Client Relationship / Research & Engagement Manager
Sam built his career in market research with the specific goal of exploring the link between consumer behavior and sustainable outcomes. He now has 20+ years of research and strategic planning experience, with a focus on green building, energy efficiency, and innovation. In 2017, his long-time employer merged with the Institute for Building Technology & Safety (IBTS), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization serving the public sector. As a Senior Research Analyst there, he collaborated with partners such as the Rand Corporation and ICMA and became the lead internal consultant for research and strategies on public-private partnerships, disaster recovery, smart cities, resilience, building permit software, and more.
Sam has sold, managed, and conducted research projects for a long list of clients, in a wide range of methodologies, industries, and topics, getting his hands dirty in every phase of the process. His quantitative expertise includes tracking and voice of the customer studies, segmentation, and conjoint analysis. On the qualitative side, he is a master of the in-depth interview (IDI), having conducted hundreds of them with all types of stakeholders.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from State University of New York at Binghamton, after which he served two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in rural Guatemala before earning a Master of Science in Forest Products Marketing from the University of Washington.
Sam’s status as a guru of the B2B IDI drives his capacity in business development for ComEngage. He will find the right stakeholders, ask the right questions, and then he will listen and probe deeper to understand the needs and challenges they face.
Intellectually, Sam is excited to be working in the public sector now because the current emphasis on equity and inclusion represents the forefront of innovation in the world of market and survey research, dovetailing perfectly with his personal need to do work that matters.
Sam, his wife, and his teenage son share a love of travel and the outdoors. He and his dog require at least one trip a week to their favorite local Puget Sound beach to maintain equilibrium.