Founded in 1987 by Dale Florio, Princeton Public Affairs Group continues a remarkable run as a leader in its field. PPAG again topped the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission annual lobbying report for multi-client lobbying firms – reporting $11.5 million in 2023 receipts (see List page 16).

Along with its Winning Circle of Companies – which includes Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm Winning Strategies Washington and Princeton Strategic Communications – PPAG offers a wide range of services, solutions and expertise to clients spanning every inch of government, public policy and communications.

PPAG boasts a team of professionals who are experts in areas such as crisis communications, transportation, public safety, banking, insurance, energy, environment, land-use development, corporate communications, education, health care, labor/employment, hospitality, entertainment, gaming, nonprofits and more.

“Once again, we are fortunate enough to be recognized as the market leader according to the official ELEC lobbying results for 2023,” PPAG posted on social media in March. “We’d like to thank our clients for trusting us since 1987 and for making us New Jersey’s top lobbying firm for the twenty-first year in a row.”

Once again, we are fortunate enough to be recognized as the market leader according to the official ELEC lobbying results for 2023.

We’d like to thank our clients for trusting us since 1987 and for making us New Jersey’s top lobbying firm for the twenty-first year in a row. pic.twitter.com/g57UljdOU8

— PPAG (@PPAGInc) March 12, 2024

NJBIZ caught up with Florio recently about the Trenton-based firm’s sustained success, industry trends, what’s on the horizon, and more, during a wide-ranging discussion.

The conversation began with Florio recapping how 2024 has gone so far. “The firm reacts and responds to what the governor and the Legislature wants to do and their interests,” Florio told NJBIZ. “The governor and the legislative agenda drive what our clients are interested in. It drives what new business we are able to generate. I would say it’s been relatively even-keel – as opposed to just up-and-down. It’s been a pretty steady legislative session so far.”

He explained that the budget period is always consequential in terms of wins and losses for clients. “But New Jersey continues to have funds available for opportunities for clients – especially in the nonprofit area,” said Florio. “And this last go-round was no different.”

Where the action is

So where is the firm seeing more action? “Certainly, in the education space, especially as it relates to mental health, in the K-12 area – has attracted a lot of attention,” said Florio. “Offshore wind continues to be an issue that captures a lot of attention. The whole area of renewable energy sources continues to be a big issue. And of course, health care is never far behind. There’s always health care issues relative to providers and insurers.”

Florio then spoke about navigating these complex political times with a number of uncertainties and economic headwinds — both as a business owner here in New Jersey and as one who happens to operate in a political space for its clients.

“We have always felt that when the economy is good – the work we do as advocates is always very good,” he explained. “When the economy is not so good and choices have to get made – what we do as advocates becomes even more important, and business tends to be better. More people, more constituent groups, more entities feel like they want a seat at the table – and start looking for firms like ours to help them get there.”

Asked to describe his organizational philosophy, Florio said: “Pretty simply – we try to go beyond the relationships that we share and to be as strategic as possible with clients, from a messaging standpoint; from a timing of executing a strategy,” Florio explained. “Too many people look at lobbying as purely relationships. We believe it’s much more than that. It’s communication. It’s follow-up. It’s advising the clients of what to say; when to say it; or not say anything at all. So, our focus is on strategy and being strategic advisors – in addition to the relationships that we constantly continue to work on.”

Florio said lobbyists must put themselves in the governor’s, legislators’ and staff’s shoes.

Too many people look at lobbying as purely relationships. We believe it’s much more than that.
– Dale Florio, founder, Princeton Public Affairs Group

“These people are being bombarded daily with personal communications — with all the social media,” said Florio. “There’s a lot of ‘incoming’ they receive every day. We try to figure out – how can we make their lives a little bit easier through the communication of what our client’s interests might be? So, it’s the combination of what the client wants to achieve, but at the same time trying to make it easier for the governor’s office, the Legislature and staff to understand what we are trying to achieve; in addition to everything else they are trying to deal with.”

How does the firm manage to stay atop the leaderboard of state lobbying firms? “We have talented people – that’s what it takes in this business,” said Florio. “But it’s the ability to bring talented people together and have the same goal, and that’s doing the best you can for the client – period. We’re competitive, and again, we focus on strategic thinking. Because everybody has relationships. The question is, how do you separate yourself out from your competitor? And that’s working harder; working later; and being as strategic as possible in what we do for clients.”

Changing times

From there, the conversation shifted to how the business has changed or evolved since Florio founded the firm.

“Back in the day, it was all about personal relationships and you had that opportunity to interact with legislators and staff at social gatherings; going out for lunch; maybe grabbing a quick bite after a session,” he continued. “That’s all gone away. And people have looked for shortcuts.”

At the end of the day, though, Florio says that if you can build a relationship with a legislator or a staff person that is more than just on a Zoom or passing in a hallway, so much the better.

“It’s not always possible, but that’s what you need to do,” Florio explained. “Because you want to have that connection. When the time comes and you need to have a conversation with that legislator, you do not want to be introducing yourself for the first time. So, the relationship side of this business has and never will go away.”

He said he thinks about social media in terms of communicating with legislators and staff.

“The pandemic forced us to use Zoom. And in many respects, we are able to cover a lot more ground by doing Zoom or Teams meetings,” said Florio. “But you can get very lazy by just relying on that type of relationship. Our folks try to make sure we go beyond the camera – and whenever we can, continue to build out and meet new people.”

A prime example was the influx of new legislative members who were sworn in earlier this year. “It takes time to say hello to people; maybe stop them, get to say hello; engage in conversations,” he said. “It’s going to take a number of those to build some connection and some recognition. But you’ve got to do it.”

As for the future, Florio said the picture is evolving. “There’s obviously a lot of very niche client interests that exist. Next year’s budget is going to be curious,” he said. “Reports indicate that revenue growth is starting to slow down. Federal dollars are starting to wane. We have been fortunate as a state to have all these dollars to try and do good things. So, next year’s budget cycle is going to be very interesting.”

He emphasized the importance of the next budget cycle. “The budget is what drives the State of New Jersey. It drives our politics,” said Florio. “It drives what clients are interested in. That is No. 1. Plus, it’s an election year or the Assembly and we elect a new governor. So that governor’s race and the legislative races – on the Assembly side – will also drive how aggressive the legislative agenda will be.”

He added that doing business in New Jersey, despite the challenges, is a “great experience.”

“Just from the business operations of things, I don’t want to say it’s been easy to be running a small business in New Jersey – but it’s been good,” Florio explained. He said health care costs continue to rise and noted the different expenses and overhead of running a business such as PPAG, which he described as essentially a consulting business; noting that those costs all go toward people and are, ultimately, a part of maintaining the firm’s investment.

“I would say on the consulting side, running a small business in New Jersey has been a lot of fun,” Florio continued. “And it’s been a good place to run a small business.”

“When you started this firm, did you imagine reaching these kinds of heights and this kind of sustained excellence in what you do?” NJBIZ asked.

“The goal in the beginning was just to be able to keep the doors open,” he explained. “Things steadily grew. You can’t get to where we’ve been able to get to without a little bit of luck – but just a ton of hard work. And attracting and putting together a team of people that enjoy working with each other and share the same goal of just doing the best we can for clients.”

Also in this issue:

In just over two years since its launch, MAD Global continues to expand its footprint and widen its influence. Click here for NJBIZ’s interview with founder Mike DuHaime.

Simply put, Florio said the people are the key ingredient of PPAG’s continued success.

“Without a doubt,” Florio stressed. “If you have looked at our website, we have just a ton of recognizable people in the world of politics. They each have their own story to tell.”

He pointed out that any number of team members could have done this interview and represented the firm in discussing these different topics – and Florio wanted to make sure to recognize and highlight their contributions and expertise. “They all come from distinguished political backgrounds in their own right,” said Florio. “Each one of them has made Princeton Public Affairs Group what it is today.”

Florio also noted that the team members cover a wide range of ages, races and backgrounds.

“So that we can cover all generations. Being a relationship business, that’s important in New Jersey,” said Florio. “And we have been able to assemble a team that reflects what New Jersey’s all about, especially our younger folks that have joined the team and have bought into the culture.”

As the conversation ended, Florio pointed to the healthy competition in Trenton. “Listen, there’s a lot of very good firms that work on West State Street,” Florio emphasized. “And I think we all make each other better by keeping a level of healthy competition. And I’ve always felt that everybody’s been fair working with each other. There’s plenty of business out there. We’re all very competitive. But it’s done in a very professional way.”