John Kohlhase

Creative Director

johnk@wafishermn.com

John has more than 16 years of experience in advertising. Having recently joined the W.A. Fisher Advertising & Printing team, John brings his experience in all areas of advertising from creative direction, copywriting, and design in all media to account management, strategic planning and agency management of the company's advertising division.

From 1985-1989, John served as Art Director at H.T. Klatzky & Associates, a Duluth advertising agency where he worked with numerous accounts in diverse industries including medical, financial, utilities, retail and hospitality/tourism.

John joined JPG Communications, Inc., in 1989 as Creative Director and was later promoted to Vice President of Creative Services. During his tenure at JPG, a Virginia, Minnesota advertising firm, John largely focused on developing marketing and creative strategies for hospitality/tourism accounts and electric generation and distribution cooperatives. John worked closely with numerous clients on projects such as annual reports, print, radio and television advertising, newsletters and collateral materials. He played a key role on accounts such as Fortune Bay Resort/Casino, Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort, United Power Association, National Rural Cooperative Association and Great River Energy to name a few.

John has also worked directly with a number of distribution cooperatives including Crow Wing Power, Lake Country Power, East Central Electric and Wright-Hennepin Electric Cooperative. He has assisted these businesses with a variety of services ranging from marketing strategies, communications audits, identity materials, public relations and developing marketing materials for the cooperative's diverse products such as security, cellular phones, internet services and financial services. John served as account executive as well as creative director to a number of these accounts.

In addition to his responsibilities in creative and account services, John has worked extensively in managerial functions including the development of systems for job trafficking, estimating and bookkeeping. He is also responsible for recruiting and managing creative department staff. John continues to work directly with a number of accounts in financial services, hospitality/tourism, medical and government agencies.

A partial list of the accounts with which John has worked or is currently involved includes:

• United Power Association, Elk River
• Great River Energy, Elk River
• National Rural Electric Association, Washington D.C.
• Crow Wing Power, Brainerd
• Fortune Bay Casino, Tower
• Advantage Minnesota, St. Paul
• Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association, Rockford, MN
• Northern Lights Tourism Alliance, Eveleth
• SMDC-Duluth Clinic, Duluth
• Giants Ridge Golf & Ski Resort, Biwabik
• Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, Eveleth
• Grand Rapids Convention & Visitors Bureau
• Brainerd Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce
• Northern State Bank, Virginia

John is a member of the American Advertising Federation and the Lake Superior Ad Club and has served on the Graphic Communications Curriculum Committee at Mesabi Range Community Technical College - Eveleth Campus. He graduated in 1983 from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with a degree in advertising design.