Gongwer News Service

What Gongwer News Service does

Gongwer News Service, founded in 1906 by Charles Scott Gongwer, is a subscription-based legislative intelligence and news platform focused on Ohio state government and politics. The company, headquartered at 175 S. 3rd St., Suite 325 in Columbus, Ohio, is privately held as Gongwer News Service, Inc. and operates a wholly-owned Michigan subsidiary (Gongwer News Service/Michigan, Inc.) alongside an affiliation with State Affairs, a multi-state statehouse news network. The business reaches what its materials describe as thousands of Ohio policy decision-makers per month, including lobbyists, government affairs teams, corporate executives, associations, advocacy organizations, and media outlets.

The core product is a web-based platform combining the daily Ohio Report news publication with an integrated Bill Tracking System that monitors bills, committees, keywords, Revised Code sections, and legislative activities and delivers real-time alerts via email and text. Supporting modules include customizable status reports exportable to Word or Excel, comprehensive legislative and political schedules with webcast integration, contact directories for lawmakers and staff, an advocacy messaging portal, elections coverage with a dedicated elections app, redistricting and budget tracking resources, and a Statehouse Jobs marketplace. AI-powered features layer NLP-generated legislative summaries, hearing transcription with topic flagging, keyword alerts, and an upcoming 360 Reports product positioned to provide AI-generated policy analysis across all 50 states. The company shares its membership/data archives across organizations and synchronizes events with personal calendars. All features are bundled into a single subscription with no add-on charges.

Revenue is generated primarily through annual and multi-year subscription contracts sold via a direct sales motion (website demos, email inquiries, and Gongwer staff outreach), supplemented by advertising and sponsorship packages targeted at policymakers and political insiders. Pricing is not publicly disclosed; multi-seat organizational accounts are standard, but no minimum contract term is forced. The go-to-market is sales-led and enterprise-targeted at government affairs teams, associations, and businesses needing legislative intelligence. Distribution is direct with no resellers; delivery occurs via web, email, and text alerts. The platform is in the process of migrating to the State Affairs infrastructure while Gongwer's leadership, management, and Ohio-based services remain unchanged.

Name

Gongwer News Service

Legal name

Gongwer News Service, Inc.

Website

https://gongwer-oh.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1906

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gongwer News Service, founded in 1906 in Columbus, Ohio, is a subscription-based legislative intelligence platform providing real-time Ohio statehouse news, bill tracking, alerts, directories, and advocacy tools to lobbyists, government affairs teams, associations, and corporate policy decision-makers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legislative Intelligence Services

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (513110), Periodical Publishers (513120)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

News Agencies & Wire Services (General & Specialized) (MPAJADAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Online Article & Blog Publishing Platforms (MPAJAMAF), News & Current Affairs Aggregators (MPACAKAA), Syndication, Licensing & Content Partnerships (Columns, Features, Photos) (MPAJADAI)

Keywords

• Legislative tracking
• Government affairs
• Political intelligence
• State government news
• Policy monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Subscription Services: Annual and multi-year subscription plans providing access to Ohio legislative news, bill tracking, alerts, schedules, directories, and advocacy tools as an all-inclusive package. Subscribers can add users to organizational accounts.
2. Advertising: Sponsorship and advertising packages targeting policymakers, state employees, advocates, and political insiders on the Gongwer platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Gongwer News Service provides a subscription-based SaaS platform delivering comprehensive Ohio state government and political news, real-time legislative bill tracking with email and text alerts, customizable legislative status reports, lawmaker and state official directories, legislative schedules with webcasts, elections coverage, advocacy tools, and budget resources. The single all-inclusive subscription package is sold to organizations including government affairs teams, lobbyists, associations, and corporate decision-makers, with individual user accounts added to subscribing organizations.

Product overview

Gongwer News Service is a comprehensive legislative information and news platform focused on Ohio state government and politics. The core offering is a subscription-based SaaS platform that provides real-time legislative tracking, news reporting, and government affairs tools. The product portfolio centers on the Ohio Report (daily news publication) combined with an integrated Bill Tracking System that enables monitoring of bills, committees, keywords, and legislative activities. Additional modules include Legislative Status Reports (customizable report generation with Word/Excel export), Schedules (legislative calendars with webcast integration), Directories (contact information for lawmakers and officials), Advocacy Tools (communication portal for lobbying), Elections Coverage (candidate databases and election apps), Budget Resources, Redistricting tracking, and a Statehouse Jobs Marketplace. The platform incorporates AI capabilities including automated legislative summaries, hearing transcription, and keyword/topic alerts. All features are included in a single subscription package with no add-on charges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ohio Report (Daily News) Daily news publication providing comprehensive coverage of Ohio state government, politics, policy, and legislative activities, including the Daily Ohio Report, breaking news updates, and bill activity reports. Serves lobbyists, government affairs professionals, associations, and corporate decision-makers tracking Ohio statehouse developments.
• Bill Tracking System Real-time legislative tracking platform enabling subscribers to monitor bills, committees, keywords, Revised Code sections, and legislative activities with custom email and text alerts. Includes document uploads and position tracking capabilities for subscribing organizations.
• Legislative Status Reports Customizable reports on tracked legislation that include bill activities, titles, code sections affected, document links, and personal comments, with export to Word and Excel and shareable live links. Subscription includes automated scheduled sending of status reports to subscribers.
• Legislative Schedules Comprehensive calendar of Ohio legislative sessions, committee meetings, executive activities, political events, news events, and fundraisers with webcast integration and personal calendar sync.
• Directories of Lawmakers and State Officials Contact directories for Ohio lawmakers, legislative staff, state officials, and candidates with committee assignments, voting records, and key staff information. Includes enhanced contact tools for subscriber outreach.
• Advocacy Tools Communication portal enabling subscribers to send messages to lawmakers and their staff, with tracking group sharing and contact management features. Designed for lobbyists and advocacy organizations to efficiently reach decision-makers.
• Ohio Elections Coverage Election database with candidate information, primary and general election matchups, endorsements, results, and a dedicated Ohio Elections application. Archives searchable from the 2004 election cycle.
• Budget Resources Dedicated budget tracking and coverage for Ohio's state operating budgets with committee schedules and fiscal analysis. Supports corporate and association subscribers monitoring fiscal policy.
• Redistricting Tracking and Coverage Special coverage and tracking resources for Ohio redistricting developments and political district boundaries.
• Special Coverage In-depth features and enterprise stories on major policy topics and Ohio Statehouse issues with specialized topic tracking and dedicated editorial coverage.
• Statehouse Jobs Marketplace Job board dedicated to legislative, public affairs, and government positions in Ohio's political sector. Targets subscribers and visitors seeking statehouse and policy careers.
• Ohio Media Clips (News Clips) Daily compilation of links and headlines on Ohio government from other news sources, aggregating third-party coverage of the statehouse. Included in the Gongwer subscription package.

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• State AffairsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 July 2023Gongwer aligned with State Affairs in July 2023, a growing news company dedicated to expanding coverage of state capitols across the country. The partnership matches Gongwer's expertise in Ohio state government coverage with State Affairs' multi-state network, enabling Gongwer-style news services in additional states. Additional staff and support bolster Gongwer operations. No changes to Gongwer leadership, management, staff, or services.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Bloomberg Government: Subscription legislative and policy intelligence platform from Bloomberg providing federal and state-level coverage with deep analytics — competes for the same corporate government-affairs and lobbying budget as Gongwer, particularly for multi-state organizations.
• FiscalNote: Large-scale policy intelligence SaaS platform offering legislative tracking, regulatory monitoring, and government affairs tools — serves the same government-affairs buyer persona as Gongwer but at federal and multi-state scale, with far broader product portfolio post-Quorum and Roll Call acquisitions.
• National Journal: Policy and political intelligence publication targeting policy professionals, lobbyists, and association executives — overlapping with Gongwer's primary subscriber persona with broader federal-level coverage.
• POLITICO: Major political and policy news outlet with subscription services covering state, federal, and policy verticals. Competes with Gongwer for government-affairs professionals and association subscribers seeking authoritative political coverage.

Direct peers

• MultiState Associates: Government affairs and lobbying services firm providing state-level legislative tracking, advocacy support, and policy intelligence to corporations and associations — overlapping with Gongwer's core lobbyist and government-affairs subscriber base.
• State Affairs: Multi-state capitol news network and Gongwer's affiliate partner since July 2023. Operates subscription legislative news services across more than a dozen states with shared platform, technology, and back-office capabilities — making it both a direct competitor in expanded markets and an operational partner.

Emerging players

• LegiScan: Lower-cost legislative tracking and data service covering all 50 states — competes with Gongwer's bill-tracking module on price-sensitive buyers, though without editorial content or advocacy tools.
• BillTrack50: Software platform providing legislative tracking across all 50 states with alerts and analytics — competes on bill-tracking functionality but lacks Gongwer's editorial depth, Ohio-specific coverage, and curated reporting.
• E&E News: Specialized energy and environment policy news service (now part of POLITICO) — comparable to Gongwer as a niche, subscription-based policy intelligence outlet focused on a specific issue vertical rather than a single geography.

Regional players

• Ohio Capital Journal: Free, nonprofit Ohio-focused statehouse and policy news outlet covering similar government and politics topics. Competes indirectly for Ohio policy audience attention and advertiser dollars, particularly among non-paying readers who might otherwise consider Gongwer.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gongwer-news-service

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

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 Gongwer News Service