Lobbyists--yes, some are 'good guys'.

• Author: Heffes, Ellen M.
• Position: Editorial

One evening at Summit in May, a few FEI colleagues and I went to Epcot for some exploring and dinner. We stopped at the English pub, where a talented pianist was entertaining. As we got closer to listen, she asked Tyler Roberts what he does for a living. Tyler, as many of you know, is a policy analyst from FEI's Washington, D.C., office, who leads the Private Company Roundtable, serves as staff liaison to the Committee on Private Company--Policy and organizes the popular Washington Fly-ins.

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"I'm a lobbyist," replied Tyler, to a chorus of loud boos from the audience. But that didn't deter the pianist. She played her music and came up with phrases to rhyme with "lobbyist," ending the piece with something along the lines of "well, maybe he'll lower our taxes." To which I could not resist: "But that's exactly what he does." And, the same audience that had earlier booed the lobbyist comment, now loudly cheered.

Which brings me to this point: there are many lobbyists doing good and valuable work on behalf of the business community and I believe that this key part of FEI's work is likely under-appreciated by many. It's a real benefit for members and potential members, and this could not be clearer than focusing on the role FEI played at the time the accounting scandals involving Enron Corp. became public in 2001.

FEI mobilized forces to communicate to lawmakers and regulators a list of 12 recommendations to help improve the profession and restore investor confidence. Some of those 12 were incorporated into what eventually became the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The legislation at that time represented the largest change to the financial landscape since the Securities laws of 1934. (Of course now we have Dodd-Frank which--at more than 2,000 pages--dwarfs Sarbanes-Oxley's mere 78 pages.)

You can read about the act, its impact and FEI's...