Rebecca Mishik, Ph.D., serves as Managing Director of Research at S.I.R., overseeing the firm's secondary, qualitative, and quantitative research programs. She leads S.I.R.'s in-house research team and ensures client strategies are grounded in defensible evidence—stakeholder input, market realities, and rigorous analysis.
Rebecca also directs S.I.R.'s economic and labor market analysis work using JobsEQ, a widely used analytics and economic modeling platform that draws on major federal datasets (including the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of Economic Analysis) to support comparative regional insight on industries, occupations, and workforce dynamics.
Prior to joining S.I.R., Rebecca developed a global brand tracking methodology designed to measure and monitor brand personality, brand preference, and the underlying drivers of choice across markets. That background strengthens S.I.R.'s ability to quantify perception, test messaging, and connect attitudes to action—capabilities that are increasingly important in economic development, tourism, and placemaking.
Rebecca leads our advanced quantitative research, including conjoint / discrete choice modeling, MaxDiff (best–worst scaling), segmentation, driver analysis, and message and brand performance tracking. She also leads advanced qualitative work, including S.I.R.'s virtual insight communities (digital focus groups and online bulletin boards) and in-depth stakeholder interviews.
In the economic development arena, Rebecca's work helps clients move beyond anecdote and intuition to decision-ready findings—clarifying where regions are growing, where they are constrained, and what tradeoffs leaders face as they plan for competitiveness, workforce needs, and long-term economic resilience. Her team's analysis is frequently used to inform strategic planning, target industry identification, workforce development strategies, and investment decision-making at the local, regional, and state levels.
Within S.I.R.'s economic and community development practice, Rebecca is also leading research on modern workforce culture, successful placemaking, and the connective tissue linking economic growth and community outcomes. She is known for translating complex data into clear, actionable insights for elected officials, senior administrators, and community stakeholders—bridging technical rigor with practical policy and implementation considerations.
Outside of work, Rebecca is enjoying a new chapter as a brand-new mom.
Managing Director of Research
Rebecca Mishik
Establishing Trust:
While most children look forward to riding attractions or meeting their favorite characters, one of my fondest memories of visiting Walt Disney World was strategizing our park day with my family. Should we head left towards Adventureland or right towards Tomorrowland?
I discovered that human nature often draws us to the right—it's clockwise, most of us are right-handed, and so on. Choosing the road less traveled to the left would likely result in lower wait times and more accomplishments on our ambitious Magic Kingdom list. This phenomenon fascinated me and sparked my early interest in understanding why people do what they do.
My interest in human behavior led me to pursue a background in Psychology, a career in research, and a lifelong quest to discover what makes people tick. Today, I bring this passion to every research project, helping our clients gain deeper insights into their audiences and achieve their research objectives.