From a billion-dollar plant expansion to landmark retail crime legislation, Natural State Consulting & Strategies spent the 2025 session making sure Faulkner County businesses had a voice — and won.

When Green Bay Packaging announced a billion-dollar expansion of its Arkansas Kraft Division in Conway County, it didn’t happen by accident. Behind the scenes, Natural State Consulting & Strategies — a Faulkner County-based lobbying and government relations firm — had spent months navigating the regulatory and legislative hurdles that stood between an announcement and a groundbreaking.

“Steve Goode and his team at Natural State Consulting & Strategies leveraged their deep relationships and extensive connections with state and county decision-makers across Arkansas to help clear the path for success on one of the largest projects in our company’s history,” said Brad Harville, general manager for Green Bay Packaging’s Arkansas Kraft Division. “Their collaborative approach not only supported our growth but is already delivering meaningful economic benefits to the State of Arkansas, including job creation and increased tax revenue in local communities. We’re grateful to Natural State Consulting & Strategies for helping make this possible.”

That result is emblematic of what Natural State delivered across the board during the 2025 Arkansas legislative session. The firm touched over 150 bills, actively lobbied for or against more than 80 of them, and finished with a 96 percent success rate — a number that would be remarkable for any firm, and is extraordinary for one that has been operating for only four years.

“We are blessed to have great clients that legislators care about and want to help,” said Steve Goode, principal at Natural State Consulting & Strategies. “On the Green Bay expansion, county judges, mayors, and legislators all realized what the expansion means for central Arkansas and the River Valley. Sen. Breanne Davis and Rep. Rick Beck were great to work with on the bill that aided the expansion.”

Not every win is a bill that passes. Some of the most important work a lobbying firm does is stopping bad legislation before it reaches a business owner’s bottom line. This session, Natural State successfully helped defeat a series of six workers’ compensation bills (SB 284 through SB 288 and SB 418) that would have resulted in substantially higher rates for Arkansas employers. All six were referred to interim study rather than advancing to a vote.

On the offensive side, Natural State led the charge for the Arkansas Retailers Association — representing members including Harps, Kroger, Walmart, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walgreens, and Tractor Supply — on landmark retail crime legislation. Acts 321 and 659 created new criminal offenses for organized retail theft and gift card fraud, respectively, while Act 668 gave private businesses the ability to use automatic license plate reader systems to combat theft. For retailers who have watched organized crime eat into their margins, the 2025 session moved the needle in a meaningful way.

Natural State also worked closely with members of Faulkner County’s legislative delegation on bills that directly benefit local businesses. Rep. Matt Brown, a local attorney with the Jiles firm, carried two pieces of legislation on the firm’s behalf: Act 569, which expanded beer options for Arkansas retailers, and Act 819, which gave business owners stronger tools to regulate emotional support animals on their premises.

“Faulkner County has a tremendous group of legislators who are genuinely attentive to the people and businesses they represent,” Goode said. “That makes our job easier, but it doesn’t make it easy. It still takes preparation, trust, and showing up every day.”

Natural State’s team brought all of that to the 2025 session. Tyler Lachowsky, who serves on the Faulkner County Quorum Court and earned his MBA from the University of Central Arkansas, helped manage the firm’s expanded legislative workload. Caitlyn Hiland, who came to Natural State after working for Sen. John Boozman in Washington, D.C., brought federal-level experience to the table. Administrator Mandy Miller, a 26-year state government veteran, kept operations running through one of the firm’s busiest sessions yet.

None of this happens without relationships built over time, and those relationships extend well beyond the Capitol. Tyler Lachowsky managed the successful campaign of Jeremy Riddle, who will bring a new voice to Faulkner County’s legislative delegation — a natural extension of the Natural State team’s longstanding commitment to local public service.

That same commitment to Faulkner County shows up well beyond legislative sessions. Natural State contributes each year to Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry’s Snack Stick Program, which helps food-insecure students have a protein source in meals sent home from school. The team supports the Summer Library Feeding Program through Toad Suck Daze, contributes to homecoming meals for the Vilonia and Clinton football teams, and sponsors the annual Clinton Steak Out. Goode and members of his team serve or have served on boards for the Andy Shaw Agricultural Foundation, the Vilonia Community Development Corporation, Lisa’s Closet, and CAPCA.

For Goode, that kind of involvement isn’t separate from the work — it’s inseparable from it. “The relationships that make Natural State effective in Little Rock are the same ones built at Friday night football games, community fundraisers, and in church pews across central Arkansas. You don’t build that kind of trust by showing up only when something is at stake in the legislature.”

In today’s environment, the line between business success and government policy is thinner than most business owners realize — until it isn’t. A bill passes. An agency issues a rule. A competitor gets a seat at the table, and you don’t. Natural State Consulting & Strategies exists to make sure Faulkner County businesses are never caught flat-footed.

Natural State Consulting & Strategies is based in Faulkner County and represents 30 clients across Arkansas. For more information, contact Steve Goode at stevegoode@naturalstatestrategies.com.