| BGR was founded in 1991 when Ed Rogers left the White House and joined his longtime political friend Haley Barbour in a new lobbying enterprise on New Hampshire Avenue. With Barbour's work in the Reagan White House, the two very quickly developed an Executive Branch-focused lobbying business. Following the 1992 elections, Lanny Griffith joined his fellow Mississippian Haley Barbour and Ed Rogers, his colleague from the Bush White House, to form the partnership that has undergone enormous change over the years but endures today as BGR Group.
Starting as an all-Republican firm in a town where Republicans were a scarce commodity, the firm built a loyal clientele some of whom are still working with the firm almost two decades later. The Clinton years were good for firm growth, and the period following the 1994 elections accelerated the pace. Healthcare and state government affairs were driving the rapid growth, and in 1997 Haley Barbour returned to the firm following his stint as Chairman of the Republican National Committee. The firm relocated to Pennsylvania Avenue and began adding new lobbyists to join the original three partners. By successfully taking on high profile clients, BGR was ranked #2 in Fortune magazine's survey of Clinton Administration and Capitol Hill decision makers.
The Interpublic Group of Companies in New York bought BGR in 1999 although the principals all stayed in place and the firm continued to grow its thriving work on Capitol Hill. By then the firm was a major player in not only healthcare but also telecommunications, financial services, energy, and began working with Microsoft in their anti-trust battle with the Justice Department. With a new Administration and a new Democratic majority in the Senate, the lobbying business was intense. In May of 2001, Fortune magazine published the results of their most recent poll of Washington insiders giving their top rank to BGR.
After Haley Barbour's successful run for Governor of Mississippi, the partners bought the firm back from IPG and embarked on a major restructuring of the firm. Within four years the firm doubled its revenue and the firm's international practice carried the BGR brand to political and financial capitals around the world. Today the BGR name brings bipartisan lobbying capacity, strategic communications services, international investment banking, and a new office in London.
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