Tom Mason – President
Tom Mason combines 35 years’ professional experience at the intersection of media, public policy and marketing.
He worked 13 years in and around the United States Senate, beginning as communications director for Senator Rudy Boschwitz, and subsequently serving as chief of staff in the Washington, D.C. offices of multiple U.S. senators.
For five years Tom was president of Gannon McCarthy Mason, a public affairs consulting firm with offices in Washington, D.C. and New York City.
As a journalist, he worked for two daily newspapers, spent three years as editor of a weekly financial journal, and for five years edited and published Twin Cities Business Monthly, a magazine five times named America’s best regional business magazine during his tenure.
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Andrea Lahouze – Editorial Director
Andrea Lahouze has been a professional writer for five years. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis, she worked as a writer and editor at MSP Communications, where she contributed to Minneapolis-St. Paul magazine, Twin Cities Business and other publications.
At Mason Public Affairs, she is the editor and a writer for Enterprise Minnesota magazine, to which she has contributed many cover stories. She has also overseen the research and managed the book-length publication of The State of Manufacturing in each of the past four years. Andrea managed a similar project, The Shape of Minnesota, for the Alliance.
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Jim Schottmuller – Vice President
A native of Roseville, Jim Schottmuller combines 20 years of project, people and operations management as well as experience in sales and operational troubleshooting.
He started as an apprentice in Schottmuller & Sons, a grand-craftsman remodeling and restoration company that specialized in luxury boats and antique furniture. He spent 10 years in the property management industry. At Dominium, Inc., he operated as a turn-around agent for underperforming properties. He then spent five years as a property manager with Chicago-based Equity Residential Properties, one of the nation’s largest property management companies. While at Equity he built preferred employer coalitions with large local companies. He was a real estate project manager for Tramm Builders and Realtors.
He is a past member of the Ramsey County Charter Commission.
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Connolly Kuhl Group – Consultants
Founded in 2010 as a partnership between Connolly & Associates and Kuhl Partners, the Connolly Kuhl Group operates under a simple premise of advocating on behalf of their clients while navigating through the public affairs arena.
As a full-service public affairs firm, the Connolly Kuhl Group is committed to bringing their clients exceptional service through strategic planning, grassroots marketing and mobilization, government relations, coalition building and media relations. With more than 25 years of combined experience and a track record of success, the Connolly Kuhl Group has mastered the ability to understand, maneuver and influence government as well as private entities.
The Connolly Kuhl Group is active statewide in the business community. They currently serve as members of the Dakota County Regional Chamber of Commerce, River Heights Chamber of Commerce, Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce, St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce and the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce.
