In honor of Corona’s 20th anniversary, we are celebrating the outstanding people and organizations making a positive contribution to our community.

Each month, Corona is making a $500 donation in honor of a member of our team. For June, Kevin Raines selected the Center for Visual Arts. We chatted with Kevin to learn more about this organization and his relationship with them.

The Center for Visual Arts is a unique entity, operating as the off-campus art gallery for Metro State University. In addition “to serv(ing) as an interactive art laboratory for MSU Denver students and the larger community,” the CVA hosts internationally renowned exhibitions such as Suchitra Mattai’s Sugarbound; the photography-based Gravity of Perception; and Pink Progression, a series of exhibitions “commemorating and celebrating the solidarity established during the women’s marches in 2017 and 2018.”

The exhibition currently featured at the CVA captures the relationship between the CVA, MSU, and the local arts community nestled alongside the building off of 10^th and Santa Fe. From now till July 24^th, the CVA is featuring The 10th Biennial MSU Denver Art Department Exhibition, which “offers a peek into the studio art and design practices of MSU Denver’s art faculty and staff and celebrates our vibrant visual art community.”

Kevin chose to donate to the Center for Visual Art primarily because of his affinity for visual art and the meaningful role that the CVA plays in showcasing student art and training teachers while also connecting the local community to the art happening inside the building. Kevin also serves in a leadership role with the CVA as a member of the Leadership Advisory Council.

Throughout 2019, to help celebrate our 20^th Anniversary, we are profiling our staff and select clients. Corona is also donating $500 on behalf of each staff person to a charitable organization of their choice. Click here to view all of our interviews. 

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Every story has a beginning, and for Corona Insights, the story begins with Kevin Raines. After working in economic research and government consulting, Kevin decided to strike out on his own and founded a market research company called Corona Research in 1999. Leveraging connections and experience gained from previous work experience, Kevin quickly set out to carve a niche for Corona Research to thrive in the Denver market. And thrive it has.

Since its start as a one-man show, Corona Research has evolved and grown. In 2009 the name was changed to Corona Insights to better align with the full scope of services offered at Corona. In addition to market research, Corona established itself as industry leading experts in evaluation and strategic consulting. This expansion of services has enabled Corona to serve as a launching pad for many peoples’ careers over the past twenty years—something Kevin hopes will continue long after he retires.

Given her connection to the community and her passion for understanding the complex realities of sociocultural phenomenon, it comes as no surprise that Molly chose Metro Caring as her recipient for Corona’s $500 donation.

Molly Hagan puts humanity front and center of everything she does. Whatever the task, she brings a deep understanding of relevant sociocultural forces to inform decisions. Molly’s proclivity for the nuances in people make her excel at everything from moderating focus groups to providing great PBS documentary recommendations. At Corona, she applies expertise in qualitative methods to solve the most difficult problems in research, evaluation, and strategy.

In looking back over Corona’s two decades of work, there may no better example of a client that has utilized the full breadth of Corona’s services than Donor Alliance, the federally-designated, non-profit organ procurement organization serving Colorado and most of Wyoming.

Corona has worked with Donor Alliance, and with Donor Awareness Council, before the two merged, for over a decade. In fact, they were one of my very first clients – perhaps the first – at Corona, 13 years ago. In our weekly staff meeting Kevin had noted the potential project and upcoming meeting with them. As my brother had received a double-lung transplant more than a decade earlier, I had a strong connection to their goal of inspiring the public to register as organ and tissue donors and asked to join the project. Thirteen years on and countless projects later (ok, I counted: 8 projects with Donor Alliance and 8 projects previously with Donor Awareness Council), we’re proud of the work we’ve done and we’re thrilled to see all that they have accomplished.

If you’ve ever seen the giant wall of travel magnets at Corona Insights, you’ll know that we like to travel.  And because we like to travel, we spend a lot of time in airports, particularly at Denver International Airport (DEN).

We like to spend time at DEN.  It’s a fun place to hang out, get some food, explore alien portals, and people watch.  A big factor in our enjoyment is the work of this month’s client interviewee, Stacey Stegman.  Stacey is the Sr. Vice President of Communication, Marketing, and Customer Service of DEN, which is both a formidable job and a formidable business card.  As one of her many duties at DEN, she oversees the customer experience at the airport.

In honor of Corona’s 20th anniversary, we are celebrating the outstanding people and organizations making a positive contribution to our community.

Each month, Corona is making a $500 donation in honor of a member of our team. For April, Matt Herndon selected The Denver Dumb Friends League. We chatted with Matt to learn more about this organization and his relationship with them.

Matt and his wife Kelly are pet people. They like dogs and they have two cats: Pywacket and Cid. It’s fitting that Matt chose the Dumb Friends League as his recipient of Corona’s $500 donation.

Matt Herndon solves problems. When problems are complicated and clients need help findings effective and efficient solutions, they call Matt who serves up the perfect answer without overcomplicating. He meets his clients exactly where they are and then guides them to useful results. This is why Matt has so many long-standing clients, including the Children’s Museum of Denver, CollegeInvest, Pinnacol Assurance, and Summit County Public Health.

Matt is celebrating his 10th year working at Corona and his 12^th year in the market research industry. He was first attracted to Corona because it was good way to blend his math skills, market research education, and business sprit. Additionally, Corona’s founder and long-time CEO, Kevin Raines, was a hard-core Kansas City Chiefs fan, so that was a good sign.