Our Team
Founders
Timothy F. Powers | Co-Founder and Co-Chairman
Formerly the Deputy Director of the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) Congressional Affairs and Strategic Planning operation, Tim is a veteran political organizer. In the 2000 election cycle, he served roles on the Bush for President Campaign teams in Iowa and Pennsylvania and, after the election, was appointed to the Bush/Cheney transition team at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Tim served as Senior Advisor to Don Clay, Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste & Emergency Response (OSWER). A veteran of national, state and local campaigns, Tim was named by Campaigns and Elections magazine as one of 2002’s "Top Rising Stars" of Politics -- an honor reserved for only a handful of individuals from each party. Before founding Artemis, Tim spent six years as a principal at the PodestaMattoon government relations firm, where clients included the Motion Picture Association, Phrma, Recording Industry Association, and Genentech.
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Ari Storch | Co-Founder and Co-Chairman
Ari has more than 15 years of international and domestic political experience. He began his career in the service of the Government of Israel, working on behalf of four different Israeli Prime Ministers in various roles, first as the Public Relations Officer at the Consulate General of Israel in Miami for the Shamir and Rabin governments and then as the Congressional Affairs Aide at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, DC, for both the Peres and Netanyahu administrations. After leaving government service, Ari applied his years of international and policy experience to more domestic concerns; first, as the Political and Congressional Affairs Director for the National Jewish Coalition, and subsequently, at Cassidy & Associates, the nation’s largest federal lobbying firm. While with Cassidy, he simultaneously worked at their strategic partner National Strategies, Inc., which manages multi-state government relations strategies. After a stint as Vice President of the Rhoads/Weber Shandwick Government Relations firm, Ari co-founded Artemis Strategies. Ari has spent almost a decade as an active member of the Republican Governors Association’s National Finance Committee and is also the immediate past Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Next Generation Campaign.
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The Artemis Team
Joe Davis | Senior Vice President
Joe is a government affairs veteran with extensive crisis management, budget and lobbying experience at the senior executive level. He has twenty years of experience in public and government affairs. He has advised venture capital firms, national laboratories, investors, educational institutions and energy companies on smart strategies to leverage the regulatory and policy environments to advance a company’s business growth and public policy strategies. He served as Chief of Strategic Communications for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and was Principal Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the United States Department of Energy (DOE), serving as spokesperson and senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and the Department of Energy. There, Joe also served as the senior policy advisor for matters related to the state of Tennessee and the U.S. Department of Energy’s and the National Nuclear Security Administrations’ (NNSA) activities. Prior to his executive branch service, Joe was a senior policy advisor and communications director for two United States Senators. In addition, Joe led public affairs and lobbying campaigns while serving in senior positions with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, he holds the unusual distinction of being the only student in the history of the University to play both for the Pride of the Southland Marching Band and the football team. He resides in Alexandria, Virginia with his wife, Melanie, and their two children.
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Stephanie Salmon | Vice President
Stephanie has over 20 years of experience in the government and regulatory affairs arena. She manages several of the firms’ trade association clients, including the American Foundry Society, North American Die Casting Association and Plumbing Manufacturers International. Ms. Salmon represents client interests before Congress and executive branch agencies relative to workplace health and safety matters, energy, environment, tax, and trade. She also serves as liaison and representative to several coalitions. Previously, she served as vice president of Government Relations for Waterman & Association and was the director of government affairs for the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, a national trade association with over 15,000 member companies and affiliates that manufacture, distribute and sell motor vehicle parts, accessories, service, tools, equipment, materials and supplies. She is a graduate of The American University in Washington, D.C.
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Ari Strauss | Senior Vice President
Prior to joining Artemis, Ari served as the Legislative Director for the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition. In this role, he developed the legislative agenda and strategies for the bipartisan alliance of Senators from New England, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest states. His focus areas included: economic development, manufacturing, energy, appropriations, water quality, environmental protection and smart growth. Prior to his coalition work, Ari was a long-standing figure in Congressman Tim Holden’s (D) office from 1995 to 2005. Throughout his tenure he served as a Staff Assistant, Legislative Correspondent, Legislative Assistant, Senior Legislative Assistant and finally the Legislative Director. One of Strauss’ major accomplishments with Holden was to secure the inclusion of Penn State Hershey Cancer Institute as an affiliate member of the U.S. Department of Defense National Functional Genomics Center (NFGC). Congress established the NFGC in 2002 to accelerate nationally coordinate cutting-edge translational research on cancer. Since that time, Penn State has received over $37 million in DOD funding to work in coordination with the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center on cancer research and enhanced patient care in Hershey and the Navy. Ari managed activity with the Democratic Blue Dog Coalition and the Democrat Whip operation while acting as Senior Policy Advisor to the Congressman. Currently, Ari is serving on the National Finance Committee for the Democratic Governors Association.
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Rob Stien | Vice President and General Counsel
Rob Stien is a government-relations professional with more than 10 years of experience in law, government, and the telecommunications and technology industries. Prior to joining Artemis, he served as a Director of Congressional Affairs for SAP America, a leading global software company, where he worked closely with senior executives and government officials to address US policies and regulations of interest to SAP. In 2005 Rob joined dotmobi, a sponsored top-level Web domain for mobile products and services, as Acting General Counsel where he provided legal support and business guidance as the company transitioned from start-up to full-fledged operations. From 2001 to 2005, Rob served in the US House of Representatives as Legislative Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff to Rep. Lee Terry (R-NE). In this role, Rob served as chief advisor on all issues handled by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where Rep. Terry was an active legislator on telecommunications, IP, trademark, copyright, data encryption, spyware, privacy, law enforcement, civil rights, and labor issues. Most notably, Rob drafted and built bipartisan support for Rep. Terry’s Universal Service Reform Acts of 2003 and 2005, and the Consumer Access to Digital Television Enhancement Act of 2003.
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Jeffrey Taylor | Vice President
Jeff is a vice president and general counsel at Artemis Strategies. A veteran of public policy and government relations, Jeff has more than twenty years of experience in Washington D.C. Jeff has served two Presidential administrations as a senior executive in the Departments of Interior, Housing and Urban Development and Education. While at the Interior Department, Jeff serves as the head of the government affairs for the National Park Service, helping negotiate redevelopment issues with a variety of public interest groups. At the Department of Education he served as Deputy General Counsel, focusing his work on higher education and regulatory issues. While with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Jeff was a Special Assistant, working on a variety of housing and housing finance issues with the Federal Housing Administration. Jeff, originally from Johnson City, Tennessee, lives in Great Falls, VA with his wife Vicki and daughter Francesca.
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Ed Puccerella | Director of Government Relations
Ed Puccerella comes to Artemis Strategies with nearly two decades of political and legislative experience. He has demonstrated success in key positions in government and the private sector dealing with complex, multifaceted legislative, technical, policy and political issues. Prior to joining Artemis Strategies, Ed was the Director of Congressional and External Affairs for the Office of Inspector General at the National Railroad Passenger Corporation [Amtrak]. Before his work with the Inspector General at Amtrak, Ed was a Professional Committee staffer for eight years with the House Budget Committee and later the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Ed’s legislative experience gives him a deep expertise in all areas of the Congressional budget and appropriations processes as well as Congress’ oversight activities and day-to-day operations of the Federal Government. In addition to Ed’s Congressional background, Ed’s political experience includes stints as Iowa Director of Special Projects for Steve Forbes Presidential Campaign, John Kasich’s National Political Coordinator, Regional Field Coordinator for the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) and Director of Communications, Office of Strategic Planning and Congressional Affairs at the RNC.
