New Firm, Old Hands. There’s a new government relations firm in town. It’s called Artemis Strategies LLC, and it has offices in Houston and San Francisco in addition to Washington, D.C.

Artemis’ early list of clients includes GE Capital Mortgage, eBay, Heinz Food and the government of Pakistan. The firm has six partners:

• Timothy Powers, the co-chairman, is a former deputy director of the Republican National Committee’s Congressional affairs and strategic planning operation and served on President Bush’s transition team. He ran his own government affairs practice and spent six years as a principal at the Podesta Mattoon government relations firm.

• Ari Storch, the other co-chairman, comes from Rhoads/Weber Shandwick Government Relations. He has also been a consultant to Cassady and Associates and a vice president of National Strategies Inc. He has also worked for Jewish political organizations, including a stint as Congressional affairs director for the Republican Jewish Coalition, and as a lobbyist for the Embassy of Israel under the Peres and Netanyahu governments.

• Brian Ettinger, who will be based in Houston, has been a lawyer for 20 years, specializes in civil and business litigation and business contracts. He has also been a lobbyist for foreign governments.

• Retired Maj. Gen. Lincoln Jones III, a 32-year Army veteran and former Enron executive who retired from the energy giant in 1998, will also be based in Houston.

• Frank Howard Jr., a 17-year communications and political veteran, has worked for trade associations, corporations, nonprofit groups and political organizations, including the RNC.

• Stephen Payne, who will also work in Houston, is a former campaign aide to Bush and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), and has spent seven years doing government relations work for corporations and foreign governments.

Artemis also announced that Richard Heideman, of the Heideman Nudelman and Kalik law firm, will serve as Washington and international counsel. He formerly served two terms as international president of the International B’nai B’rith and remains its honorary president.

He Boland Them Over. Often, change is good.

“Every once in a while, even if you’re in a great place, something new and exciting comes along,” said Michael Boland, a veteran legislative strategist said recently.

Boland, a former senior vice president for federal legislative relations at Verizon, the telecommunications conglomerate, has just joined bipartisan government relations firm Griffin, Johnson, Dover & Stewart as a principal.

Boland’s hiring solidifies Griffin, Johnson’s position as one of the top-tier lobbying shops in town with both Democratic and Republican senior lobbyists. The firm started as a small Democratic firm that concentrated on the Senate and grew exponentially through the years, adding both Republican and House capacity.

“We’ve known Michael for a very long time,” said Pat Griffin. “We heard that people were talking to Michael [about leaving Verizon] and once I heard that, I made the call.”

Boland has worked in Washington for a quarter-century. He started as senior counsel to the House Energy and Commerce Committee and became chief counsel and floor assistant to then-House Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) in 1984. In 1987, Boland started his own firm, which became Boland and Madigan in 1990. His former partner there, Peter Madigan, is now also at Griffin, Johnson.

At his new firm, Boland will work with the company’s client list, which includes Charles Schwab & Co., the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the government of El Salvador.

Boland said his new firm is especially adept at assessing where Congress and the executive branch are headed on a particular issue.

Howdy, Partners. MacWilliams, Robinson & Partners Inc., an advertising and strategic communications firm with offices in Washington, Durango, Colo., and Amherst, Mass., has promoted three people to partner. They are:

• Tierney Hunt, a political operative and media production professional whose clients for MR&P included the presidential campaign of former Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Reps. Julia Carson (D-Ind.) and Marion Berry (D-Ark.), and the Service Employees International Union.

• John Lamson, a veteran speechwriter and media producer, who will head the Durango office. His clients for the firm include new Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D), Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and The Wilderness Society.

• Mark Lotwis, a former field director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, has traveled to more than 35 states to work on 80 Congressional campaigns. His clients for the firm have included Reps. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio) — whom he once served as chief of staff — Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Brian Baird (D-Wash.).