Podesta Group has signed on to represent Lyft, the San Francisco-based ride-sharing company that competes with Uber.
The firm will deal with tax and trade issues and pitch the commuter benefits connected with ride-sharing.
Izzy Klein, who was New York Sen. Chuck Schumer's senior communications strategist and policy advisor and staffer to now Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, and Randall Gerald, ex-staffer at the Republican Governors Assn. and Senate Committee for Commerce, Science & Transportation when it was headed by John McCain, work the Lyft business.
Founded in 2012 by John Zimmer and Logan Green, Lyft serves about 65 cities.
Its investors include China's Alibaba, Andreesen Horowitz, Third Point, Fortress, K9 Ventures and Carl Icahn.
The firm of former House Majority Leader Dick Gephardt registered Lyft as a client in September, but has not reported any activity.
Uber has stepped up its DC lobbying push, spending $110K during the first-quarter compared to $170K all last year.
Federal Square Group, The Doerrer Group and Franklin Square Group work for Uber.
Knob Petroleum, which is based in Panama City, has retained Ballard Partners to explore opportunities in Venezuela.
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has signed to represent Eastern Air Holdings, which operates deportation flights for Immigration & Customs Enforcement.
Ballard Partners has lined up Australia’s Energy Transition Minerals company, an explorer and developer of rare earths minerals opportunities. It touts its Greenland property as having the potential to become the biggest rare earths producer in the western world.
Abbvie has retained Trump-connected Winston-Salem-based Checkmate Government Relations for healthcare matters and issues related to the life sciences sector.
Netflix has retained Bloom Strategic Counsel for regulatory matters regarding its proposed $83B merger with Warner Bros. Discovery.
