Meet the Team

Lee Steinbock

Lee Steinbock (Director) has been with Freedonia Strategic Insights since 2015. He has provided detailed market intelligence in support of strategic business planning, investment decisions, mergers, new product development and entry into new markets, among other topics. Lee has experience conducting primary research, secondary research and analysis for Freedonia Custom Research across a wide range of industries, including industrial components and equipment, automotive, polymers, building materials, packaging, mining equipment and specialty chemicals.  

Prior to joining the Custom Research team, Lee worked as an Industry Analyst in the Freedonia Group’s off-the-shelf division, focusing on industrial topics, in addition to covering the oil and gas industry. Lee has a BS degree in Business with a concentration in Marketing and Management from Indiana University-Bloomington and earned his JD/MBA from Case Western Reserve University. 

Michael Igelnik

Michael Igelnik (Project Manager), a member of the Freedonia Strategic Insights team since 2015, focuses on market size assessment, market and product segmentation, demand forecasting, competitive landscape and pricing analysis, identification of new market opportunities and value chain analysis. His research experience encompasses a broad array of industries, including industrial components and equipment, construction and building materials, medical equipment, automotive, packaging, electronics, energy, minerals, piping and foodservice consumables.  

Prior to joining Freedonia, Michael worked as the Manager, Marketing and Client Relations at Roulston Research, where he was responsible for expanding the company’s presence in the institutional investment management market. His responsibilities included conducting in-depth research on key topics and trends in a wide range of industries, creating marketing campaigns for Roulston’s industry roundtable events, and writing reports covering companies presented at investment idea forums organized by Roulston Research. Michael holds a BA in Economics and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Case Western Reserve University.

Kristen Pieffer

Kristen Pieffer (Project Manager) has nearly a decade of experience conducting market and competitive analysis for Freedonia Strategic Insights across a wide range of industries, including chemicals, building materials, packaging, and industrial components and equipment. In her role at Freedonia Strategic Insights, Kristen specializes in demand analysis and forecasting with detailed product, market and geographic segmentation; voice of market and value chain analysis; competitive landscape and intelligence due diligence; and primary research seeking competitive intelligence. Recent work includes evaluating market opportunity and competitive positioning for leading global manufacturers of industrial systems. Such work informed capital investment project teams as well as sales and marketing management regarding market potential and key product positioning characteristics.  

Prior to joining the Strategic Insights team, Kristen worked as a Co-Op Mechanical Engineer at Selas Heat Technology (industrial burner and combustion equipment manufacturer) and other manufacturing facilities for a combined four years of manufacturing experience. During her time at Selas, Kristen developed Excel-based, custom burner configurators for manufacturing and sales purposes, specified gas components for burner systems, and engineered CAD drawings for burner production. Kristen earned a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Marketing from Cleveland State University.

Ann Steiner

Ann Steiner (Senior Research Analyst) has been with Freedonia Strategic Insights since 2009. Her work has encompassed US and global markets, addressing such industries as building materials, paper and packaging, energy, chemicals, industrial components and equipment, and consumer goods. In recent years, Ann’s focus has been on conducting voice-of-the-market assessments – turning the information gathered during in-depth interviews with industry participants about such topics as purchasing and product preferences, pain points, unmet needs and competitor feedback into actionable insights clients can use to guide their business decisions and strategy. She also specializes in survey development and analysis, for instances in which capturing the responses of a larger sample is beneficial for our clients. Ann holds both a BA and an MA in English from John Carroll University.

Jay Krasnow

Jay Krasnow (Senior Research Analyst) has over two decades of experience in industrial primary research. His expertise is in providing high-value, high-resolution market validation via primary interviewing of opinion leaders and decision-makers along the supply- and customer-chains, with special emphasis on Western Europe. Industry verticals he has covered are many and include agricultural equipment, automation, automotive, building and construction, chemicals, composite materials, food and beverage, janitorial/sanitation equipment, lighting, material handling equipment, medical equipment, minerals, mining equipment, motion control, MRO products, oil and gas, packaging, paints and coatings, piping and tubing, plastics, plumbing, power tools, process instrumentation, and production machinery. He earned an AB from Princeton University and an MBA from the University of Minnesota – Carlson School of Management. He is fluent in French and German.

Jessica Mowery

Jessica Mowery (Research Analyst), with Freedonia Strategic Insights since 2022, has experience conducting primary and secondary research, value chain analysis, voice of market and competitive landscape assessment; profiling industry constituents; and developing market share data. Her research experience encompasses a wide range of industries, including building products, packaging, education and equipment. Prior to joining Freedonia, she worked as a Corporate Governance Research Associate for a proxy advisory firm, performing analysis of annual company filings and writing reports for clients providing shareholder voting recommendations. Jessica holds a BA in Global and International Studies, with a concentration in International Relations and European Studies, along with minors in German and Political Science, from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

Cameron George

Cameron George (Research Analyst) conducts primary and secondary research for Freedonia Strategic Insights across a broad range of industries. Prior to joining Freedonia, he worked as a Commercial Financial Analyst for a developer and manufacturer of security authentication and identification products, where he led pricing strategy initiatives and optimized data processes through comprehensive analyses and advanced data manipulation. Cameron holds an MA in Financial Economics from Bowling Green State University, where he honed his econometric and data analysis skills through research-focused projects.