SRA Research Group, Inc. -

N E W S & A N N O U N C E M E N T S

MOVING UP

Barbara Allan - President of SRA Research Group, Inc.

Name: Barbara Allan
Name of business: President of SRA Research Group, Inc.
Place of business: Jupiter
Recent accomplishments: Research, says Barbara Allan, can play an integral role in a community. It can help businesses expand their marketplace or define solutions that positively affect the wellness of a diverse population.

Allan ought to know. She is president of SRA Research Group, Inc., a Jupiter-based, nationally active company with a track record of giving organizations the facts and analysis to make good decisions.

“I got into this field and loved it,” Allan says. “It suits my temperament, personality, and skill set very well.”

Allan’s company recently changed its name to SRA from Sunbelt Research to reflect its growth outside this area. She recently returned from Orlando, where she addressed the Florida Hospital Association conference. Her topic: being competitive using market research.

She expanded its market base throughout the southeastern United States and Latin America and gives tactical research through qualitative and quantitative research projects and serves such clients as FedEx, Delray Beach-based Office Depot and BankAtlantic of Fort Lauderdale.

Besides the corporate work the company does, SRA has played a lead role in research for many nonprofit agencies, including the United Way, Children’s Services Council, Omega, and Quantum Lung Mobile.

Most of SRA’s nonprofit work, Allan says, has been for children and seniors.

“We think of them as the alpha and omega in the community, representing the beginning and ending,” Allan says. “Without properly addressing the needs of both groups, quality of life in the community is diminished for everyone.”

Her company did research for the Omega project to enrich the lives of senior citizens in Palm Beach County. Research was done through organizing focus groups and telephone surveys and by talking to people in the community.

The results, Allan says, were interesting. Among them: Seniors like their independence and prefer doing for themselves when possible, and they are interested in using computers.

“One of the most revealing findings,” Allan says, “was that seniors are increasingly taking on the role of the caregiver to the very young in economically depressed areas, so (they) are in need of child-care resources.”

Allan grew up in New Jersey and has lived in Florida for 28 years. Before founding her own company in 1985, she created and operated a research division for Southern Marketing and was a senior research analyst at First Research Corp.

Education: Bachelor of arts in history from Waynesburg College in Waynesburg, PA.
Age: 55
Personal: Married to Robert for 28 years. They live in Jupiter with their golden retriever, Brandy.
Hobbies: “I’ve been an avid runner for the past six years.” She raised money for the Lymphoma and Leukemia Society by running in the 2000 Walt Disney Marathon.Career highlight: “It’s been really exciting this past year branding ourselves with our new name and positioning ourselves for new growth….Every day we have successes. We keep expanding. We use technology more and more.”
Favorite quotes: “Today is the best day of our life.” “Everything we all need in life is right in front of us. We just need to be able to see it.” Mary Thurwachter