Joseph B. Rickman II

Atlantic Sign Media, Inc., President

Joe Rickman is President of Atlantic Sign Media, Inc., a regional electric-sign company where he has worked since 1985. He also serves as Managing Partner of Atlantic Outdoor Media, LLC, a national digital outdoor consortium.

Prior to entering the sign industry, Joe served as a Captain in the United States Army primarily serving within III Corps Artillery at Brigade and Battalion staff positions. A graduate of Fork Union Military Academy, Joe attended Elon College through a ROTC scholarship where he earned his B.S. He is also a graduate of the Duke University Nonprofit Management program.

Following active duty, he joined the family owned sign company that was originally established in 1958. Becoming General Manager in 1986, the company expanded into a full- service company offering sign design, manufacturing, service, installation and outdoor advertising in the southeast.

With continual interaction among industry regulatory entities, Joe became actively involved in Government Relations initiatives through the Southeast Sign Association (SESA) encompassing NC, SC and GA. He subsequently served as President of SESA and the Southern States Sign Council, then a regional association of the International Sign Association. In 1996 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Sign Association and served in several capacities prior to ascending to the Executive Committee, serving as Chairman of the Board in 2001.

While serving the industry, he participated in team research projects for the development and deployment of several books and articles that were co-sponsored by the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) with the Signage Foundation for Communication Excellence (SFCE), the pioneer research and education foundation of which he served as a board member. In 2002, Joe assisted as a charter member in establishing Signage Foundation, Inc. (SFI), an independent 501(c)(3) organization for the continued development of research and education initiatives for the on-premise sign industry through academic collaboration. Joe served as President of SFI until 2009, while concurrently serving on his local jurisdiction planning board commission for nine years as chairman.

In 2011 he was the recipient of the International Sign Association prestigious “Kirk L. Brimley Distinguished Service Award.”

Joe is a charter member of AACSRE, serving as Sustainability Chairman.