For as long as I can remember, corporate executives have mostly treated politics as something that happened in Washington D.C., on cable news, or in the comments section of social media sites, but not in the boardroom.
In 2026, that illusion is gone. Today, politics doesn’t sit at the edge of your business; it runs straight through it. Whether you are expanding to new markets, reshaping your workforce, rolling out AI tools, or making any business decision of consequence, your success is now directly shaped by decisions made in government organizations. That could be a city hall or a state capital. It could also be a federal agency that is increasingly pulling you in different directions.
The old playbook assumed that a company could “stay out of politics” by limiting engagement to a small federal team or an occasional check-in with a local representative or your governor’s office. But we now live in a three‑level system where overlapping, often conflicting rules emerge from varying government levels, from local to federal. They all have different incentives.
What also makes this moment challenging for business leaders is the volume of political risk and its lack of predictability. A proposal that looks like a technocratic tweak in one jurisdiction can instantly become a proxy fight in another. A clean‑energy investment that earns praise from a big‑city mayor may trigger backlash in the state legislature. A hiring initiative designed around local workforce needs can be upended by federal immigration or labor rules.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS: A CORE CAPABILITY
In my experience, the companies that thrive in this environment share a common insight: They have stopped thinking about government relations as a crisis tool and started treating it as a core operating capability. That means investing both seriously and long-term in both internal and external teams that can be your eyes and ears in your city, state, and even in Washington D.C.––and embedding a sense of political awareness into the way your company makes decisions.
Case in point: Atlanta, the city I have called home for many years, has gotten more progressive by the day. But that also sits atop a conservative state legislature led by a Republican governor. Like many burgeoning southern cities, including Austin, Charlotte, and Nashville, we’re experiencing incredible growth while the apparent ideological gap between city and state politics widens.
Here’s an example. Cloud computing giants experienced a fierce political backlash in Northern Virginia with their data center expansions and soaring energy demands. Yet they still failed to get ahead of the issue in Georgia—now the industry’s fastest-growing market. Today, they are confronting the same pattern of community and political resistance over land and power usage, including outright moratoriums on new data centers in multiple Georgia counties. A proactive approach to local engagement could have built more trust and landed the industry in a better spot.
BIPARTISAN ACTIONS
Less apparent is that, despite these prominent political fissures, bipartisanship is alive and well in state and local governance. At the government relations firm I launched nearly a decade ago, we have seen this firsthand.
For example, Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s $50 million Homelessness Response Grant boosts Democratic Mayor Andre Dickens’ local housing initiatives, funding emergency shelters and wraparound services ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
And in Ohio, Republican Governor Mike DeWine and Democrat Mayor Andrew Ginther coordinated state environmental grants with city utility infrastructure through the H2Ohio project, accelerating the removal of toxic lead service lines from Columbus childcare centers.
Even in periods marked by political instability, elected officials will usually prioritize public good over partisan optics. When businesses show up early, stay engaged, and build authentic relationships across partisan lines, they often find surprising alignment. That alignment can involve jobs and infrastructure, as well as housing and long‑term growth.
A CONDITION OF DOING BUSINESS
To be clear, embracing government relations is not about turning your company into a political actor in the narrow, partisan sense. It is about treating public power and visibility at all levels of government as a permanent condition of doing business, and investing accordingly.
Handled well, the ROI on proactive advocacy is substantial. Strong, proactive government relations can guard against political decisions being made by leaders who are unfamiliar with your industry and its contributions, and fewer instances of your brand being used as a proxy for someone else’s political grievance.
Beyond risk mitigation, intentional advocacy can open doors to one of the largest and most reliable markets in the world: the government itself. As a massive consumer buyer of everything from technology to textiles, the public sector represents a vital partner and revenue stream for companies that know how to navigate its complexities and cultivate champions within its ranks.
The future belongs to those who proactively lean into the intersection of public and private sectors. Stop waiting for the crisis, and start writing the rules for the decade ahead.
Howard Franklin is the founder and CEO of Ohio River South.