With Gratitude
John Hamm began his career in the 1950s with his father’s Austin hot press typesetting service – arranging and formatting text and images within a document to create visually appealing layouts for printed materials such as books, magazines, and reports. John grew the company into a large commercial printing company in the 1960s and eventually a full-service design agency, JH&A Advertising, was born in 1987. At heart, John knew that new technologies rise and fall quickly, so he always moved his agency and their clients forward with the latest tools and methods. JH&A became JH&A Marketing in 2016 and became one of the most highly respected B2B marketing communications agencies in their market.
For more than 30 years, John and his team helped some of the world’s most recognized and respected organizations (3M, Teco Westinghouse) grow their businesses and become market leaders.
In 2018, JH&A Marketing merged with Steel Advertising, and John shared his wisdom with a larger group while giving himself more time to fish. Having always admired his professional image, we came to know John better as a friend and role model. John has a way of making people feel special – whether it is holding a fish fry for everyone, finding a new location for the office picnic table or decorating a large and lush Christmas tree during our busiest month of the year. He is the model of a servant leader.
“John Hamm was not just a brilliant businessman, he was a very good friend to all who knew him. His employees weren’t just working for him, they became his family. John taught me a lot about advertising, and business in general. But he also taught me that business wasn’t all there was to life. Friends and family were more important, by far.”
Lori OwensJohn’s coworker & friend for more than 30 years
We are thankful for the contribution he has made to Steel’s business and culture. John, you are missed.
