Initiative offers structured forums for owners of print and print-related businesses, practical help taking their companies from where they are to where they want to be

Lexington, Kentucky USA – WhatTheyThink, a leading media, market intelligence and research company for the printing and publishing industries, and The Next Level Group, a membership organization dedicated to forming and managing peer groups for the printing industry, today announced a joint venture that will leverage WhatTheyThink’s brand and subscriber base as well as The Next Level Group’s success in establishing a uniquely effective form of industry peer groups.  This joint venture will be known as WhatTheyThink Peer Groups.

The Next Level Group was founded in 2006 by Mike Kind and business partner Mitch Evans. Both partners have extensive experience in the industry having built multi million dollar organizations, eventually selling their printing interests. The perspective of the partners having “walked in an owner’s shoes” provides their members with an unmatched resource to help them lead their companies. 

“Membership in WhatTheyThink Peer Groups will be limited to 100 CEOs and groups will be comprised of no more than 8 members. What makes the relationship with WhatTheyThink particularly exciting for Mitch and I is the added level of benefits we’re going to be able to provide the members,” said Kind. “Statistically, members of peer groups perform better than their counterparts that are not involved in such groups. Adding WhatTheyThink resources to the program will enhance this even further truly making this a one of a kind industry tool for today’s CEO.”

While Kind admits the program can’t guarantee a company’s success, he adds, “Members will get out as much as they are willing to put into the process. But what we can guarantee is that membes will be better off with us than without us based on the collective knowledge we possess as a group. The sharing of experiences allows for better decision making among our CEOs. In fact, each membership comes with a guarantee – if after attending the first four meetings, the member does not think this is right for them, we will refund their monthly meeting fees.”

Members are grouped from like-sized businesses but with diversity in their business makeup. Historically, peer groups have been comprised of like businesses, but in today’s fast-paced and rapidly changing market, peer groups need to be more diversified to be of significant value.

“We are delighted to be part of this new venture and lend the weight of WhatTheyThink’s brand and reputation in the marketplace to its success,” said Randy Davidson, President of WhatTheyThink. “This type of initiative is desperately needed, and while there are a number of existing peer groups, we do not believe there is anything else like this in the market. Interested printers will be business owners or managers, and will be interviewed to determine the peer group most appropriate to their individual needs. We are also delighted to welcome Mike and Mitch as regular content contributors at WhatTheyThink.”

Get more information on WhatTheyThink Peer Groups

Contact Mitch Evans at 561-351-6950 or [email protected].

About WhatTheyThink

WhatTheyThink is the printing and publishing industry's leading media organization; offering a wide range of publications delivering unbiased, real-time market intelligence, industry news, economic and trend analysis, peer-to-peer communication, and special reports on emerging technology and critical events. WhatTheyThink also hosts webinars and live events that are timely and relevant o today's busy industry executives along with consulting and speaker services that leverage a talented pool of writers and industry analysts.

WhatTheyThink consists of flagship site WhatTheyThink.com, discussion forum site PrintPlanet.com, and industry blog PrintCEO.com.

About The Next Level Group

The Next Level Group was founded in 2006 by Kind and business partner Mitch Evans. Both of the founders have extensive experience in the printing industry, having built multi- million dollar organizations and eventually selling their printing interests. They speak and consult in the printing, mailing and fulfillment industries.  They were partners in Renaissance Executive Forums of South Florida and as such, worked with a variety of CEO’s in various industries with companies that range in size from $1 million to $400 million in revenues prior to forming The Next Level Group.

The Next Level Group creates peer groups or forums for printing and print related owners with the objective of allowing the participants a mechanism to take their businesses from where they are to where they want to be. The extensive experience of the facilitators working in this environment coupled with the perspective they bring as owners themselves having “walked in the shoes of the CEO” creates a unique value proposition for the participants.