The executive director of the California chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business is stepping down at the end of June to start his own public affairs firm.
John Kabateck, 47, plans to launch Kabateck Strategies, a Sacramento public affairs firm serving small and medium-sized businesses across the state.
“It’s hard to be surrounded by 23,000 entrepreneurs on a daily basis and not let it get into your bloodstream” to start a business, said Kabateck.
The new firm will take on state and local policy issues, including ballot campaigns, chiefly by connecting on-the-ground businesses with elected officials and other decision makers, Kabateck said.
Part of the focus will be on policies that were formally the domain of the federal or state government but have more recently turned into local debates, he said, giving taxation issues as an example.
“The job creation community should be getting involved more early, more locally, and more aggressively,” he said. “I see an opportunity.”
Kabateck came to the NFIB in 2007 after serving as director of external affairs for then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before that, he worked for other Republican legislators and for former Gov. Pete Wilson in the early 1990s.
He said his time at NIFB has been a blessing, and he is most proud of helping build the organization’s relevance within the state Capitol.
Source: Sacramento Business Journal
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