The story
CGCN Group originated from the lobbying firm created by Steve Clark in 2000. Sam Geduldig and Gary Lytle joined Clark in 2007, and the firm became known as Clark Lytle & Geduldig.
The firm worked with financial services companies during the financial reform debate from 2009 to 2010, involving laws like the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. At the time, CGCN had more financial services clients in Washington, D.C., than other firms during the Troubled Asset Relief Program. In the wake of Republicans taking control of Congress in 2010, CGCN saw strong growth in its business and the firm doubled in size from 2015 to 2017. While closely tied to GOP leadership—its partners have worked with former House Speaker John Boehner and others—CGCN was among the first lobbying firms to court the conservative Freedom Caucus.
The firm was known as Clark Lytle Geduldig & Cranford and Clark Geduldig Cranford & Nielsen between 2011 and 2015, when the firm renamed itself CGCN Group. In 2015, CGCN's clients included oil companies, such as Hess, for whom they lobbied to end the ban of crude oil exports. CGCN was named a top lobbying firm by Bloomberg Government in 2015. A report by Bloomberg Government gave CGCN the highest mark for firms retaining clients over the long term. According to Bloomberg, CGCN retains 83 percent of its clients for at least three years, a higher percentage than other firms.
CGCN worked with foreign clients from 2016 to 2019, when it worked with Saudi Arabia to build relationships with U.S. congressional Republicans. The next year, CGCN signed Japan as its second foreign client. In 2017, CGCN lobbied for: SAP America on data security, privacy, cybersecurity, health IT, cloud computing and privacy shield implementation; Puerto Rico Department of Treasury; American Investment Council, a private equity trade group; power company NextEra Energy on energy policy and tax credits; and TransCanada Corp. on the Keystone XL pipeline. The firm's other clients include 21st Century Fox, TC Energy, MasterCard, and NewsCorp. Also in 2017, CGCN announced a partnership with two Democratic firms with close ties to the Congressional Black and Congressional Hispanic caucuses to seek bipartisan victories, potentially in the areas of "jobs, transportation infrastructure, outside investment, energy, and economic development", according to a memo on the partnership. This strategic partnership is called United By Interest (UBI), the first bipartisan, majority-minority-owned government relations firm in the U.S.
In the few years leading up to 2017, CGCN Group quadrupled in size. Like other lobbying firms, CGCN Group posted a strong first year under the Trump administration. It made $8.4 million in revenue in 2017 (compared to $6.6 million in 2016), including $2.2 million in the fourth quarter (compared to $1.6 million the year before). CGCN Group reported $2.6 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2024 (with a total annual revenue of $9.6 million in 2024), and $3.8 million in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2025. CGCN nearly doubled its federal lobbying revenue from $9.7 million in 2024 to more than $18.9 million in 2025. According to Roll Call, CGCN is closely related to UBI (United by Interest), a bipartisan K Street (Washington, D.C.) group lobbying business interests on Capitol Hill.
In a 2026 interview, partner Michael Catanzaro said CGCN had declined investment offers from private equity firms to maintain its independence. He also said the firm considered establishing a bipartisan practice following the 2020 election but ultimately decided to remain exclusively Republican-focused.
From Wikipedia’s article on CGCN Group, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4