Kevin Goodno: Lobbying for Better Future - Fredrikson & Byron PA

Tuesday | May 25, 2010 finance-commerce. com Finance & Commerce 2
Goodno
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of the state’s largest agency, the
Department of Human Services, which
had an annual budget of $8.5 billion
and 6,900 employees. By then, he’d
already put in a dozen years of service
in the House of Representatives for the
Moorhead area, all the while juggling
the carpet business, law school and
family. Notably, at the age of 23,
Goodno became Moorhead’s youngestever
city council member.
At Fredrikson & Byron, he has
formed a team from scratch that handles
legislative drafting and tracking,
policy development and government
lobbying and strategizing, on behalf of
businesses, nonprofits and trade and
advocacy groups in a wide variety of
industries.
The five full-time professionals he
has brought on to the government-rela-
tions practice, all of them registered
lobbyists, serve more than 30 clients.
In setting it up, “I went out and looked
for talented people who were committed
to developing their practice.”
Goodno, who acts as a teacher to the
group, underscores the importance of
community involvement. In his professional
and extracurricular activities,
he said, “I look for opportunities to
help with pro bono work.”
Lobbying is valuable behind-thescenes
legwork, which he came to realize
when he was on the other end, as a
state representative.
Lobbyists “are important to provide
information and help lawmakers stay
in touch with constituents and navigate
the process,” he said.
It’s his job to stay on top of a bunch
of issues that are subject to change on
a daily basis. He soaks it up like a
sponge, he said, adding that he particularly
enjoys cutting his teeth on new
issues and strategic planning.
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Strategizing may take 20 minutes or a
couple days, depending on what’s at
stake.
“It’s a dynamic process. You have to
be flexible,” he said, adding that with
every legislative session, there are
many late nights, including at least one
all-nighter at the capitol. “You never
know what the big issues are going to
be. You have to be ready to respond.”
Clients approach him to help them
“develop a position based on what the
system will look like in the future,” he
said. “I get to be a part of the process
of change.”
In light of coming budget cuts and
demographic changes, his role as a lobbyist
or a go-between may become
even more important to help break
down complex issues. When it comes to
publicly funded services, he remarked,
as a state, “We have to come to grips
with what we want and how much
we’re willing to pay” – for which he’ll be
around to help find the way.