corp., which works on rocket and spacecraft technology, has hired Bedrock Strategies to help with meetings with officials regarding the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program. Michael Herson, a former Defense Department aide, will work on the account.