Our mission here at Kissel, Kohout, ES Associates is to provide our clients with the best, most comprehensive government relations services the state of Nebraska has to offer. Fostering congenial, professional relationships with our clients allows us to know their needs inside and out, and it is then that we are able to use our extensive contacts within the state government to achieve the goals set forth by our clients. Our firm is bi-partisan, and willing to work with any and all stakeholders to ensure that our clients are the most satisfied in the state.

FIRM SPECIALTY

Kissel, Kohout, ES Associates LLC is proud of the exceptional representation of our clients before Nebraska state government - including our Unicameral. We maintain constant contact with senators, our constitutional officers, and their staffs. We place a high priority in keeping our clients well informed on not only the issues of significance to them, but also how they interrelate to all issues before the Unicameral or within the Executive Branch.

Our approach to the Legislature is that our clients tell the best stories and are the best advocates for what we are trying to achieve. As such, we encourage our clients to make themselves available for the highest priority issues pending before the Unicameral. We happily work with our clients to develop testimony and materials for the committee and coalitions with other interested parties to maximize results. Much like issues that face any business or association, there is no single way to handle an issue. Each one must be managed differently depending on multiple variables.

TAG CONTACTS

JOE KOHOUT is from Omaha, Nebraska and has been a registered lobbyist before the Nebraska Legislature since 2002. During this time he has secured significant successes for the firm’s clients. In the years
leading up to his position as a member of the firm, Joe served as a Legislative Aide in the Nebraska Legislature and during his tenure earned valuable expertise in committee structures, the legislative
process, and constituent services.

Since joining the firm, Joe has worked with clients to advocate for legislation that achieved our clients’ goals. These achievements have included development of the Nebraska Advantage Transformational
Tourism and Redevelopment Act, consistent funding for Nebraska’s CASA system, defeat of legislation that would have placed financial burden on Nebraska’s counties, killed bills that would have ended
infrastructure development in Nebraska.

Joe is a member of the Nebraska State Bar Association and the Omaha Bar Association. He is admitted to practice law in the Nebraska Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court for the District
of Nebraska. However, Joe’s practice is completely devoted to governmental affairs and management of the firm. He serves as primary contact for all clients of the firm.

Along with Kristin Crawford, Joe is an author of the Nebraska Chapter in the State Capital Group’s “Lobbying, PAC’s and Campaign Finance: 50 State Handbook on Lobbying Laws and
Regulations in the Individual States”. The chapter was first drafted by former Nebraska Governor Charles Thone who passed away in March, 2018.

Joe is married to Victoria Kohout who serves as Director, State and Community Affairs at the University of Nebraska- Omaha. They reside in Omaha with their two children- Jackson and Harrison.

BRENNEN MILLER is a native Nebraskan, Brennen joined Kissel, Kohout, ES Associates LLC in November of 2017 with over a decade of previous experience in the Nebraska public policy arena. He most recently served as Policy Research Associate at First Five Nebraska, an early childhood education policy non-profit. His role included assisting in the development and execution of their annual legislative package, policy research, and political strategy.

Prior to joining First Five, Brennen served as a staffer in the Nebraska Legislature beginning as a Page during college. He then served as an aide to Senators Abbie Cornett, former chair of the Business and Labor and Revenue Committees, Senator Sue Crawford, and as the Clerk to the Health and Human Services Committee under the leadership of Senator Kathy Campbell.

He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Sheldon Art Association at the Sheldon Museum of Art, the Lincoln Gridiron Association, and The Nebraska Club. He is an alumnus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and is a former member of the the Medici Foundation, and the Lincoln Parks and Recreation Board

Brennen and his fiance Dr. Jennifer Shaw, a resident neurologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, reside in Lincoln with their dog, Bosworth.