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Insider Perspective: Grant Nelson is a Team Player |
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Written On: May/June 2004 |
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Written By: by Paul Schlienz |
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AWB’s Grant Nelson was bitten by the political bug early in life.
“I was born into a political family,” Grant reminisced. “My father’s been involved in politics since I was a young lad. Those natural instincts were perhaps encoded in my DNA.”
Grant’s father, Gary Nelson, was elected to the Edmonds City Council in 1967. Five years later, he was elected to Washington’s House of Representatives. After 14 years in the House, he was elected to the Senate in 1986.
Gary Nelson remained in the Senate until 1994, when he was elected to the Snohomish County Council. With the election of two other Republicans, in 2001, he became the council’s chair.
Few were surprised when Grant followed his father to Olympia.
“For two years, in the early 1990s, I was a session aide for my dad, who was chair of the Senate Law and Justice Committee,” Grant recalled. “I then worked for House Appropriations Chair Tom Huff (R-Gig Harbor) as his session aide, followed by two years as legislative assistant to Sen. Bill Finkbeiner (R-Kirkland), then chair of the Senate Energy, Technology and Communications Committee.
“Serving five sessions for committee chairs was great. I loved the fast pace, but I realized without a law degree, my chances of moving up to a caucus staff position weren’t very good.”
Uninterested in returning to school, Grant saw another possibility for an Olympia career - lobbying.
“Lobbying looked like a good career move for me,” Grant said. “So I started asking lobbyists where I should go to gain some experience. Nearly all of them recommended AWB.”
Grant was hired as AWB’s regulatory coordinator in 1998, and soon after was promoted to governmental affairs director.
Grant is AWB’s expert on highly technical issues related to the environment and toxic waste. He does not fear terms like “persistent bioaccumulative toxins.” Most impressive of all, Grant, who holds a business degree from Washington State University, never had formal, scientific training.
“Participating in stakeholder committees, speaking with the right people in their fields of expertise and reading reams of material have all been part of my post-graduate education,” Grant said.
The 2004 legislative session was a pleasant surprise for Grant.
“The session exceeded my expectations,” Grant noted. “More importantly, I think we, at AWB, exceeded our members’ expectations and improved Washington’s business climate in the process.”
One of Grant’s 2004 successes was his work on HB 2488, which addressed electronic waste.
“The bill started off on the wrong foot, mandating expensive product take-back programs, a front-end fee collection scheme and other provisions our members just couldn’t support,” Grant recounted.
“We worked with legislators and proponents of the bill and turned it into a policy that AWB could support. The bill that was signed by the governor is a win-win for businesses and the environment.”
Grant, however, is most excited by the surprise passage of SB 6415. This bill, which addresses stormwater permits for industrial and construction sites, was a top priority for AWB.
“It was a long shot, mainly because of the technical nature of the bill,” Grant said. “Being a short, election year session, legislators were less likely to pass complex, controversial policies. Nevertheless, we assembled a winning team of technical experts, attorneys, lobbyists and legislators, and rolled up our sleeves and got the job done. Many are now saying that 6415 was the most significant environmental legislation that passed in 2004. Of course, I agree!”
Sadly, even as SB 6415 beat the odds and made it through the Legislature, Grant’s joy at its passage was tempered by the loss of his friend Willy O’Neil, lobbyist for the Associated General Contractors of Washington. O’Neil, who had worked tirelessly with Grant on stormwater and other environmental policies, died in January.
"My biggest disappointment of this session was not being able to share the win on the stormwater bill with Willy O'Neil," Grant concluded. "He would have been part of our winning team for sure. But I now have an even greater appreciation of what a great gift life is and how important family and friends are to me. And what my mom and dad told me long ago seems even more true today ... you only go around once in this world. Make the best of it."
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