After 41 years in business, veteran advertising and public relations executives Vaughn and Melissa Hickman are closing shop.
Carmel-based Hickman + Associates Inc. no longer will accept clients after April 15 and will close after completion of current projects, the husband and wife duo said today.
Vaughn Hickman, 69, who founded the agency in 1968, said he is four years past his targeted retirement date and is eager to spend more time on other interests. Melissa Hickman, 51, will pursue other opportunities, potentially in the not-for-profit and philanthropy sector, following a sabbatical.
“We’re making the decision for all the right reasons,” she said. “We’ve just been really, really blessed.”
Vaughn Hickman graduated from the Herron School of Art and Design at IUPUI and handled the advertising and creative side of the business while his wife led public relations duties.
Its largest clients have included the American Medical Association, National Association of Realtors and the Networks Financial Institute at Indiana State University.
The firm has two public relations specialists and seven total employees. It had four specialists in 2007, ranking it the 17th-largest PR firm in the city, according to IBJ statistics.
Its 10 employees in 2007 ranked it the 22nd-largest advertising agency in the city. Ad billings that year totaled $8.1 million.
The couple anticipates the firm will close within the next 60 to 90 days.
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