Practice Areas

North Carolina Government Affairs

There are common elements to all government affairs campaigns. We believe that the best efforts consist of the following components:

  • Angle.  How do we position ourselves?  How do we frame the issue so that we are most likely to benefit?
  • Alliances.  Who are the groups and individuals who might be supportive of this effort?  Take all the help you can get.
  • Embrace the Opposition.  Whenever possible, work with the people who are the natural enemies of your issue.  You’re more likely to get the result you want.
  • Game Plan.  Develop your strategy and make a plan.
  • Work the Plan.  Keep working the plan.
  • React and Respond.  If the plan goes awry, be willing to alter it and move in new directions.
  • Start again from the beginning.  Lobbying is an extraordinarily fluid process and seldom goes exactly according to plan.  That’s what makes it fun!

Economic Development

Politics is everywhere. Regulation that affects your business is at every level of government from the halls of Capitol Hill to small towns across the country. Everything a government does, every decision it makes at any level, is steeped in politics. It is the government that decides who gets what! That’s where we come in. The players vary, but the mechanism is the same – learn the process, build the team, work with the staff, engage decision makers and get results.

North Carolina is consistently ranked as one of the best places to do business. We have a great labor market, skilled productive workers, and a low cost of living and diverse geographic locations. Not to mention an educated workforce due to the presence of some of the best colleges and universities in the country. Whether you are relocating from another state or from within North Carolina, we can help you navigate the local and state permitting process to ensure timely project entitlement and approval.

Multi-State Government Affairs

If your interests cross state lines we can help you manage your lobbying campaign on a multi-state basis. We have helped clients develop strategies and messaging to be used in multiple states and we can also assist with hiring and supervising lobbyists. And we attend and cover the alphabet soup of national group meetings – with you or on your behalf.

Washington D.C. Public Affairs

We routinely work with North Carolina’s influential Congressional delegation. We also helped several of them raise hundreds of thousand of dollars for their campaign coffers as well as the NRCC, NRSC and the RNC.

More importantly, we partner with the best in DC: Prime Policy Group and Cornerstone Government Affairs, LLC.

Charlie Black and the Prime team have strong working relationships with the decision makers and opinion leaders in Washington—from Congress to the White House, from the State Department to the Pentagon, from national associations to the National Press Club.

As a member of the Burson-Marsteller family, Prime Policy Group can work with decision makers in all 50 states and around the world.

Cornerstone Government Affairs, LLC is a full-service, bipartisan public affairs consulting firm specializing in government relations and includes state-, city-, and county-focused offices in the south and midwest. They represent a wide range of international and domestic clients, from Fortune 500 companies to small, non-profit organizations. Cornerstone operates as a complete team, engaging the resources of the entire firm, rather than a single individual, working on their behalf.