Lobbying: ITI Will Acquire EIA's Environmental Council

Lobbying
ITI Will Acquire EIA's Environmental Council
by Heather Greenfield
September 19, 2007

     The Information Technology Industry Council announced Wednesday that it will acquire the Electronic Industries Alliance's Environmental Issues Council. ITI said the merger will help expand its portfolio on energy and environmental issues.
     With talk recently about consolidating the tech lobbying sector, ITI said the move is in an example of a way to strengthen the tech industry's voice by combining EIC's strong record on e-recycling issues with ITI's lobbying power.
     EIA is in the process of closing and selling its assets in the wake of a board vote in July. The Arlington, Va., office building it owns and other assets will be divided among its five founding associations, including the Telecommunications Industry Association and the Consumer Electronics Association, which are expected to get about $10 million each when the sales are final.
     EIC is not coming to ITI with such a dowry, as it was part of EIA, not the member associations. But EIC is considered valuable because it has been a strong advocate on tech environmental issues since it was founded in 1990. It maintains a Web site for businesses and consumers to find out about e-recycling state-by-state.
     EIC has been active at the state level, where nine states recently passed e-recycling laws. The council has been an advocate for uniform environmental rules across both state and national borders. EIC also promotes industry-led initiatives on energy rating systems for high-tech and electronics products.
     ITI lobbyist Ralph Hellman said taking on EIC issues will boost ITI's state lobbying activity.
     EIC's five staff members are relocating from EIA's Arlington headquarters to ITI's offices in downtown Washington. Rick Goss, who was senior director of environmental affairs for EIA, will become vice president of environment and sustainability issues at ITI on Friday.
     ITI chief Rhett Dawson said acquiring EIC fits with the goals outlined by ITI's board in a 2005 strategic review. Dawson said board members wanted more thoughtful leadership, and that resulted in creating a think tank, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. The board also wanted to get more active at the state level and on energy and environmental issues.
     He said ITI had plans to either replicate what EIC was doing or to entice the group to move to ITI. Dawson said as EIA spins off some of its activities, one of the most highly prized has been EIC. "The board looked at this as the missing piece of the puzzle," Dawson said.
     An industry source said ITI faced competition from other trade associations, including TIA, in attracting EIC.