Jordan Goldes has been appointed communications director for U.S. Rep-elect Grace Meng, D-N.Y. Goldes was communications director and press secretary for Rep. Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y. He also has worked as an on-air reporter and a producer and assistant producer at 1010 WINS Radio.

Frank Helmick has been hired as vice president for corporate strategy at SOS International, an information technology company. Helmick was commanding general of the Army’s XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg. He has served as deputy commanding general for operations in Iraq. He also has served as commanding general of the Multi-National Security Transition Command in Iraq. Helmick retired from the Army with the rank of lieutenant general.

Kevin Cain has been hired as director of government relations for the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. Cain is the director of federal relations for health and biomedical sciences at Vanderbilt University. He has worked as assistant vice president of government affairs and programs at the National Health Council. He also has worked as legislative director for former Rep. Max Burns, R-Ga.

Steve Hedges has been appointed director of media relations for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Hedges was a principal at the Embassy Row Group. He has worked as a national correspondent for the Chicago Tribune. He also has worked as a senior editor and investigative team member at U.S. News & World Report.

Ted Hengst has been named CEO of Artel, a defense information technology company. Hengst is corporate vice president and chief information officer of Harris Corp. and president of Harris IT Services. He has worked as senior vice president of Army solutions for General Dynamics. Hengst retired from the Army with the rank of colonel.

Tim Carney has been named a visiting fellow in the culture of competition project at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). Carney was a senior political columnist for the Washington Examiner.

Ramesh Ponnuru has been named a visiting fellow at AEI. He has been working as a senior editor for National Review and a columnist for Bloomberg View. He also was a fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs in London and a media fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

Alan Elsner has been hired as vice president for communications at J Street, a pro-Israel lobbying organization. He was executive director and director of communications at The Israel Project. Elsner also has served as a State Department and chief political correspondent for Reuters. He also worked as a journalist at Reuters Tel Aviv bureau, and in Jerusalem, where he opened its first bureau there. He also worked at the Jerusalem Post as a journalist.

Rollie Quinn has been hired as the federal practice leader at Ernst & Young. Quinn was the national security practice leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers. He also has served as managing director at BearingPoint.