WHAT'S NEWJune 2025
aQity Celebrates Ten Years of Answering Questions and Delivering Insights! Ten years. A decade. Half a score. A decennium. Any way you say it, aQity Research & Insights is 10 years young and is excited to begin its second decade! 
We continue to partner with many of our clients who started with us in 2015, and we also value the many newer relationships formed since then.
Likewise, we appreciate our amazing aQity team who has helped us reach this milestone – most of whom took a chance ten years ago and remain today! 
Loyalty means so much to a young business. As we continue to grow, we are very grateful we have earned the trust and loyalty of both our long-term and more recent clients and staff, and we look forward to continuing building that trust over the next ten years!
April 2025
aQity Research Welcomes John Ross to Our Team! John Ross has joined aQity as a Senior Associate, reuniting with several members of our team who worked with him previously at Richard Day Research and Market Probe. John brings over 30 years of experience designing surveys and delivering critical insights for well-known non-profit organizations and clients in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and PR/strategic communications. Most recently, John has conducted brand research for Medicaid plans, tracking studies gauging the effectiveness of patient education initiatives, and customer experience research with both patients and health professionals. We are very excited to have John as part of our team! Our shared values, approach to research, and his experience and knowledge of key industries make this a perfect, seamless fit for us and our clients. |
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February 2025
aQity Research Helps Park & Rec Agencies with Community Survey Ideas at the WPRA’s 60th Annual Conference For local parks and rec departments that seek reliable survey feedback from their residents, developing a well-designed survey and knowing how to analyze the results can be daunting. Jeff Andreasen from aQity Research & Insights shared best practices with these agencies at the 2025 Wisconsin Park & Recreation Association conference in the Wisconsin Dells. 
This included ideas and recommendations for DIY surveys were given for a range of opinion and feedback options – satisfaction surveys with facility members and program participants, single-issue surveys, and communitywide surveys as part of a needs assessment or master planning process.
Best practices for more complex surveys that often require expertise of an outside consultant – such as a pre-referendum voter survey – were also shared with attendees. Insights on aQity’s design and execution of its recent survey of over 800+ Milwaukee residents for the Milwaukee Recreation Department were shared with the audience, many of whom shared questions and discussion post-presentation. January 2025
aQity Research Shares Best Practices for Referenda Voter Research at 2025 IAPD/IPRA Conference Jeff Andreasen, President of aQity Research & Insights, presented key insights from recent successful park district bond referenda at the 2025 Illinois Association of Park Districts/Illinois Park and Recreation Association annual conference in Chicago. Along with experts from Public Communications Inc., Speer Financial, and Chapman & Cutler, the session aimed to help park and open space agencies that are considering potential referenda with best practices and lessons learned from recent elections. |
Focusing on the survey approaches and insights that helped the Huntley Park District and Elmhurst Park District pass significant bond referenda in the November 2024 election, attendees learned how a well-designed survey can accurately gauge support for different bond options, and how to best identify residents who are most likely to vote.
The session was well-attended and favorably reviewed. In addition to the agencies in Huntley and Elmhurst, aQity’s survey insights were also instrumental in passing referenda in 2024 for the Roselle Park District, Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, Lake County Forest Preserve District, and Hillsborough County in Florida. aQity's Andreasen Featured on Eyes On The Street Podcast
Jeff Andreasen was happy to join Civic Brand and its president, Ryan Short, as part of their recent Eyes On The Street podcast, to discuss best practices in collecting reliable insights from quantitative community surveys and then linking them to qualitative insights from various public engagement methods. This conversation provides fresh perspectives on how to truly understand and engage communities.
November 2024
aQity Research Helps in Passing Four Referenda in the November Election Benefiting Open Space, Conservation, Recreation and Learning Voter surveys conducted by aQity Research earlier this year helped all four of our clients with referenda on the November 2024 ballot see success! These include:
aQity Research congratulates these organizations – and all other park, recreation, open space, and education agencies – on their successful referendum last week!
November 2024
aQity Research Presents Statewide W-2 and Revenue Analysis Results at the Illinois Association of Parks Conference aQity Research presented results from the second wave of the Statewide W-2 and Revenue Analysis at the Illinois Association of Park District’s 46th Annual Legislative Conference in Springfield, IL. Over 300 agency directors, staff, and board members were in attendance. 
aQity’s analysis is based on 2022 employment and revenue data from over 200 park districts, countywide forest preserve and conservation districts, and special recreation associations throughout the state. The findings identified these agencies as significant job generators, employing nearly 57,000 statewide, with most opportunities going to younger adults ages 25 and under.
Employment in these agencies account for nearly three quarters of a billion dollars in wages and salaries for Illinoisans statewide. A follow-up qualitative survey of over 60 staff members ages 25 and younger determined that most of their wages and salaries return to their local economies when purchasing goods and services. The agency revenue analysis determined that these agencies continue to generate most of their revenue from earned income sources (35% from user fees, memberships, rentals, etc.) and grants, donations, and other non-tax income (21%). This reliance on non-property tax revenues is consistent with baseline results from the 2015 analysis. This research continues to generate a lot of interest among member agencies, and the findings allow the IAPD and its member agencies to quantify the employment and economic value that they represent to their residents, local governments and village officials, and lawmakers in Springfield. March 2024
aQity Helps the Roselle Park District Pass a Significant Bond Referendum A voter survey conducted by aQity in late 2023 helped the Roselle Park District place a successful $7 million bond referendum on the March 2024 primary ballot. Our careful sampling and data weighting ensured survey results that were reflective of actual likely voters. In addition, our in-depth analysis identified the levels of support, profiles of those most in favor vs. most opposed, and the effectiveness of both pro- and anti-referendum arguments in a balanced format. Our findings were then incorporated into a highly effective communications and outreach strategy, ensuring consistent information to voters that addressed any questions or concerns. The referendum passed comfortably with 57% support, closely aligning with aQity’s pre-election survey results. We congratulate the Park District for a well-executed referendum effort and its upcoming improvements! 
May 2023
aQity Shares Statewide Survey Results to IAPD Legislative Conference In early May, Jeff Andreasen presented aQity’s findings from its statewide survey of 2,000+ Illinois residents regarding opinions, usage, satisfaction, and importance of parks, open space and recreation at the 2023 Illinois Association of Park District’s Legislative Conference in Springfield. Over 200 executive directors, board members, and staff from park and forest preserve/conservation districts statewide attended the presentation. The findings included trending from prior statewide surveys conducted by aQity in 2002 and 2013, and identified several new key insights, including:
Additional findings and trending results from previous surveys can be found here, and these results provide valuable benchmarking comparisons for agencies statewide. May 2023
Congratulations to the New Park District of Oak Park’s Grand Opening of its Community Recreation Center On Sunday May 21st, the Park District of Oak Park (PDOP) introduced its new Community Rec Center to the public. Hundreds attended the ceremony and were excited to see the new 42,000 square foot, net-zero facility which includes:
A district-wide resident survey conducted by aQity in 2019 showed overwhelming public support for this concept. The survey identified widespread recognition that there was a critical need for a facility offering fitness and wellness options for all Oak Park residents, and a safe place for after-school activities for middle- and high-school students. Our survey also showed strong willingness-to-donate among residents to help pay for the facility. The strong survey response helped the District and the Parks Foundation of Oak Park cover over 70% of the construction cost through donations from individuals, foundations and grants (with the District’s capital budget covering the rest). We are very happy to have shared in the excitement of the CRC’s grand opening and we wish continued success to the Park District of Oak Park! |
