Dale Earnhardt

Beason's lobbying earnings

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 08:48:44 -0400

Don Beason made over $100,000 in the first half of the year.

According to filings with the Secretary of State's office, 15 corporate clients paid Beason a total of $107,671 from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2007.

Two clients, Carolina Ballet and Dale Earnhardt Inc., paid nothing. The ballet said Beason had donated his services. The city of Hickory did not pay Beason directly, but reimbursed Catawba County for half of its contract.

The largest single contract was the county, which paid Beason $32,903, according to the filings. (The county's records showed a slightly different amount.)

Another large client was Sigma Corp., a New Jersey-based maker of pipe fittings, which registered Beason as a lobbyist on May 21. The company paid Beason $27,000 in the second quarter of the year.

Progress Energy, the Raleigh-based electric utility, paid Beason $8,500.

Other contracts for clients such as BB&T, Cingular Wireless and the Albemarle Mental Health Center, were worth between $3,000 and $4,000 each in the first half of the year.

Update: AT&T North Carolina, formerly BellSouth, is also a Beason client, but it does not show up on his clients listings. According to the company's filings, it paid him $2,940 in the first half of the year. His total earnings have been updated.

Beason's other former clients

ryanteaguebeckwith — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:44:08 -0400

Don Beason no longer works for Carolina Ballet.

The lobbyist had represented the nonprofit ballet company based in Raleigh. But Executive Director Lisa Jones e-mailed Dome to say that the "relationship expired" on June 30.

"Mr. Beason donated his services," she wrote.

Carolina Ballet is still listed as an active account on the Secretary of State's list of Beason clients. He resigned his contract with Cingular Wireless (now AT&T Mobility) on June 13 and with Progress Energy on Aug. 3. His contract with BB&T was terminated on Aug. 10.

The once-top lobbyist has been under an ethics cloud since disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black said in July that Beason loaned him $500,000 in 2000.

He is still registered as a lobbyist for the N.C. Railroad Company, Dale Earnhardt Inc., the city of Hickory and Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Co.

BB&T drops Beason

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 18:59:56 -0400

BB&T has dropped Don Beason as a lobbyist.

According to officials with Secretary of State Elaine Marshall's office, the Winston-Salem-based bank terminated its lobbying contracts Thursday with Beason and his son, Mark.

At a state sentencing hearing last month, disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black admitted that he received a $500,000 loan from Beason in 2000.

The following day, Beason resigned from a state lobbyist association.

Often ranked as a top lobbyist in recent years, Beason's client list includes Dale Earnhardt Inc. and the Carolina Ballet.

The forms were signed by BB&T vice president Ed Simpson.

Update: "It was the right thing to do," said company spokesman Bob Denham. "That's all I'm going to say."

Update: A spokeswoman for Progress Energy says they accepted his resignation on Aug. 3. The termination has not yet been filed with the Secretary of State.

GOP: Drop Beason

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:22:30 -0400

The Republican Party wants Don Beason out of business.

In a press release today, party chairwoman Linda Daves said that the lobbyist's $500,000 loan to disagraced former House Speaker Jim Black was "certainly unethical and highly improper," if not illegal.

"Beason's clients should not tolerate these tactics from someone they employ to represent their interests," she said in a statement. "Responsible clients will drop Beason as their lobbyist."

Beason has strong Republican ties, having served in the administrations of governors Jim Holshouser and Jim Martin and Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner.

His client list includes BB&T, Progress Energy and Dale Earnhardt Inc.