VW taps Chattanooga law firm as lobbyist

NASHVILLE — While Volkswagen Group of America Inc. continues to move ahead with building a $1 billion auto assembly plant in Chattanooga, the automaker also has assembled a lobbying team for here.

Registrations with the Tennessee Ethics Commission show VW hired two attorneys with the law firm Miller & Martin, which was founded in Chattanooga, to lobby the General Assembly and the Bredesen administration during 2009.

Miller & Martin attorneys Dale Allen and Mandy Young registered on Dec. 23, according to filings.

“While it is our policy not to comment on the firms Volkswagen may retain, we recognize the importance of building relationships in Chattanooga and in Tennessee,” Volkswagen spokeswoman Jill Bratina said in an e-mail. “Our work with Miller & Martin is part of that process, and we look forward to working with them.”

Miller & Martin Chairman Howard Levine, of Chattanooga, said that while he could not say much about the contract, the firm is “very pleased to be able to be retained by Volkswagen to help them with putting their facility here in Chattanooga.”

Mark Greene, a Nashville lobbyist who represents the Tennessee Lobbyist Association, said Volkswagen “was regarded by most of the lobbying community as a plum client. A number of firms pursued it.”

Volkswagen will join hundreds of other companies, nonprofit groups and other special interests that employ lobbyists on Capitol Hill.

There’s “nothing unusual” about a major manufacturer retaining lobbyists, said Bruce Androphy, executive director of the Tennessee Ethics Commission, which oversees lobbying.

“I’m not surprised at all. We have 700-and-so-odd employers of lobbyists — at least last year we did,” he said.

Rep. Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, chairman of the Hamilton County legislative delegation, said VW’s hiring of a lobbyist is a “good business decision,” especially in light of the German automaker’s billion-dollar investment in the state.

Tennessee officials have committed to provide about $229 million for added infrastructure, training and marketing at the VW assembly plant at Enterprise South industrial park, which is expected to employ some 2,000 workers.

VW executives said last week that they have postponed the official groundbreaking on the plant to accommodate board members of the German automaker who can’t fit the ceremony into their schedules this month.

The Miller & Martin firm has offices in Chattanooga, Nashville and Atlanta. Mr. Allen and Ms. Young are based in Nashville.

The firm’s roster of Tennessee lobby clients for 2009 include Unum Group, American International Group Inc., Verizon Communications and the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S., according to recent filings.

Volkswagen joins Nissan North America and General Motors in having a lobbying presence in Nashville.

In the 105th General Assembly, Nissan reported it had two in-house lobbyists and three contract lobbyists working on issues ranging from business and commerce to economic development. Other issues included the environment, labor and safety.

In her e-mail, Ms. Bratina said VW “would have similar interests to those listed by Nissan.”

Nissan has its North American headquarters in Franklin, Tenn., as well as two Tennessee-based plants.

The company reported spending between $50,000 to $100,000 on lobbying compensation from Oct. 1, 2007, through Sept. 30, 2008, according to its disclosures. The company also reported spending between $20,000 to $50,000 on lobbying-related expenses, according to disclosures.

General Motors, which operates an auto plant in Spring Hill, used one in-house lobbyist and reported spending less than $10,000 in the six-month period ending March 30, 2007, and less than $10,000 during the period that ended Sept. 30, 2008, according to its reports.