Trey Grayson

Managing Director

WHY TREY WORKS IN GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

“An early mentor of mine in government and politics, when asked what he did, used to tell people: ‘I’m a problem-solver. When people have problems, I help solve them.’ That’s become my mantra, as well. In more than two decades of work in government, in academics, and as a business advocate, I have gained multifaceted insight into issues faced by communities and businesses. I know how to help solve those problems, so businesses can grow and communities can become better places to live, work, and play."

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HOW TREY WINS

Trey is known as a problem solver and collaborative leader who works with his clients at the local, state and national levels to successfully navigate their government, political, and regulatory challenges.

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Before joining CivicPoint, Trey served two terms as Kentucky’s Secretary of State. The youngest secretary of state in the country at the time of his election, he served as President of the National Association of Secretaries of State and the Chair of the Republican Secretaries of State Association.

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As Secretary of State, Trey successfully advocated to pass legislation to substantially modernize Kentucky’s partnership, LLC, and corporate laws, in addition to several election modernization bills. These legislative victories were viewed as significant steps forward to make the Commonwealth more competitive in efforts to attract and retain new and growing businesses.

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After leaving the Secretary of State's office, Trey served as the Director of Harvard University’s Institute of Politics from 2011-2014, becoming deeply engaged on campus, including service as a freshman academic adviser and faculty fellow of the men’s basketball team.

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Nationally, Trey serves as a trusted expert on election administration for corporations, associations, legislators, news media, voters, and election administrators at all levels.

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He has served on the bipartisan Presidential Commission on Election Administration, was a founding board member of two national non-profits, Democracy Works and the Center for Election Innovation and Research, and works with several additional organizations, including the Secure Elections Project, the National Task Force on Election Crises and National Council on Election Integrity.

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He has also assisted clients in their interactions with Congress and federal agencies in areas such as broadband, defense procurement, elections, health care, hemp, trade, and transportation.

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At the state level, Trey’s accomplishments since joining CivicPoint’s Kentucky team include:

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• Worked closely with clients, legislators and other stakeholders to develop and then pass an historic election modernization reform;

• Helped Northern Kentucky University secure needed legislation and millions of dollars in support of its exit from the state’s pension system;

• Worked as part of coalition that developed and passed two bipartisan legal liability reforms during the 2019 General Assembly session;

• Led the lobbying effort to end abusive child marriage in Kentucky;

• In collaboration with Frost Brown Todd tax attorneys and a key legislative leader, developed and led the lobbying effort for the nation’s first-ever tax incentive legislation for cryptocurrency mining and colocation;

• Engaged with state and local government officials to assist clients with a wide variety of economic development projects, including health care, energy, real estate, riverports, taxation, and public-private partnerships (P3);

• Worked with CivicPoint colleagues on behalf of Kentucky Smart on Crime coalition to secure passage of numerous criminal justice reform measures over the past few legislative sessions;

• Served as part of lobbying team that secured passage of legislation to remove the prior authorization requirement for medication used in the treatment of opioid use disorder; and

• Worked on efforts in Kentucky to develop the first comprehensive framework for an insurance regulatory “sandbox” in the nation.

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Immediately, prior to joining Frost Brown Todd, Trey served as the president and CEO of the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce for three years. At the Chamber, he was a recognized leader in workforce and regional collaboration.

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As Chamber president, Trey led the Chamber’s team, working closely with an incoming judge-executive to develop and secure legislative passage of revisions to the governance of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG). Following those changes, CVG has benefitted from unprecedented growth, with announcements of expansions from Delta, American, and United airlines, the establishment of a worldwide cargo hub for Amazon, and the initiation of service from new carriers Alaska, Allegiant, Frontier and Southwest airlines.

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Also during Trey’s tenure at the Chamber, the organization played a major role in a public-private coalition’s efforts to eliminate the reformulated-gas (RFG) requirement in Northern Kentucky, a move that is expected to save gasoline buyers millions of dollars annually. RFG, which costs more than 20 cents per gallon above the price of ordinary gasoline, is no longer needed to control air quality due to improvements in fuel in recent years.

 

HOW TREY MAKES CONNECTIONS

Trey has strong ties to the Northern Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati region and remains very active in civic and charitable organizations at the local, state, and national levels. He resides in Boone County, Kentucky, with his wife, Nancy, and their daughters, Alex and Kate.

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• Aviatra Accelerators, Board Member, 2017-present; Vice-Chair, 2017-2019; Chair, 2020-present

• Center for Election Innovation & Research, Founding Board Member, 2017-present

• Democracy Works, Inc., Founding Board Member, 2011-2019; Program and Product Committee, Member, 2019-present

• Harvard Alumni Association, Class of 1994 Reunion Committee, Member, 1994-present; Co-Chair, Schools Committee of Harvard Club of Cincinnati, 2015-2017, 2019-2020

• Issue One, Advisory Committee, 2021-present

• Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program, Board Member, 1999-present; Vice-Chair, 2015-2018; Chair, 2018-present

• Leadership Kentucky, Board Member, 2005-10 and 2015-present; Executive Committee, Member, 2018-present; Secretary, 2021-present

• National Council on Election Integrity, 2020-present

• National Task Force on Election Crises, 2020-present

• Secure Elections Project, Chair, Advisory Committee, 2019-present

• United Way of Greater Cincinnati, Co-Chair, Public Policy Cabinet, 2018-present; Board of Directors, 2017-2020; Chair, 2019 Northern Kentucky campaign

• University of Arizona National Institute of Civil Discourse, National Advisory Board, 2011-present

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