SIR

What SIR does

SIR (Southeastern Institute of Research), founded in 1964 and headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, is a privately held, full-service management consultancy that delivers integrated market research, strategic planning, and creative marketing services to public and private-sector organizations. The firm is organized around three core service lines — Market Research (qualitative and quantitative research delivery), Strategic Planning (research-backed strategic roadmaps and brand positioning), and Creative Solutions (branding, video production, and communications from concept to execution) — and serves clients across verticals including state and federal government agencies, local government and municipalities, healthcare systems and hospitals, higher education institutions, nonprofit organizations, transportation authorities, and economic development and tourism organizations.

The firm's underlying capability stack combines a fully in-house team of senior-level strategists, researchers, marketers, PR professionals, and futurists with proprietary research methodologies, including the Institute for Tomorrow futurist practice, the BELONG Score workforce culture assessment, the PLACE Score placemaking measurement framework, and the Virtual Communities online focus group platform. These instruments, developed and refined over decades, enable SIR to deliver data-driven stakeholder research, strategic plans, and creative campaigns across diverse client needs — from statewide tourism strategies and transit rebrands to healthcare brand refreshes and DE&I assessments.

SIR operates a relationship-based, consultative GTM motion targeting enterprise and government buyers through direct outreach, thought leadership, industry conferences, and referrals built over six decades. Revenue is generated through project-based engagements and multi-year retainer arrangements at quote-based, scope-dependent pricing. The firm maintains no external investors, no parent company, and no disclosed funding rounds; ownership rests with principals John W. Martin (CEO/President), Rachel Yost (Managing Partner), and Anthony J. Romanello (Managing Partner, joined January 2025), with Sandra Baker as Principal of Finance and HR.

Name

SIR

Legal name

The Southeastern Institute of Research Inc.

Website

https://sirhq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

SIR is a privately held, full-service management consultancy founded in 1964 and headquartered in Richmond, VA, delivering integrated market research, strategic planning, and creative marketing services to government agencies, healthcare systems, higher education institutions, nonprofits, transportation authorities, and economic development organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Strategic Consulting Services: SIR generates revenue through professional consulting engagements including strategic planning, market research, branding, and creative marketing services. Engagements are project-based or multi-year retainer relationships with government agencies, healthcare organizations, nonprofits, educational institutions, and private sector clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SIR is a full-service management consultancy delivering Market Research, Strategic Planning, and Creative Solutions to public and private-sector organizations. Its in-house team of senior consultants, researchers, marketers, and futurists provides data-driven insights, strategic plans, branding, video production, and communications strategy for clients across government, healthcare, education, nonprofits, transportation, and economic development sectors. Services are delivered through project-based or multi-year retainer engagements.

Product overview

SIR (Southeastern Institute of Research) is a full-service management consultancy founded in 1964, operating as a single unified service offering rather than a modular software platform. The company provides three interconnected service lines: Market Research Services (qualitative and quantitative research delivery), Strategic Planning Services (research-backed strategic planning and implementation), and Creative Solutions (branding, video production, and communications). These services are delivered by an integrated in-house team of researchers, consultants, and creative professionals who collaborate from initial insight through execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Market Research Services In-house research team delivering qualitative and quantitative data-driven insights to inform critical decision-making for government agencies, healthcare systems, educational institutions, nonprofits, and corporations.
• Strategic Planning Services Research-backed strategic planning, brand positioning, and implementation roadmaps to help organizations navigate complexities and drive meaningful impact across public and private sectors.
• Creative Solutions Full-service creative marketing including branding, video production, communications strategy, and collateral development from concept to execution for public and private-sector clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10x engagement growth: Richmond Works video series averaged 217 reactions per post vs. 28 reactions for prior content
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers43 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• MerklesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerSIR collaborated with research firm Merkle on Make-A-Wish Greater Virginia's market segmentation study, leveraging Merkle's national data capabilities alongside SIR's local research expertise to translate findings into localized donor engagement strategies.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Deloitte (Government & Public Services): Deloitte's Government & Public Services practice serves state and federal agencies with strategy, research, and transformation consulting. Overlaps with SIR in government clientele and research-driven strategic planning, but as a Big Four firm with vastly broader capabilities and global scale.
• Kantar (Public Sector & Social Research): Kantar is a global market research and consulting firm with public sector, social research, and brand research practices. Comparable to SIR in qualitative/quantitative research methodology and public-sector client base, but operating at global scale with technology-led insights platforms.
• The Advisory Board Company (Optum Advisory): The Advisory Board (now part of Optum/UnitedHealth) provides research-backed strategy and consulting to hospitals and health systems. Comparable to SIR's healthcare research and strategy practice in target customer (healthcare systems) and research-led advisory model, but operating at massive scale as part of UnitedHealth Group.

Direct peers

• Burness: Burness is a strategic communications and research firm serving nonprofits, foundations, and mission-driven organizations. Comparable to SIR in combining market research, strategic planning, and creative storytelling for the nonprofit and public-sector verticals, with similar boutique-firm characteristics.
• West Monroe: West Monroe is a management and technology consulting firm with public-sector, healthcare, and energy practices. Comparable to SIR in senior-consultant delivery model, vertical specialization, and project-based engagements, though at much larger scale and with stronger technology implementation focus.
• MAXIMUS: MAXIMUS provides consulting, technology, and program management services to state and federal government agencies, including health and human services. Comparable to SIR in government-market focus, relationship-driven delivery, and consulting-led go-to-market, though significantly larger and more technology- and operations-heavy.
• Huron Consulting Group: Huron is a professional services firm serving healthcare, education, and government clients with research-driven strategy and implementation support. Comparable to SIR in vertical specialization (healthcare systems, higher education) and consulting-led delivery model, though at substantially larger scale and publicly traded.
• ICF International: ICF is a global consulting and digital services firm with deep public-sector, healthcare, transportation, and energy expertise. Like SIR, it blends research, strategic communications, and program execution for government and institutional clients — but at materially larger scale and with technology-enabled service lines.
• KS&R: KS&R is a full-service custom market research and consulting firm delivering qualitative and quantitative research, strategy, and analytics. Closely comparable to SIR's Market Research and Strategic Planning service lines in methodology, senior-consultant model, and project-based delivery.

Emerging players

• Hattaway Communications: Hattaway is a strategic communications firm specializing in nonprofit, foundation, and social-impact clients with research-driven narrative and brand work. Comparable to SIR in vertical focus on mission-driven organizations and integrated research-to-creative delivery, though smaller and more narrowly focused on social-impact communications.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SIR4Tomorrow
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southeastern-institute-of-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SIR