Bill and Virginia Smith founded Smith Research in their home in 1966

Virginia Smith was a pioneer in the industry when she started conducting taste tests — primarily for cereal manufacturers — out of her home in 1966. The tiny one-way mirror she installed to allow clients to watch informal focus group discussions unseen remains in the family room of the house, making it one of the oldest focus group facilities still in existence.

Smith Research moved out of Virginia’s house in 1977, into the company’s first facility in Deerfield, IL. The business continued to grow, and the firm added an office in Chicago in 1986.

That was also the year Virginia retired, and her son and daughter-in-law, Kevin and Nancy Smith, opted to take over rather than allow the business to be sold. Building on the success of the past and their own can-do attitude, Kevin and Nancy opened a third facility, in Oak Brook, in 2007.

Today, Smith Research has departments that specialize in medical recruiting and business-to-business recruiting as well as consumer work. The company continues to adopt new methodologies as they evolve, but its primary focus is in maintaining the highest standards for its clients.

Going forward, the goal is simply stated: Be the one place companies come when they need research in Chicago.