LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Former Rep. Geoff Davis will be a partner in a new lobbying and consulting firm he is starting with veteran Republican lobbyist Hunter Bates. The two will open Republic Consulting on Jan. 1, POLITICO reports.

Davis, a Republican, resigned the U.S. House where he served Kentucky's Fourth District over the summer. He cited a family medical issue. In Congress, he was a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Bates has been a lobbyist for more than a decade. He is a former top aide to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Bates recently reopened his lobby shop Bates Capitol Group after leaving the C2 Group in Washington, D.C.

Bates Capitol Group will fold into the Republic Consulting firm Bates and Davis will head on Jan. 1. Clients of the Bates Capitol Group include UPS, Amgen Inc., and the Biotechnology Industry Organization.

Davis ran Capstone Inc., a consulting firm, before winning his seat in Congress in 2004. Capstone was a manufacturing consulting business in Kentucky. He defeated Nick Clooney, the father of actor George Clooney, in that race.

A previous version of this story inaccurately identified Davis' former venture, Capstone, Inc., as a lobbying business.