Tech Firms Seek Larger Lobbying Clout

Microsoft Corp., Cisco Systems Inc. and Yahoo Inc., among others, hope a merger of two major tech trade groups will ratchet up their lobbying clout inside the Beltway.

The industry's presence here has long suffered, critics say, from lacking a unified force voice to lobby on fundamental issues, such as taxes, patent reform, immigration and trade, that affect tech companies of all stripes.

Combining the Information Technology Association of America and the Government Electronics and Information Technology Association will create a "powerhouse" organization with "much more of a consolidated voice in the industry," said GEIA president Dan Heinemeier.

Representing more than 380 companies and combined membership revenues of $8 million, it's the latest sign that the tech industry, currently represented by more than a dozen associations here, is "all growed-up."

It also reflects a better understanding of the importance of lobbying by an industry that long believed the practice was an unnecessary part of their business strategy.

Software giant Microsoft, which is an ITAA member, only established a Washington office about a dozen years ago, while Google Inc., which doesn't belong to either group, set up a Capitol Hill shop in 2005.

While GEIA recently registered to lobby, ITAA spent $120,000 lobbying in the first half of 2007, according to federal disclosure forms.

Of course, that's small potatoes compared with the $10.7 million spent by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the $1.6 million spent by the American Petroleum Institute during the same period.

The merger creates a platform where diverse companies can "speak with both a louder voice and also ... with a somewhat clearer voice," said Jon Korin, Northrop Grumman Corp.'s vice president for strategic development and an ITAA board member. Northrop also is a member of GEIA.

While the groups have some overlapping members and agendas, GEIA, founded in 1952, focuses on technical standards work and government technology market analysis. ITAA, which began in 1961, is a major public policy player working on broader technology business issues.

Harris Miller headed ITAA for 11 years and has long supported consolidation within the tech sector. He said the new group will bolster the industry's focus on directly lobbying lawmakers and the administration, who are often confused by the alphabet soup of the tech trade groups.

Miller, who is now chief executive and president of the Career College Association, suggested the ITAA-GEIA merger might have happened earlier but was stifled by what he characterized as inertia among some board members of the groups.

Jim Krouse, executive director of Washington Management Group & FedSources consulting group's public sector unit, said the tech industry lobbying is evolving.

"This is just a natural progression of organizations kind of collapsing into stronger leadership that will tackle a more narrow group of issues," he said.