CHRIS OHLINGER

Chris Ohlinger, CEO, founded SIRS in 1985 and continues his original mission: to help clients gain and maintain new and loyal customers by improving their organizational learning and marketing decision making.  This is achieved by using tested, sales-predictive techniques which include the systematic gathering and interpreting of large quantities of consumer-centric information generated from multiple sources and insuring that it is effectively communicated to and acted on by users with different needs and levels of understanding.

The Learning Loop is then completed and the performance of the organization optimized when the actions are evaluated so successful ones can be built upon and unsuccessful ones stopped and learned from.

Chris's experiences as the founder and former head of Consumer Research and Planning for Kroger allowed his team to identify how to systematically measure the key elements that drive a retailer's business.  Kroger's CEO publicly called the SIRS System "the fundamental strength of Kroger" in Forbes magazine.

Chris has also been responsible for the development and testing of research systems for financial institutions, restaurants, hospitals, and other consumer service companies.

The depth and breadth of Chris's knowledge and experience is surpassed only by his passion to achieve the SIRS mission for each client and to continuously expand SIRS's base of knowledge.  This dedication is the company's hallmark, its defining characteristic.  It is embodied in every team member.  It pervades the atmosphere and the culture.  The spirited, energy-charged work environment of SIRS is derived from the passion that inspired Chris to establish his company and keep it true to the principles on which it was founded. 

BILL WELCH

Bill Welch, President, helps clients deal with accelerated change in Competition, Consumers, Technology and Employees. This involves a three-part process: “CIA” (Cumulative Impact Analysis); “Profiler” (Target Group Segmentation); and “TeamBuilder” (Employee Attitude and Positioning Studies).

During his tenure with The Kroger Company, Bill worked for several years in store management, then moved to the advertising department of the Cincinnati/Dayton Division. He was responsible for print advertising as well as designing and presenting practical applications of merchandising strategy to Senior Management. Bill's innovative spirit and string of successes earned him a promotion to Manager of Consumer Research for SupeRx Drug Stores, Kroger Food Stores. In this capacity, Bill was responsible for the development and implementation of Research Systems conducted for Department, Discount and Convenience Stores.

As President of SIRS, Bill plans and supervises projects, presents results and recommendations, and serves as a facilitator with clients in the action planning process.

GARY HEUSER

Gary Heuser,Vice President of Retail and Marketing came to SIRS with a diverse management background combining experiences in retailing with The Kroger Company and manufacturing with General Electric Aircraft Engines.

Gary's primary role at SIRS is to develop research plans and supervise project directors for retailing and manufacturing clients; he also presents results and recommendations, facilitates "Action Plan" meetings, and conducts service seminars.

Gary also is a trained focus group moderator. He has utilized qualitative and quantitative techniques, including conjoint analysis, perceptual mapping and SIRS-developed regression models which identify the sales impact of a retailer's strengths and weaknesses in a given trade area.

Gary earned his B.A. in Business Management from Wilmington College and his MBA in Marketing from Northern Kentucky University.

CLIENT SERVICES

SHANNON NATALE

Shannon Natale,Vice President of Client Services, began her market research career at SIRS in 1997, bringing with her an Associate of Science degree in Retail Marketing and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing. Her formal education was enhanced and grounded by her five years of retail experience.

In July of 2003, Shannon became Vice President of Client Services. Her responsibilities include scheduling, budgeting and development of procedures and practices. She was designated a Company Director in 2001.

STACY JOBE-DYE

Stacy Jobe-Dye, Director of Client Services, joined SIRS in September of 2004 with nearly eight years of experience in the market research industry. Stacy’s market research career began in January 1997 with The ARS Group, a leader in national and global television advertising research. Stacy held various positions with The ARS Group, including Project Leader, Account Manager and Group Account Manager.

Currently, Stacy’s responsibilities include project management, client services, report writing, analysis, and questionnaire development.

CARA THOMPSON

Cara Thompson, Junior Project Director/Client Services, earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Northern Kentucky University, with a minor in Business Administration. She designed her marketing curriculum to include concentrated course work in the areas of Consumer Behavior, Advertising & Promotion, Sports Marketing and Market Research.

Cara began at SIRS as a co-op student during her senior year at NKU. When her degree was conferred in June 2002, Cara accepted full time employment with SIRS as a Junior Analyst. Cara progressed through the ranks, earning her initial promotion to Senior Analyst, then in August 2005, further advancing to the position of Junior Project Director.  Her responsibilities include report production, analyst training, project management and production planning.

ELYSHA RITTER

Our Client Services team also includes Elysha Ritter, Junior Analyst. 

Elysha began her career with SIRS in 2000 as a telephone interviewer.  Her first promotion involved a move to the coding department; she was then promoted to her current position in Client Services.  Elysha is also pursuing her degree in Marketing at Northern Kentucky University.She will graduate in December 2009. 

QUALITATIVE SERVICES (FOCUS GROUPS)

LORI KOLDE

Lori Kolde, Vice President, Qualitative Operations, has been in the market research industry since 1992. She began as a part time consumer recruiter and quickly advanced to become a nationwide professional/medical recruiter, handling most projects unaided.

Lori has successfully recruited specialty physicians, health care administrators, and nurses as well as business professionals in other industries. In 1999, Lori was elevated to a Project Manager position; this assignment included management of in-house projects at SIRS as well as outside projects nationwide.

In 2006, Lori was promoted to Director, Qualitative Research and most recently, Vice President, Qualitative Research. Her current responsibilities include client care, all stages and phases of project management, and sales and marketing for local and national projects.

DATA PROCESSING/ SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

JOHN MCKINLEY

John McKinley, Director of IT/Data Processing/Coding joined SIRS in 1995 as a Trade Area Marketing Analyst. Though his original assignent was narrow in scope, John has become proficient in many of the other departments within SIRS and provides support to several of them, including Coding, Report Writing, Questionnaire Design, Questionnaire Script Programming and  Data Processing, where John spends most of his time.

John earned his two Bachelor of Science degrees from Northern Kentucky University in the fields of Marketing and Information Systems. John became a Company Director in 2004, Data Processing Manager in 2005, and most recently Director of IT/Data Processing/Coding.

BOB MAYS

Bob Mays, System Development Manager specializes in computer programming and systems automation. He brings extensive marketing and opinion research experience to SIRS, having worked for Burke Marketing Research for 20 years prior to joining SIRS.

Bob's talents are unique in that he possesses each of the five most sought-after skills in our industry, more specifically:  the ability to program in C; the ability to program in Visual Basic; UNIX Operating System experience; knowledge about current personal computer software and hardware; and high competence with data collection software packages such as Quancept. Bob is also a Company Director.

JAZMINE SARGEANT

Jazmine Sargeant, Data Processing joined the SIRS team in 1999 as a telephone interviewer.  While in the field, she trained new interviewers, became a field supervisor and worked in the coding department.

In 2004, she joined the Data Processing department.  In addition to her tabbing duties, Jazmine helps maintain SIRS internal intranet, keeps all computer systems current with upgrades, installs new software, and assists with the IVR studies.

JAN GEIGER

Jan Geiger, V.P. Field Services and Administration, has worked in Customer Satisfaction and Opinion Research since 1987.  Prior to joining the SIRS team in 2001, she worked for Elrick & Lavidge.  Jan has demonstrated her leadership and commitment to excellence by developing and implementing quality control programs that track and measure the performance of interviewers and supervisors.

During her years in market research, Jan gained experience as an interviewer, hostess, project supervisor, project manager, project coordinator, phone center manager, and field director. Her wide range of market research experience has been beneficial to SIRS in developing an outstanding, quality-oriented team.

MICHAEL MURATORI

Michael Muratori, Field Manager began his career in market research with Elrick & Lavidge in 1995. He joined the SIRS team in 2001. His background in market research has lead him to his current position, with experience as an interviewer, HR coordinator, trainer, supervisor and assistant manager.

Michael continues to demonstrate his commitment to continuous improvement by leading his training teams and quality teams to find new and better ways to provide ongoing training and development for all employees.

FIELD MANAGEMENT TEAM

Our current Field Management Team is comprised of Assistant Manager Danielle Cooper (1997), HR Coordinator Katie Crummen (2005), Shift Coordinators- Liz Hurtt (2002), and Melissa Nease (2003).  Supervisors include Linda Lacey (2001), Shelby Elkins (2003) and Stephanie Wells (2001). Each team member brings a great deal of energy and enthusiasm to the job. Collectively, they have over 50 years of experience in data collection, quality assurance, recruiting, training and supervision. In addition to the development of Field Interviewers, our Field Management Team is also responsible for monitoring the progress of studies to insure quality and meet deadlines. Each Team member has a complete working knowledge of all projects in order to conduct briefings and trouble-shoot questionnaire logic flow, and address and remedy any sampling concerns.