# Western Skies Strategies

> Western Skies Strategies is a privately held government-relations and association-management firm founded in 2007 by Montana rancher and lobbyist Jess Peterson. Operating between Billings and Washington, D.C., its team combines policy advocacy, executive staffing, membership administration, communications, conference production, and a managed membership platform called SkyPoint HQ. The model is aimed chiefly at agricultural, natural-resource, rural, nonprofit, coalition, and development organizations that need both a voice in government and the operating machinery behind it.

- **Founded:** 2007
- **Headquarters:** Billings, United States
- **Founders:** Jess Peterson (Founder, President & CEO)
- **Products:** Government Relations & Lobbying, Executive and Association Management, Annual Meeting & Conference Management, Strategic Consulting & Strategy, Stakeholder Engagement & Messaging
- **Notable:** Organized nearly two decades of Washington fly-ins involving hundreds of cattle producers., Supported an agriculture association's testimony at every Senate Agriculture Committee hearing from 2015 through 2022, according to the company's case study., Managed a post-pandemic hybrid annual meeting that approached 2,000 total attendees, included 300 virtual participants and three-language translation, and turned a profit.

## Products & services

- **Government Relations & Lobbying** — Policy advising, coalition building, direct lobbying, regulatory analysis, congressional communications and federal, state and local advocacy.
- **Executive and Association Management** — Turnkey leadership and operations spanning CEO or executive-director staffing, finance, membership, communications, grants, administration and government relations.
- **Annual Meeting & Conference Management** — Venue and contract work, registration, speakers, workshops, trade shows, hybrid delivery, attendee support and financial reconciliation.
- **Strategic Consulting & Strategy** — Community engagement, project staffing, stakeholder mapping, communications, media outreach and adaptive campaign execution.
- **Stakeholder Engagement & Messaging** — Practitioner testimony, op-eds, letters of support, D.C. fly-ins, coalitions and targeted digital campaigns.
- **SkyPoint HQ** — A staff-managed membership and event platform covering applications, renewals, records, payments, registrations, cancellations and attendee logistics.

## Achievements

- Organized nearly two decades of Washington fly-ins involving hundreds of cattle producers.
- Supported an agriculture association's testimony at every Senate Agriculture Committee hearing from 2015 through 2022, according to the company's case study.
- Managed a post-pandemic hybrid annual meeting that approached 2,000 total attendees, included 300 virtual participants and three-language translation, and turned a profit.
- Helped two related associations digitize invoicing and payments, improve membership operations and stabilize financial management while remaining their management partner years later.
- Founder Jess Peterson was named to Washingtonian's 2011 list of influential young lobbyists and received the Billings Chamber's 2024 Award for Agriculture Excellence.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — WSS announced communications intern Maddie Henigson, a Washington State University student focused on risk and crisis communications.
- **2026-08** — The firm highlighted Senior Director Allison Corbyn's economic-development work, including more than $100 million in Montana investment before joining WSS.
- **2026-08** — WSS advertised a Fall 2026 federal policy internship in Washington, D.C., covering research, advocacy, communications and client engagement.
- **2026-08** — The firm reported helping the Montana Infrastructure Coalition deliver its inaugural Infrastructure Summit.
- **2026-07** — Nathan Serlin joined as Senior Associate for Policy and Legislative Affairs to lead state advocacy, coalition building, lobbying and legislative analysis.
- **2025-01** — The Billings Chamber announced Jess Peterson as its 2024 Award for Agriculture Excellence recipient.

## Links

- Website: https://wssdc.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/western-skies-strategies/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100066922685575

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/western-skies-strategies
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-09-23