CEO Praxis

Bill Hatling is a Certified Brand Strategist, a title that has been achieved by only a hand full of brand consultants in the U.S. via the Brand Strategies Institute. As a Certified Brand Strategist, he has gained the knowledge and training to help communities, cities, universities and businesses identify their unique distinctions and understand how to communicate them in order to attract, promote, and develop communities and business, internally and externally. Bill is a partner of HatlingFlint Communications in St. Cloud, MN. With an educational background in design, business and printing, he has held many positions in the advertising industry over the years. As an account executive with another advertising agency, and later as the National Marketing Manager at Sterner Lighting Systems in Minneapolis, Bill learned that offering good creative is only one of the requirements necessary in the advertising agency business. Bill has gained the perspective of both a client and an account executive and he understands what is needed to develop and execute initiatives involving branding and communications.

Doug's business consulting experience includes assignments in aerospace, value-added agriculture, information technology, and manufacturing. He has worked extensively with Native American entrepreneurs and tribally-owned companies. He has co-authored many significant reports including "Aerospace: An Industry Sector Poised for Flight" for the Aerospace Power Group of the New Economy Initiative, "Advanced Manufacturing Opportunities in North Dakota's Leading Edge High Tech Industry Sectors", a study for the Economic Development Administration and North Dakota's Economic Development and Finance and "An Information Technology Strategic Plan for North Dakota's Rural Economic Area Partnerships."

Kotkin Joel Kotkin is Presidential Fellow at the Roger C. Hobbs Institute at Chapman University in Orange, California and is a highly respected speaker and futurist. He consults for many leading economic development organizations, private companies, regions and cities. In addition, Kotkin serves as senior advisor to the Planning Center, a major planning, design and environmental consulting firm based in Costa Mesa, California. For five years he served as West Coast editor for Inc. Magazine and continues to contribute to the publication. He is the analyst for Inc.'s annual rankings of Best Places to Do Business in America. His work also regularly appears in The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, The American Enterprise and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Kotkin has completed studies on the future of several major cities, including New York, St. Louis, Phoenix, Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and the Inland Empire region of Southern California. He has completed studies regarding the future of suburban development and the future of transportation mobility in the United States. He co-authored Redeveloping America's Productive Capacity: A Heartland Development Strategy with Delore Zimmerman.

Since 2000, John has been president of WestmorelandFlint, and serves as a consultant on the Praxis Strategy Group team. He has been a strategic consultant for the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota, Iron Range Resources, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, and Area Partnership for Economic Expansion (APEX). John is involved in higher education work, working with the University of Minnesota Duluth and the UMD Center for Economic Development. He is also on the Regent Candidate Advisory Council for the University of Minnesota.

Mark focuses on technology issues, demographic trends, and economic development strategy. With over eight years with Praxis Strategy Group, Mark has experience in strategic planning, economic analysis, business planning, demographic research, marketing strategy, web site development, Internet community management, and event planning. Mark's economic and population analysis work has recently appeared in Money Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. He recently completed an extensive analysis of the Houston economy culminating in the report "Opportunity Urbanism: An Emerging Paradigm for the 21st Century." He currently working on a comprehensive analysis of the middle class in the New York metropolitan area, studying the impact of Hispanic entrepreneurs in Los Angeles, and identifying labor force and higher education needs for the Iron Range region of Northeast Minnesota. He also recently completed analytical work on a major study for Job Service North Dakota identifying labor availability and skill sets required for 4 targeted industry sectors in the Grand Forks region. Mark's ongoing research interests focus on migration patterns of young families, middle class citizens, and the baby boom generation - and identifying economic and quality of life conditions attracting these groups. Mark has a Business Development degree from the University of North Dakota, and has held positions with local and federal government and in the scientific research and customer service sectors. Mark has founded networking organizations, served on numerous economic development task forces, and is president of an arts and cultural non-profit organization.