• REGULATIONS. Consumers Union, the policy advocacy division of Consumer Reports, is working to reform how companies label their food products. Steve Etka, founder of Etka Consulting, is lobbying for the organization and “seeking an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to ban the use of the ‘natural’ label on food, because the claim is misleading and causes consumer confusion,” according to lobbying forms.

• TECHNOLOGY. TwinLogic Strategies started 2015 by signing three new tech clients: The Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition), Zebra Technologies and a nonprofit that encourages entrepreneurial innovation in the tech sector, Engine Advocacy. For the i2Coalition, the lobby firm will be working on efforts to reform U.S. government’s surveillance programs and cybersecurity issues. For Engine Advocacy, lobbyists — including former AOL in-house lobbyist and House Energy and Commerce Committee aide Elizabeth Frazee — will be working on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education issues, among other policy areas important to tech startups.  

{mosads}• Moore Consulting is subcontracting with TwinLogic Strategies on all three of its new clients. The firm is led by Tiffany Moore, strategic consultant with TwinLogic and former legislative aide to Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.). 

• Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock will be representing a new coalition aimed at making patent reform a priority in the new session of Congress. Called United for Patent Reform, the coalition brings together blue chip technology companies such as Google and Facebook with other industry sectors such as retail and restaurants. While legislation to thwart patent trolls stalled last year, advocates hope to have more success this time around. The lobbyists working on the issue at Fierce, Isakowitz & Blalock, an all-GOP firm, include Billy Piper, a former aide to now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), and Danielle Maurer, a former staffer for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

• FINANCIAL SERVICES. MoneyGram International Inc. has signed Ogilvy Government Relations to lobby on its behalf. Advocates at Ogilvy will be pushing for comprehensive tax reform and tackling financial services regulatory issues. The team includes Dee Buchanan, a former chief of staff to the now-House Banking Committee chairman, Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas).