As an entrepreneur, I'm often asked what it's like to start a business from the ground up. Some days it can feel like an absolute grind. But there is no other feeling like it in the world.
To be in charge of your own destiny and our company’s destiny, it’s the most rewarding feeling and very motivating.
That sentiment rings true as we celebrate Drive Research and its five-year anniversary. The achievements we've experienced so far are a testament to our dedicated staff, loyal clients, and partnerships built along the way.
All of this keeps Drive Research alive and makes our line of work a pleasure each day.
Here's a recap of some of our favorite milestones from the past five years.
George Kuhn Opens Drive Research
June 2016
George Kuhn receives Articles of Organization and Drive Research is officially launched. June 27, 2016 was the official stamp.
The business was launched virtually traveling to a variety of Panera’s, coffee shops, partner offices, client offices, etc.
Drive Research never veered from these roots, promising to always be a virtual-friendly company even as it grows.
“If our employees are more comfortable and can write higher-quality surveys and reports faster at home in their sweatpants, what is the drawback?” - George Kuhn, Owner & President of Drive Research
DriveResearch.com Website is Launched
August 2016
Using content already written and ready to go, George was able to schedule a blog post every day from August 1 through December 31 without any need to write fresh articles for the first 4 months of the website.
Talk about a content library to start with.
Check out our market research blog and get caught up!
Kuhn Hires First Full-Time Employee
March 2017
Drive Research hired its first full-time employee as a Research Analyst (Emily Taylor).
Emily has been promoted to Sr. Research Analyst and Project Manager and remains a key part of the team today.
Hey, Emily...you dropped this 👑
Drive Research Welcomes Project Manager
January 2018
Drive Research hired its second full-time employee, Chris Coville as Project Manager. Chris also remains with the team today as a Director of Research.
Drive Research Opens New Headquarters
September 2018
Drive Research opens a new office and focus group facility at 6702 Buckley Rd.
With a centralized location just north of the city and right off of 2 major highways it's been a perfect spot for our staff to congregate, for local partners to visit, and for clients flying in from all over the country to use our top-notch facility.
Want a tour? Just click play.
Drive Research Starts a Marketing Department
March 2019
Drive Research welcomes its fifth full-time employee. It was the first non-research hire for the Drive Research team bringing on Emily Carroll as Marketing Coordinator to further help our company grow.
Emily C. joined George, Emily T., Chris, and Tim Gell (our Research Analyst hired in September of 2018.)
Yes, this core 5 all remains with Drive Research as we head into 2022!
Drive Research makes a strategic decision to continue to hire Emilys.
DriveResearch.com Undergoes Full Revamp
December 2019
After years with our original website, our website undergoes a complete redesign with a new partner.
The redesign, strategy, and new tactics designed on the site pay immediate dividends.
COVID-19 Impacts Businesses Everywhere
March 2020
COVID-19 hits shifting all of our work back to virtual.
Perhaps no better company was set up for the transition since the hybrid/virtual approach to work was something ingrained in the Drive Research culture since Day 1.
Although Drive Research had its 2 worst months of business development in its history in March and April, our President still states to this day that it’s his proudest moment in the company's history.
“When it happened, layoffs, furloughs, etc. were not even a consideration. We have long been a financially stable and smart company with many peaks and valleys. Our profits stay with our company."
Kuhn continued, "Those few months we continued as normal and everyone transitioned from working on more client projects to working more on Drive Research marketing and content. There are so many great things we did as a team during COVID on Drive Research that set us up for long-term success that we are still benefiting from today.”
DriveResearch.com Publishes its 1,000th Blog Post
April 2020
In total (as of December 2021) our site has published 1,260 blog posts.
That is a total of 1,008,000 words -- nearly double that of War & Peace 😲😲
Survey Data by Drive is Featured in USA Today
June 2020
As you may know, Drive Research is a big fan of seeing our survey data and expertise featured in publications across the country.
We’ve been featured in publications such as:
In June 2020 we were featured in the USA Today for a study on returning to the gym and consumer sentiment and comfort level.
Learn more about our process in the Ultimate Guide to Custom PR Surveys.
Celebrating 5 Years of Drive
June 2021
The Drive Research team celebrates 5 years in business. It certainly flew by and the team celebrated with a trip to Dave & Busters in Syracuse for some food, drinks, and games.
Our Team Earns its 100th 5-Star Review
August 2021
We have long loved seeing our past clients and participants take time out of their day to comment on their experience with our awesome team.
Drive Research Hires its 10th Full-Time Employee
November 2021
Drive Research hires its 10th full-time employee. Lark Allen (our Content Marketing Specialist) joined our team of George, Emily T., Chris, Tim, Emily C., Devan, Ashley, Justin, and Zach.
Celebrating the End of 2021
December 2021
Drive Research is wrapping up our most successful year yet. Our revenue is 5X since 2017 and has doubled since 2020 alone.
What will be in store for 2022?
For you NFL fans out there, in the words of Bart Scott, “Can’t wait!”
Drive Research is a full-service market research company serving various industries across the country. Our team enjoys conducting qualitative and quantitative studies that create actionable data for our clients.
Interested in working with our team? Contact us today.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
George Kuhn
George is the Owner & President of Drive Research. He has consulted for hundreds of regional, national, and global organizations over the past 15 years. He is a CX-certified VoC professional with a focus on innovation and new product management.
Learn more about George, here.
