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BizVoice/Indiana Chamber – May/June 2017
You can tell when people like
where they work and who they
work with. The commitment,
enthusiasm and rapport is
everywhere you turn.
The employees at SMARI – 15
strong full time – fall into that
category.
Whether it’s all-hands-on-deck for a last-
minute research project that was completed in
one day (exceeding client expectations) to
reminiscing about the trials of the highest
level of The Escape Room (a team-voted
Christmas activity last year). By the way, they
didn’t conquer that ultimate prize and are
still teasing president Katie Simmermon
because she was so sure they would.
Yet things once weren’t as copacetic for
the marketing research firm on the far north
side of Indianapolis.
SMARI has always been profitable and
succeeded based on strong performance and
client referrals; however, the in-house
atmosphere lacked an air of collaboration.
Operations director Michael York, who
was part of the transformation process, stresses:
“We’ve come a long way in the last three years
– we’ve done a 180 from where we were. It
was departmentalized, closed doors. We are
a different place and have a different energy.”
Big changes pay off
SMARI was founded in 1983 by Jim
Ittenbach, who remains CEO. In 2014, a
company split occurred that shifted the research
geared toward travel and tourism to his partner
in what became SMARInsights (located in
downtown Indianapolis). The more custom
research arm remained under Ittenbach’s
guidance and kept the SMARI name, which is
short for Strategic Marketing and Research
Inc., and is heavy on servicing health care,
manufacturing, retail, nonprofits and agencies.
This reorganization also coincided with
Ittenbach’s five-year succession plan for
Simmermon, who took over as president at
the start of 2017. He credits her for the
company’s culture rebirth.
“About three or four years ago, Katie
began to craft her vision of how she wanted
to create the next version of SMARI. Our
lease was up for renewal; she wanted to get
into more open and collaborative spaces to
get that spirit going. … I just stepped back
and let her lead the charge.”
Simmermon returns the compliment.
“Often there are two battles that are fought
(during leadership transition) – letting go and
the taking over. Jim is supportive. We are on
the same page with leadership, so that’s great.
“I say he’s always had me on guard rails
so he will let me go my own path and trust
where we are going, but they are bumper
rails so I don’t get too off course or mess
things up too bad,” she jokes.
Adds R.J. Gerard, an account executive
who has been with SMARI for six years: “You
can’t talk about SMARI without talking about
the leadership here. … Leadership begets
hiring the right people. Leadership and hiring
the right people make it a joy to come to
work. I can’t underscore enough what a
phenomenal job Katie has done.”
What took place over the last three years
– driven in large part by Simmermon, as well
as York whom she hired – delivered a breath
of fresh air into SMARI.
Out went the formal offices for most staff
(sans leadership, who still only spend minimal
time in them). In came an open environment
that fosters teamwork and features whiteboards
galore, not to mention a puzzle station and
12-foot hanging garden. A new logo and web
site kicked off the makeover.
Gerard couldn’t be happier with what he
sees today.
“We’ve done a better job as an organization
of collaborating and working together. That
ability to embrace multiple ideas are better
than one and utilizing the whiteboards as a
way to express ideas, share insights, map out
SMARI
Taking It to the Next Level
By Rebecca Patrick
2017 NEWCOMER
President Katie Simmermon (left) calls seeing feedback from employee reviews in January “the best
day of my life – everyone was so positive and said ‘I really love working here.’ To quote Wes (Fry,
consumer insights analysis, who is receiving a high-five from CEO and founder Jim Ittenbach), ‘It’s
like we are the cool kids and I get to be part of the group!’”