Founded by Mark Palmer, Market & Capitol helps organizations control their own destiny by working with them to craft a non-market, strategic, forward-looking, and balanced approach to government relations and public affairs to complement their traditional market-based business decision making.
Meet the M+C Team
Mark Palmer
About Mark Palmer
Mark Palmer grew up in southwest Indiana near the history-rich city of Vincennes. A graduate of Kentucky Wesleyan College, Mark played on its 1973 NCAA Division II national championship basketball team. Mark earned his law degree at Mercer University Law School in Macon, Georgia. After graduating from law school, Mark served for three years as an assisted prosecuting attorney for the Bibb County, Georgia State Court. During that time, he tried over 50 jury trials and numerous bench trials. After returning to Indiana, Mark served an additional three years as a deputy prosecuting attorney for Gibson County during which he prosecuted a variety of offenses from misdemeanors to murder.
Chaka Coleman
About Mark Palmer
Chaka represents clients on regulatory and legislative matters before the state legislature as a lobbyist. Drawing from over a decade of public and private sector government affairs experience, Chaka is able to navigate legislative interests to protect the value of the organizations she represents. She helps clients navigate both market and non-market environments by assisting with the development of a complimentary government affairs strategy.
Market & Capitol Advocacy understands that organization leaders have two core, fundamental values:
- To protect the value of the organization, and
- To create new value, resources and opportunity.
A recent survey found that governments and regulators were second only to customers in their ability to affect an organization’s economic value. The intervention may be helpful or harmful but in either case, the forces causing the impact lie outside and cannot be adequately addressed by the organization’s traditional market-based decision-making process. These outside forces create a non-market environment that consists of the social, political, and legal arrangements that structure interactions among organizations and their public relations.
Non-market government and public affairs
Because non-market forces can have a major impact on an organization’s ability to fulfill its two fundamental values, they warrant the same high level of attention in business strategy as do market forces. Market & Capitol Advocacy can assist an organization in developing a governmental affairs strategy to complement its traditional market base decision-making process to help navigate both its market and non-market environments to help provide certainty, predictability, and opportunity.
The Intersection of Influence and Interests
Government relations and public affairs success stories
Represented the Indiana Farm Bureau in its successful effort to enact legislation allowing for the establishment of the Farm Bureau Health Plan. The Farm Bureau Health Plan is designed to provide reasonably priced health care services to the agriculture community and Farm Bureau Members.
Succeeded on behalf of a wastewater treatment client in amending legislation to establish a new way of permitting innovative residential waste-water treatment systems.
Performed on behalf of the Indiana County Auditor’s Association to enact legislation to require the inclusion of county auditors in the appeal process before the Property Tax Board of Appeals (PTABOA) and the Indiana Board of Tax Review (IBTR).
Assisted a charitable foundation in passing legislation establishing a supplemental innkeepers tax to benefit the purposes of the charity.
Persuaded the legislature to enact a provision to allow Anheuser Busch to provide free or discounted rides from a bar to a consumer for the purpose of furthering public safety.
Intervened on behalf of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) to prevent an agency from dissolving a solvent but largely dormant fund into which NICTD had paid substantial premiums over time.
Currently working with the Administration to establish a mechanism to disburse the remaining proceeds to fund participants.
Advocated on behalf of Waste Management of Indiana in conjunction with the Indiana Chapter of the National Solid Waste and Recycling Association to impose restrictions on local governments from requiring solid waste collection companies to collecting solid waste district taxes and remit them to the district.
Acted on behalf of the Indiana High School Athletic Association to remove high school athletes from a bill allowing for sports agents to represent “student-athletes”.
Worked on behalf of Allen County to enact legislation authorizing the Allen County substance abuse pilot program.
Aided Allen County in enacting legislation authorizing the Allen County substance abuse pilot program.
Helpful Resources
Interests
