Ryan Rowden is striking out on his own. After more than 11 years as the executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Council, he launched his own firm Tuesday: The Rowden Group.
“It’s new and it’s different,” Rowden told The Missouri Times in an interview. “It’s a concept that I’ve been working on for a long time. I’ve been excited about what I do at the Capitol every day. This just seems to be an opportunity for me to work with companies I’ve already worked with for a dozen years in a capacity that’s beneficial to them.”
Aside from the Petroleum Council, Rowden is also the former director of government affairs for the Missouri Association of Counties and a past president of the Missouri Society Association of Executives.
Rowden already has three clients reported with the Missouri Ethics Commission: Diamond Pet Foods, Missouri Pipeline Coalition, and Invisible Defender. Diamond Pet Foods is headquartered in Meta, and Invisible Defender produces personal protective equipment (PPE) made in the U.S.
And given his background in the oil and gas industry, Rowden said he hopes to help any company that needs representation in the Capitol when it comes to eminent domain, permitting issues, and more.
“At the end of the day, there’s a huge gap in coverage for pipeline companies in Missouri. I want to fill that gap,” he said.
Right now, The Rowden Group is a one-man shop with Rowden tackling the full-service needs of his clients. But he does plan to contract with NW Strategies for clients’ social media needs.
“Ryan has the relationships to get things done — and builds new ones — because people trust him,” Marty Durbin, president of the Global Energy Institute at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement provided to The Missouri Times. “He’s always had my confidence.”
“There are a lot of consultants in Jefferson City but very few with the integrity and relationships that Rowden possesses,” HJ Reed, director of government affairs for Phillips 66, said.
Kaitlyn Schallhorn was the editor in chief of The Missouri Times from 2020-2022. She joined the newspaper in early 2019 after working as a reporter for Fox News in New York City.
Throughout her career, Kaitlyn has covered political campaigns across the U.S., including the 2016 presidential election, and humanitarian aid efforts in Africa and the Middle East.
She is a native of Missouri who studied journalism at Winthrop University in South Carolina. She is also an alumna of the National Journalism Center in Washington, D.C.
Contact Kaitlyn at kaitlyn@themissouritimes.com.
