About Us

The Petoskey Research Institute is a limited liability company founded by Dr. Tim Pletcher in 2014 and headquartered in Petoskey Michigan with another location in Saint Augustine Florida. Dr. Pletcher has helped organizations in fortune 500 corporations, academia, the public sector, healthcare, and entrepreneurs seeking to align technology, data science, and business to unravel complex issues and develop robust strategics and plans to address the challenges facing them. He has over 30 years of experience harnessing emerging technologies to create value by applying his unique methodology based on the LugNut Theory™. This methodology is designed to enable organizations to achieve their corporate objectives through innovation and technology adoption. A key element of these efforts is to recognize the sociotechnical dynamics that surround a problem and to anticipate the important constraints and enablers of future success, to quantify optimal future paths of action, and expose any unintended consequences associated with broad implementation of a solution.

 

The term "Petoskey" is attributed to being named after a 19th-century Ottawa chief. The word itself is believed to be anglicized from either "Pet-O-Sega" or "Pe-To-Se-Ga," which means "where the light shines through the clouds" in the language of the Ottawa (Odawa) people. This name is reflective of the area's natural beauty, often highlighted by its Great Lakes landscapes and light conditions. The Petoskey stone, a fossilized coral found in the area, is also named after the city and is a popular item for collectors due to its unique patterns and historical significance. Finally, Petoskey Michigan was also the birthplace of Dr. Claude Shannon, considered to be the founder of digital communications and information theory.

 

Dr. Pletcher chose the name Petoskey for the institute because for him it conveys blending concepts of information theory, the metaphor of seeing the light through the clouds, and the profound recognition that people and the patterns of life existed long before the problems of today and that our own actions merit reflection and long-term consideration. His vision for the institute is to gather networks of talented and passionate people together so they can provide pathways for organizations and individuals to constantly discover, innovate and figure out how best to leverage new knowledge and emerging technologies for optimal short-term and long-term impact.