Janelle Irwin Taylor
The Southern Group, the largest lobbying team in the Southeast, is expanding its operations to include North Carolina.
The lobby shop has tapped North Carolina lobbying veteran Kevin Wilkinson to lead its expansion in the Tar Heel State.
Wilkinson often lands on lists naming the most powerful lobbyists in North Carolina, and has extensive experience working in and around Raleigh politics. Southern Group leadership described Wilkinson as someone who has chops not just on politics or policy, but both. He has worked in government roles as well as his work as a lobbyist for various top-performing private-sector clients.
“The Southern Group team is all about winning for clients, and are simply the best at what we do,” said Rachel Cone, managing partner of The Southern Group’s Tallahassee Office and head of the firm’s expansion efforts. “We believe Kevin embodies that same ethos, which is why we are thrilled to set up shop with him in a very critical state.”
The Southern Group identified an opportunity in North Carolina, particularly through its access to the booming Research Triangle in the Raleigh/Durham and Chapel Hill area. It’s home to three major universities, including North Carolina State, Duke, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Here, the Southern Group has access to any number of clients in the higher education, college sports, tech, startup, automotive and communication spaces, among others.
Outside the capital city and surrounding areas, North Carolina is home to a variety of different types of communities, from mountain towns to coastal enclaves. Combined, the state attracts residents, businesses and tourists from across the globe.
“I’m thrilled to plant The Southern Group flag in Raleigh and look forward to building the top lobbying firm in our state. It’s my goal to create a new kind of lobbying shop in Raleigh; one that offers a one-stop turnkey solution for any client that has broad needs throughout the executive and legislative branches of government,” Wilkinson said.
“The Southern Group pioneered this approach in other states, and now we’ll have that same capability in North Carolina.”
North Carolina has the third largest economy in the Southeast, which is about half the size of Florida’s and only slightly smaller than neighboring Georgia.
The Southern Group’s presence in the Tar Heel State will add to the firm’s already robust presence, including more than 50 lobbyists in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama.
About 25 years old, the Southern Group strives to be an innovator and leader in the lobbying industry and has amassed a client base of more than 500 businesses and organizations.
The firm plans to aggressively grow its new team in North Carolina and expects to have more announcements in the coming months.
