Our People
Lewis A. Massey
Lewis is a partner in Massey, Watson & Hembree.
From 1996 to 1998, Massey served as Georgia's Secretary of State. In this position, Massey established a strong record as an advocate for Georgia consumers, ensuring that government was more efficient and responsive to its citizens. Hallmarks of his administration include a crack down on telemarketing fraud, requiring voter identification at the polls, implementing new technology for improved customer service, reducing agency spending by $3.5 million, and assisting families in their efforts to collect back child support.
Governor Zell Miller appointed Massey as Secretary of State in 1996. Massey won election later that year, winning 133 out of 159 counties. He did not run for re-election in 1998, opting instead to run for Governor. He finished second in a crowded Democratic primary, losing to eventual winner Roy Barnes.
Massey is a native of Gainesville, Georgia. He earned a degree in finance from the University of Georgia and a MBA from Georgia State University's Global E-commerce Program. Before his service as Secretary of State, Massey was vice president of Bank South Securities. Previously, he served as Chief of Staff for Georgia Lt. Governor Pierre Howard.
After his service as Secretary of State, Massey served as CEO of Directo, Inc., a financial services management company. He also served as President and CEO of SciTrek, a science and technology center for children.
Massey has served on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Special Olympics and on the Board of Directors of Prevent Child Abuse Georgia. He currently serves on the Board of Hands on Georgia, having been appointed by Governor Perdue in 2005.
He has been named University of Georgia Business School Outstanding Young Alumnus, and cited as one of the 100 Most Influential Georgians by Georgia Trend Magazine.
Lewis and his wife, Amy, have three children and reside in Norcross, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia.
John K. Watson
John is a founding member of Massey, Watson & Hembree. For more than 20 years, John has been active at the highest levels in business, government, public policy and politics in the State of Georgia
Over this period of time, John has served in a number of critical positions in government, including Chief of Staff to Governor Sonny Perdue. Prior to his service in Perdue’s administration, John served as General Consultant to Perdue’s campaign for Governor and as Vice-Chairman of Governor-Elect Perdue’s transition team.
Governor Perdue’s successor, Governor Nathan Deal, appointed John to a similar position as a Vice-Chairman of Governor-Elect Nathan Deal’s transition team. After Governor Deal took office, he named John to the Georgia Competitiveness Committee whose focus is the creation of jobs and a statewide economic development strategy.
John is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Georgia World Congress Center and the Georgia Lottery Corporation. He was formerly on the Board of Advisors for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and a Board member of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. John was recently elected as Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party.
In addition to his experiences in public affairs, John served as the senior business development partner for TPA Realty Services, a full-service commercial real estate development firm. At TPA, John worked closely with the commercial real estate community and state economic development officials to promote TPA’s industrial and business parks throughout Georgia. Most significantly, John served as lead negotiator for a $1 Billion transaction with Baxter Pharmaceuticals, which will create approximately 1500 jobs in Georgia. John continues to serve as a Senior Advisor to TPA
John is a 1991 graduate of Wake Forest University with a degree in Politics.
John, his wife, Kimberly, and their two daughters live in Powder Springs, Georgia.
Brandon S. Hembree
Brandon is a partner with Massey, Watson & Hembree. He joined the firm in November, 2004.
During the 1998 Session of the Georgia General Assembly, Brandon served as staff aide for the Senate Appropriations Committee. After graduating from college, he took a position with Ford Motor Company as a legislative associate. During his tenure at Ford Motor Company, Brandon researched and monitored business and manufacturing legislation for eight states in the southeast. He also coordinated state and federal grassroots initiatives, Political Action Committee efforts, and local business development projects related to the Hapeville Assembly Plant.
Desiring to learn more about the political process and governmental operations, Brandon later took a position with the Georgia Department of Administrative Services (DOAS) as governmental relations manager in 2001. DOAS is the chief procurement agency for state of Georgia government. Prior to the formation of the Georgia Technology Authority, he was an IT account manager for politically sensitive agencies like the Georgia General Assembly, Supreme Court, Office of the Governor, Secretary of State, and many others. Brandon's responsibilities at DOAS also included managing the agency's legislative agenda and monitoring legislation impacting the day-to-day operations of Georgia government, as well as public affairs and marketing activities. At DOAS, Brandon was responsible for many of DOAS' business development initiatives with local governments, the business community, and special interest groups, particularly in the area of government contracts.
Brandon is active on the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Governmental Affairs Committee. He also serves as Vice-Chairman of the Technology Association of Georgia Government Affairs Task Force, which is an organization formed for the sole purpose of acting as an advocate at the Capitol for the IT industry on legislative and procurement issues.
Brandon was born in Georgia and has lived in and around metropolitan Atlanta his entire life. He graduated from Georgia State University with a B.A. in Political Science/Pre-Law. Brandon and his wife Tara currently live in Sugar Hill.
Christy J. Tarallo
Christy consults and works with the firm as an associate after an internship during the 2017 legislative session. In 2016, she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Affairs, as well as a double minor in Public Policy and History. In 2016 she studied democracy, conflict, and terrorism at the London School of Economics before graduating. She has also held various internships including the Office of Congressman John Lewis, the World Affairs Council of Atlanta, GALink Public Affairs, and Governor Nathan Deal’s reelection campaign.
She is also active in campaigning and has worked with the Kemp for Governor campaign, as well as various candidates in the metro-Atlanta area.
Our Services
Procurement
Massey, Watson & Hembree LLC specializes in helping our clients in the procurement process with state and local governments. We help our clients meet key decision makers, understand the procurement process, develop responses to RFPs and find potential partners. We act as an effective business development partner for our clients.
Recently, we have assisted clients as they have successfully bid on contracts for becoming the State's fiscal agent for the Medicaid program, for serving as the software agent for the State, for providing DNA analysis to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, for providing commissary supplies to Georgia prisons, and for providing real estate advisory services to Georgia government.
We measure our success by how much we contribute to the success of our clients.
Technology
Since inception, Massey, Watson & Hembree LLC has specialized in procurement activities and public policy related to information technology vendors. Because of our expertise in understanding Georgia's procurement and legislative processes and strong contacts at the Department of Administrative Services, Georgia Technology Authority, Georgia General Assembly, and other state entities, we have attracted a wide variety of technology clients.
Our past and current client base includes both small and large technology companies including; Dell, Maximus, Sun Microsystems, Oracle, EDS, Comcast, Nortel, L-1 Identity Solutions, ChoicePoint, North Highland, Transcore, Motorola, Ticketmaster, Lasercraft, Appriss, Informatica, and Intel. Massey, Watson & Hembree LLC is proud to represent more Fortune 500 technology companies than any other governmental affairs firm in Georgia. Our clients are all trusted and valued partners with state of Georgia government. In addition, our IT portfolio creates unique synergies for our clients, and many partner on procurement and business development opportunities.
Massey, Watson & Hembree LLC is also active in creating and promoting policy initiatives related to the technology community. We are actively involved with the Technology Leadership Coalition and American Electronics Association. In addition, we hold an executive-level position as Vice-Chairman on the Technology Association of Georgia's Government Affairs Task Force.
Infrastructure
Massey, Watson & Hembree LLC has a unique combination of experience and expertise representing clients seeking to create infrastructure projects for state and local governments. Earlier in his career, Lewis Massey worked as an investment banker. He has worked on the financing of infrastructure projects for government entities, including projects related to transportation, water, wastewater, educational and public safety.
Leveraging its partners' investment banking expertise, Massey, Watson & Hembree has represented some of the largest construction, engineering and development firms in the world on a variety of projects, including toll roads, reservoirs, wastewater treatment and educational facilities. The firm's expertise is uniquely qualified to understand the overlapping aspects of finance, construction, procurement and politics.