What Cardinal Infrastructure does

Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC is a privately held federal advisory firm headquartered in Washington, DC (600 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 250). Founded in 2016 by Sherry E. Little, Severn E. S. Miller, and the late Anja Graves — all of whom previously served in senior roles at federal agencies including the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — the firm advises public transit agencies, cities, regional authorities, private sector businesses, and nonprofit organizations on transportation, infrastructure, and economic development matters that require federal collaboration. The firm positions itself as bipartisan and leverages the founders' direct experience inside the FTA, U.S. House transportation subcommittees, and Senate Banking Committee staff to serve as strategic advisors on projects with federal funding, regulatory, or legislative dimensions.

The firm operates without a software platform or technology product. Its offering is organized into eight discrete advisory service lines: Client and Stakeholder Education; Policy and Regulatory Analysis; Project Planning and Assessment; Strategic Advocacy and Government Relations; Essential Partnerships and Coalitions; Federal Funding, Financing, and Appropriations; Federal Compliance; and Issue and Opportunity Monitoring. These services span the full federal project lifecycle, from educating client boards on how legislative or regulatory processes affect their projects, through grant application support for programs such as Capital Investment Grant, TIFIA, and Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing, to ongoing monitoring of legislative and regulatory developments. Service delivery is partner-led and human-driven.

The business model is professional services advisory. Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC is a private LLC domiciled in the District of Columbia, with 1-10 employees, no disclosed external institutional investment, and no parent company. Revenue is generated from advisory engagements; no pricing details are publicly disclosed. Note: the firm is distinct from Cardinal Infrastructure Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNL), a separate construction services company headquartered in Raleigh, NC, which completed a December 2025 IPO — these two entities are not affiliated despite sharing a name, and the public-company financial data (revenue, valuation, IPO proceeds) does not apply to Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC.

Name

Cardinal Infrastructure

Legal name

Cardinal Infrastructure LLC

Website

https://cardinalinfrastructure.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cardinal Infrastructure, LLC is a privately held, Washington, DC-based bipartisan federal advisory firm founded in 2016 that advises public transit agencies, cities, regional authorities, and private-sector clients on transportation, infrastructure, and economic development projects involving federal funding, legislation, and regulation.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Affairs Consulting

akta.pro primary industry

Infrastructure & Project Finance Advisory (BPAHADAO)

akta.pro secondary industry

Real Estate Public-Private Partnership (PPP) & Infrastructure-Adjacent Real Estate Advisory (BPAJANAL)

Keywords

• Federal advisory services
• Infrastructure consulting
• Transportation policy
• Government relations
• Grant funding advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Infrastructure Services: Provides wet utility installations and site services to various market segments. Revenue derived from civil utility installations and site development projects across the Southeastern United States.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Cardinal Infrastructure is a federal advisory and consulting firm that helps public transit agencies, cities, regional authorities, private-sector clients, and nonprofits navigate federal legislative, regulatory, and funding processes for transportation, infrastructure, and economic development projects. It sells eight discrete advisory services covering stakeholder education, policy and regulatory analysis, project planning and assessment, strategic advocacy and government relations, partnership and coalition building, federal grant pursuit (e.g., CIG, TIFIA, RRIF), federal compliance (Buy America, labor, environment), and ongoing issue monitoring.

Product overview

Cardinal Infrastructure is a federal advisory group (not a software or technology company) offering eight distinct consulting services focused on transportation, infrastructure, and economic development. The company's service portfolio includes Client and Stakeholder Education, Policy and Regulatory Analysis, Project Planning and Assessment, Strategic Advocacy and Government Relations, Essential Partnerships and Coalitions, Federal Funding/Financing/Appropriations, Federal Compliance, and Issue and Opportunity Monitoring. These services are delivered by a bipartisan team with decades of experience navigating federal legislative, regulatory, and funding processes. The company does not offer a software platform or technology product—its offerings are advisory and consulting services for public transit agencies, cities, regional authorities, private sector businesses, and nonprofit organizations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Client and Stakeholder Education
• Policy and Regulatory Analysis
• Project Planning and Assessment
• Strategic Advocacy and Government Relations
• Essential Partnerships and Coalitions
• Federal Funding, Financing, and Appropriations
• Federal Compliance
• Issue and Opportunity Monitoring

Quantifiable outcome

• 45% year-over-year revenue growth (2025 estimates)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Cavarocchi Ruscio Dennis Associates (CRD): Federal lobbying and consulting firm representing public transit agencies, municipalities, and infrastructure clients before Congress and federal agencies. Closely comparable to Cardinal's transit and federal-funding advisory practice.
• Van Scoyoc Associates: Long-established Washington, DC federal government relations and advisory firm serving transportation, infrastructure, and public-sector clients. Closely comparable to Cardinal in scale, DC location, and bipartisan federal advisory positioning.
• Cornerstone Government Affairs: Bipartisan federal government affairs firm headquartered in DC, with established transportation and infrastructure practice. Similar boutique scale and federal advisory approach to Cardinal.
• Dawson & Associates: DC-based federal infrastructure advisory firm with deep water-resources, transportation, and federal funding expertise. Directly comparable to Cardinal for clients seeking federal infrastructure project support and grant strategy.
• Subject Matter: DC-based bipartisan advisory firm providing federal legislative, regulatory, and strategic communications services to public- and private-sector clients. Comparable in delivery model and federal engagement focus to Cardinal.

Broad incumbents

• HNTB Corporation: Large national infrastructure consulting firm with deep federal-delivery and federally funded highway/transit expertise. Overlaps with Cardinal on federal funding strategy but at materially larger scale with broader engineering services.
• Holland & Knight: Major Am Law 100 firm with a well-known federal infrastructure, transportation, and government affairs practice. Competes with Cardinal for policy and federal funding advisory mandates, but as part of a full-service legal offering.
• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld: Major law and policy firm with a top-tier federal government relations and infrastructure practice. Comparable to Cardinal on federal advocacy and infrastructure funding advisory, with broader full-service capabilities.
• McGuireWoods Consulting: Federal and state government affairs consultancy affiliated with McGuireWoods LLP, with practice areas including transportation and infrastructure funding. Comparable to Cardinal on federal advisory, with greater bench depth and a multi-state footprint.

Others

• Bipartisan Policy Center: DC-based think tank producing policy research on infrastructure, transportation, and economic development. Adjacent to Cardinal's policy and regulatory analysis work; not a direct competitor but informs federal infrastructure debates that drive Cardinal's client demand.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Cardinal-Infrastructure-LLC-103709658120527
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cardinal-infrastructure-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cardinal Infrastructure