The Boston Globe – Jan 2, 2019
At top lobbying firms, few women
Jessica Beeson Tocco looks at Boston’s top lobbying firms and still sees few women in leadership roles. It’s a shortcoming Tocco aims to change, as she takes off on a new flight with her firm, A10 Associates LLC.
Tocco says she kept the six -year-old firm dormant after she was recruited to join Rasky Partners two years ago. Tocco was in demand because she was one of the few lobbyists in Boston with connections to the Trump-Pence administration. (Tocco got her start in politics in Indiana, where she worked with Mike Pence during his first congressional bid.) At Rasky, Tocco led the firm’s effort to build a national practice.
She decided to strike out on her own and left Rasky in September, relaunching A10 the following month. A10 registered as a state lobbyist in November and listed Vineyard Wind as its first Massachusetts client. The firm says it now has more than 20 clients. Other local clients include the med-tech firm Myomo Inc., construction business J. Derenzo, and Drew Co., a real estate developer.
Former Rasky colleagues Tori Bentkover and Mitchell Howkins joined Tocco’s new venture, which she runs out of the CIC at 50 Milk St. in Boston.
Tocco’s last name is a familiar one in town. Her husband, John Tocco, is a local executive at Wynn Resorts, and her father-in-law, Steve Tocco, leads ML Strategies, Boston’s busiest lobbying firm.
While A10 lobbies at the state and local levels as well, Tocco specializes in chasing federal infrastructure funds. Earmarks are no longer in vogue in Congress, she says, so lobbying the administration has become more important. “The federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world,” Tocco says.
Tocco plans to eventually get on the list of Boston’s 10 biggest lobbying agencies. One strategy: making her business more accommodating to women who want to balance their work responsibilities with raising a family.
Around the time Tocco registered A10 with the state, A10 donated $2,500 for Governor Charlie Baker’s inaugural celebration. The inaugural committee refunded $2,300 after the Globe inquired about the gift, which exceeded a self-imposed cap of $200 that Baker had set for lobbyists. Tocco says she has been a longtime fan of Baker and plans to support him when she can.
And what about the unusual name for her company?
It reflects Tocco’s roots – a childhood near an Air Force base in rural Indiana. “A10 is a military plane, it flies low to the ground and covers the soldiers, and it gets the job done,” Tocco says.
