The lobbyist hired to promote the town of Boone’s interests in the General Assembly ranked 13th out of 60 in the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research’s annual ranking of the “most influential” state lobbyists.

Steve Metcalf of the lobbying firm The Policy Group Inc. improved his ranking in the July 31 report, up from 22nd in 2009-10 and 47th in 2007-08. Metcalf was a state legislator from 1999 to 2004.

The center conducted a survey of state senators, representatives, lobbyists and state capital news correspondents from December 2011 to February 2012. Respondents were asked to list the 10 most influential lobbyists or state agency legislative liaisons during the 2011 sessions of the N.C. General Assembly.

The town of Boone budgeted $118,000 for state and federal lobbyists in 2012-13. Neither Town Manager Greg Young or Finance Director Amy Davis were available to provide Metcalf’s 2012-13 contract amount as of presstime.

In 2010, Metcalf’s annual contract amount was $60,000.

Other entities represented by Metcalf in 2011 included the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, North Carolina Association of Community College Trustees, North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives, North Carolina Pork Council, T-Mobile USA Inc. and Toyota Motor North America Inc., among a number of others.

Receiving the No. 1 ranking was Dana Simpson, who represented AT&T North Carolina, Nationwide Insurance, North Carolina Dental Society, North Carolina Economic Development Group, North Carolina Society of Anesthesiologists, Progress Energy and others.

"The rankings of the most influential lobbyists help citizens understand which key interests and organizations have clout with legislators in North Carolina," said Ran Coble, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Research, in a statement. "The rankings shed light on what is often an invisible process. They also show changes in the lobbying profession and illustrate which issues are the hottest."

For more information, visit http://www.nccppr.org.