John Versaggi formerly of UST Public Affairs, is the new vice president of government affairs at the American Gaming Association, where he will advocate on behalf of the casino industry.

Stephen Brophy, former chief of staff to Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., has joined Dollar General Corporation as vice president of government affairs.

Richard Winget, previously with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, is now vice president of state affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 

Martin Durbin, formerly director of federal legislative advocacy at the American Chemistry Council, is now executive vice president of government affairs at the American Petroleum Institute.

Paul Aronsohn, formerly senior public affairs executive with Pfizer Inc., is now vice president with the MWW Group.

Daniel J. Hickey, a senior oversight and investigations staffer with the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, is now director of government relations for Federal Signal Corporation.

Chad Mitchell, vice president for advocacy and strategic initiatives with Illumen, is joining Walmart as director of digital advocacy and outreach.

Former Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., will be the new president of the National Association of Broadcasters.

Laura Ipsen has been appointed senior vice president and general manager for Cisco's Smart Grid Business Unit, where she will be responsible for vision and strategy, developing and building products and services and communicating to customers, partners and shareholders. Ipsen has been head of Cisco Global Policy and Government Affairs.

MWW Group has promoted Timothy White to vice president or public affairs. White has served as public affairs and government relations liaison for client teams across MWW Group practice areas. Before joining MWW, he worked as deputy campaign manager for Republican John Murphy' run for New Jersey governor.

Wal-Mart has hired Sheila Greenwood as a director of federal government relations dealing with tax and financial services issues. During the Bush administration, Greenwood was an assistant secretary for congressional and intergovernmental relations and a deputy chief of staff at the Housing and Urban Development Department.

Christine Ciccone is now senior vice president of external relations for USEC, Inc.

Shahira Knight has joined Fidelity. She was previously with Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Golin Harris Public Affairs has promoted Alison Zemanski to senior account executive. Zemanski's client have included the Games for Health Project, a Pioneer Portfolio of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Century 21. In her new capacity, she will help lead projects on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Texcote and National Cable and Telecommunications Association accounts.

MWW Group has hired Laura Catalano as the firm's senior vice president in its Washington, D.C., office, where she will lead the company's Washington-based public affairs practice. As a senior member of the D.C. team, Catalano brings 20 years of experience in many of the most important issues being debated in Washington and across the nation. Before joining MWW Group, Catalano served as senior vice president and partner at Fleishman-Hillard, where she was group leader of the energy and environment practice in the public affairs division.

Hilton Hotel Corp., which is moving its global headquarters from Beverly Hills, Calif., to McLean, Va., has hired Jonas Neihardt as senior vice president of government affairs. Neihardt was most recently a vice president for Qualcomm.