Kevin “Kip” Talley has left the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR).

Talley most recently served as the organization’s senior director of federal legislative affairs. His role focused largely on IPCPR’s efforts with congressional lobbying highlighted by a variety of bills over various congresses focused on protecting the premium cigar industry from regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“We would like to thank Kip for his service to IPCPR and the industry,” said John Anderson, chair of IPCPR’s Federal Government Affairs Committee, in a press release. “When Kip came on board, IPCPR had very little presence on Capitol Hill or anywhere in Washington, DC. His work put us on a path where we obviously need to be.”

Mark Pursell, ceo of IPCPR, and Matt Dogali, senior director of state affairs will take over Talley’s federal advocacy efforts.

Brooks Whittington contributed to this story.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.