Gaffney, Bennett and Associates is a law firm that specializes in

lobbying Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agency, regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by va ...

headquartered in

New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol ...

. They are the largest

firm in the state of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

History

Gaffney, Bennett and Associates was founded in the mid 1980s by Jay Malcynsky and Brian Gaffney in New Britain, Connecticut. The firm has been heavily involved with representing big companies seeking state aid or tax breaks to expand their presence in Connecticut. In the late 1990s the firm represented the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in negotiations with the State of Connecticut to move the Patriots to

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. In 2009 Gaffney, Bennett and Associates made twice as much as the second largest lobbying firm. In 2011 they made over $4.7 million from lobbying services, again more than twice as much as the second largest lobbying firm. In 2012 Vernon Mayor George F. Apel ended the town contract with Gaffney, Bennett and Associates which the town had on retainer since 2009. In 2015 Gaffney, Bennett and Associates revenue was three times that of the second largest lobbying company in the state.

Gaffney Bennett Public Relations

In 2002 Gaffney, Bennett and Associates launched a PR Services arm called Gaffney Bennett Public Relations (GBPR) to handle corporate positioning, media relations, crisis communications, brand management, and cause-related marketing for existing and new clients. GBPR has offices in Connecticut and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2011 GBPR launched a line of a la carte PR services called "the Press Release Shop." In 2019 GBPR hired

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

–based Ted Novin to split his time between their New York office and clients in North Carolina. Novin had previously been a spokesperson for the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

and the

National Shooting Sports Foundation The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is an American national trade association for the firearms industry that is based in Newtown, Connecticut. Formed in 1961, the organization has more than 8,000 members: The NSSF helps write safety a ...

Major clients

* City of Bridgeport * City of Stamford * Connecticut

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

Drivers Association * Tomasso Brothers, Inc. *

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

*Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts *

Eversource Eversource Energy is a publicly traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, and Boston, Massachusetts, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity, natural gas service and water service to appr ...

External links

* Website * Gaffney Bennett Public Relations * 2013 client disclosure

References

{{reflist Companies based in Hartford County, Connecticut Privately held companies based in Connecticut Lobbying firms in the United States Law firms established in 1984