A former president of the Association of Government Relations Professionals will expand the mission of an educational group he founded to replace the now-defunct lobbyist association.

Paul Miller, CEO of Miller/Wenhold Capitol Strategies, announced Friday that the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics will move beyond its current role as an educational organization to become a national association for the government relations profession. He sees the institute as filling the hole left by the closure of AGRP, which announced it was closing its doors earlier this week.

Miller founded the institute last year mostly to provide training opportunities to lobbyists, public relations specialists and other government relations professionals. He was elected president of AGRP in 2005, leading the group during the height of the Jack Abramoff scandal.

The loss of AGRP is significant because it leaves government relations professionals "without a home or a voice," Miller said in a statement.

"This has all happened so fast, from the development and implementation of a new Public-Policy Certificate program for the profession to now expanding that focus to be the voice and home for government affairs professionals," he said. "However, I look forward to the challenges ahead and to once again unifying this community under one banner."

AGRP announced on its website that it was winding down operations due a legal dispute with Columbia Books & Information Services. A Washington, D.C., Superior Court judge has ordered the association to pay the publisher more than $120,000 for allegedly violating a contract concerning a lobbying certificate program run by the company.

Miller said the institute would have a broader reach and offer more services than AGRP did.

"Today ‘lobbying' is done in so many new ways, from public relations perspectives, to broader grassroots campaigns that employ new technologies to reach broader audiences, to those in social media arenas who are also involved in influencing public-policy," he said. "As you can see, our profession has changed, which has provided a bigger voice for people in this country to address issues of concern."

More information about the institute is available on its website www.lobbyinginstitute.com