Our Story
Built for Economic Development
Our origin story starts with a series of joint-venture projects. Each of our partners ran successful businesses (an Economic Development consultancy, a design studio and a B2B marketing agency) and found ourselves working together for various Economic Development Organizations (EDOs) as a group of separate equals.
These efforts led to an epiphany—traditional agencies, while well versed in marketing and design, lacked the specific subject matter expertise required to develop economic development strategy and content that drives results. And Economic development consultants, despite their deep industry insight, are not good marketers and are not resourced to efficiently deploy campaigns.
This led to the formation of CQNS in 2017. By blending our talents, experiences and teams we believe we have created an agency uniquely positioned to produce results for projects like yours.
Built on a Foundation of Best Practices
Our B2B marketing experience spans over 20 years. Both Simon and Chris have spent decades in marketing agency environments which have included B2B clients and projects.
This unique combination of Economic Development knowledge and expertise along with best-in-class design and marketing skills has resulted in both happy clients and several awards.
Our Team
Bill Elliot
– Economic Development
Bill has held ownership, management and consulting roles in an array of sectors including business and financial services, manufacturing, cleantech, agri-food, life science/bio and ICT.
Bill is known widely across the Economic Development community and is frequently consulted for his specific expertise in Foreign Direct Investment.
Chris Hokansson
– Marketing
Chris has spent the past 20 years working with brands and businesses to transform the way they use marketing to generate demand for their products and services.
As co-founding partner of CQNS, he is focused on working with municipalities to use marketing as a business driver and sales enabler.
Simon Cooper
– Design
Simon is a creative director with over 20 years’ experience working in design and advertising. Simon has crafted brands and design for a range of municipalities, focusing on clear, compelling communication.
Simon’s work has been recognized with several design awards from both IEDC and EDAC.
Henry Kundariya
– Application Developer
Henry brings 12+ years of full-stack web and mobile app development experience. More than just a technical expert, Henry sees technology as a lever to help grow businesses.
Rich Neal
– Web Development
Rich is a web developer and experienced IT solution provider. His in-depth knowledge helps him to see each project from all perspectives. He has been working as a programmer for over 15 years and is dedicated to learning new technologies. Rich works with CQNS as a consultative partner.
Asad Naseer
– Lead Generation
Asad has extensive experience in developing and managing lead generation projects, including data research and mining, qualified and targeted lists development. Providing excellent client service, Asad has experience working with global companies and projects.
Julie Friedman Bacchini
– Digital Media Buyer
Julie is a powerhouse both for innovation and information in the PPC and SEO space. Julie has consistently been included in several “top influencer” lists for SEM and PPC. Julie works with CQNS as a consultative partner.
Shailesh Merai
– Digital Media Buyer
Shailesh started his career in film production, moving on to print production and eventually digital marketing. This multi-disciplinary background makes him an ideal marketing campaign specialist, responsible for planning, implementing and managing all elements of marketing campaigns.
Terry Dow
– Tourism
Terry has over 25 years of experience in the tourism and hospitality industry, including promotion, branding and brand management, program development, market assessment and destination marketing.