Florida Politics Publisher Peter Schorsch regularly reveals his status as a political consultant and aider and abetter of louche lobbyists. His Thanksgiving column expressing gratitude to lobbyists is sui generis. Oink. From Florida Politics:
Olson and Joy Ryan of Meenan PA.
While shopping is at Publix is indeed a pleasure, don’t even think about making a run for last-minute supplies such as whipped cream for your pumpkin pie. Thanksgiving, along with Christmas and Easter, is one of few days a year Publix shuts down so staffers can share the day with family and friends.
If you’d rather not bother with cooking, there are plenty of restaurants ready to serve you, whether it’s dine-in or carry-out. The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association aims to “protect, educate and promote,” the state’s $82 billion hospitality industry.
Representing FRLA in Tallahassee are Jim Daughton, Warren Husband, Doug Bell, Leslie Dughi, Alli Liby-Schoonover, Aimee Lyon, Andy Palmer and Karl Rasmussen of Metz Husband & Daughton. The association also has an in-house team that includes president Carol Dover as well as Geoff Luebkemann and Samantha Padgett.
If you’re traveling for Thanksgiving, cooking probably isn’t your responsibility — getting there is hard enough. According to AAA, 54.6 million people will travel 50 miles or more from home this Thanksgiving, a 1.5% increase from last year and 98% of the way to pre-pandemic levels.
Much of the increase is from air travel, which AAA expects to increase by 8% over 2021. Many of the 330,000 additional fliers will be boarding either a Delta or American Airlines flight. Delta is represented by Nick Iarossi, Ron LaFace, Maicel Green, Andrew Ketchel, Jared Rosenstein and Chris Schoonover of Capital City Consulting. American Airlines relies on Jeff Johnston, Amanda Stewart and Anita Berry of Johnston & Stewart Government Strategies.
Once the leftovers are put away and the dishes are done — and assuming no house fires — it’s time to plan out your Black Friday stops. According to the National Retail Federation, an estimated 165.3 million people are likely to shop Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That’s great news for Florida’s retail stores, which rely on the Florida Retail Federation to make sure their voices are heard in Tallahassee.
FRF has seven lobbyists on tap, including president and CEO R. Scott Shalley; in-house advocates Lorena Holley, Grace Lovett and Gina Sisk; Angela Bonds and French Brown of Dean Mead; and Team J&B.
Many larger retail chains have their own lobbying teams. Target has in-house lobbyist Molly Cagle working alongside John Harris, Joseph Salzverg, Robert Stuart and Jason Unger of GrayRobinson; Walmart has Michael Corcoran, Jacqueline Corcoran, Matt Blair, Bethany McAlister, Will Rodriguez and Andrea Tovar of Corcoran Partners; and Amazon has Brian Ballard, Carol Bracy, Courtney Coppola and Abigail Vail of Ballard Partners.
Shopping for presents to put under the tree is certainly a good way to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving, but if you’re looking to make a difference for the less fortunate this holiday season, consider helping out at your local food bank.
Feeding Florida is a statewide network bringing together 14 food bank members across the state to try to reduce hunger. The association has the team at Johnson & Blanton backing it up when it needs a helping hand.
And as you consider other ways to help Floridians in need this holiday season, use the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ “Check-A-Charity” tool to get detailed information about the organizations you want to give to this year.
Peter Schorsch
Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including Florida Politics and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. Schorsch is also the publisher of INFLUENCE Magazine. For several years, Peter's blog was ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.
No comments:
Post a Comment