Banks & Company Client and Industry Insights

The VRA Decision Is a Blue-State Recruitment Opportunity The Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais is a major setback for Voting Rights Act remedies and minority representation. In this episode, Eric Foster explains why blue states should respond with more than outrage. Democratic-majority states should build a population-growth, business-attraction, university-recruitment, workforce-de...

In this episode, Eric Foster, Vice President of Strategy & Research at Banks & Company, discusses how states, counties, municipalities, school districts, higher education institutions, and other public bodies can respond when political division reshapes their relationship with the federal government. The conversation focuses on what leaders should do when traditional assumptions about partnership,...

In this episode, Eric Foster, Vice President of Strategy & Research at Banks & Company, discusses why many public institutions must rethink their assumptions about federal partnership and begin preparing for a more uncertain and politicized environment. The conversation focuses on states, counties, municipalities, school districts, universities, and public agencies that may be facing delayed suppo...

In this episode, Eric Foster of Banks & Company discusses why educational assessment and policy need to move beyond an overreliance on standardized test scores. He explains how schools, districts, and policymakers can take a broader view of student progress by considering attendance, classroom performance, extracurricular participation, parental engagement, career exposure, and post-high school re...

In government relations, money matters—but it’s not the most important currency. Information is. Information shapes how decisions get made, how quickly stakeholders can move, and whether your objective becomes a real outcome—or just another good idea that never leaves the meeting room. I’ve talked about this with clients in a very different context: poverty. Poverty isn’t always just financial. So...

Most organizations don’t lose in government because their goals are bad. They lose because they’re waiting . At Banks & Company, we think about lobbying the way I learned to think about pancakes as a kid. My grandmother Foster made the best pancakes I’ve ever had—better than any diner, anywhere. And like a lot of kids, when I wanted pancakes, I used to wander into the kitchen and just… stand there...