MANUFACTURING. The Vogel Group recently signed SMP Automotive Systems Alabama, which develops and manufactures plastic parts and integrated modules for automobiles. The firm will work on issues related to the L1-A and L1-B visas for workers, according to disclosures. Alex Vogel, former chief counsel to ex-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and Brian Johnson, former head of tax for the American Petroleum Institute, will work on the account.
The Vogel Group also signed Nashville-based real estate investment trust CoreCivic, which operates correctional facilities. The firm will work on banking issues, and Vogel and Johnson will also work on the account.
HEALTH CARE. Crisis Text Line, a New York City-based global nonprofit organization providing free crisis intervention via SMS messages, hired the Glover Park Group to lobby on issues related to suicide prevention and crisis intervention. Carolyn Gluck, former senior policy adviser to former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.); Aryana Khalid, former chief of staff at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and Rob Seidman, onetime legislative assistant to former Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), will work on the account.
OPIOIDS. MilanaPharm, an Alabama-based specialty pharmaceutical company, hired Forbes-Tate to work on issues related to the opioid crisis. Ryan Welch, former legislative director for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), will work on the account.
TRAVEL. Cruise line operator Carnival North America, based in Miami and in Arlington, Va., hired Ballard Partners to work on trade issues relating to the cruise industry. The firm’s founder, Brian Ballard, will work on the account, as will Pam Bondi, former Republican attorney general of Florida.