Despite Ed Gillespie’s move to the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee, his former lobbying firm plans to carry on without him.

“We’ll just keep moving along,” said Jack Quinn, a former top aide in the Clinton White House, who co-founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates. [IMGCAP(1)]

“Ed will be sorely missed for a short while, but we don’t think that Ed’s chairmanship will affect growth in a negative way,” Quinn said Monday after President Bush officially announced that Gillespie is taking over the RNC.

Gillespie will remain a principal and owner of the firm and will retain his equity stake. But he will forgo his hefty salary to try to quell criticism from watchdog groups.

Although Gillespie will be missed, Quinn said the firm has a stable of Republicans who can fill in, including Marc Lampkin, Dave Lugar and the firm’s newest hire, David Hoppe, a former leadership aide with Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.).

“We honestly don’t see any interruption in the work we are doing or the relationships we have with our clients,” Quinn said. “The firm was enjoying terrific support before this happened.”

Lilley Adds New Clients. Justin Lilley, a former top GOP telecommunications staffer on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, has signed up four new clients for his one-man lobbying shop.

Lilley will represent Bertelsmann AG, Random House, BMG Music and Audible.com.

Lilley worked on telecom, media, copyright and e-commerce issues for nearly a decade for the committee under former Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-Va.).

Ketchum Snags Medicare Marketing Contract. The Health and Human Services Department has awarded a multimillion-dollar Medicare marketing campaign contract to the D.C. office of Ketchum public relations.

The PR shop will be charged with increasing the visibility of information resources offered by HHS’ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including its (800)-MEDICARE hotline.