Robert and Nikki Eickhoff

Robert has a wealth of business and executive experience. He was known inside and outside his industry as an effective communicator, leader of people, change agent and strategic thinker. His diverse business knowledge and hands-on experience led to advances in consumer acquisition & retention, new business development, improved operating efficiencies, favorable labor & vendor contract negotiations, effective organizational structures and improved profitability.

He served as Senior Vice President, Business Operations, for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was named to that position in March 2007 and in it, led nearly 3,300 sales, distribution, manufacturing, and information technology employees and contractors with an annual operating budget of $178M and revenues of $76M. He joined the company as Vice President, Circulation in March 2005.
Under his leadership and tenure, his team contributed nearly $100M to the company’s operating profit and guided the company’s return to profitability.

Prior to the AJC, he served as Director/Vice President of circulation and operations at Orlando Sentinel Communications. He joined the Sentinel in 1993 after a thriving 15 years in various management and director roles at the Chicago Tribune. He also consulted at several Tribune Company media properties in Los Angeles, Baltimore, Palo Alto and New York. While at the Tribune, his varied positions included Customer Contact Center Manager, Metro Circulation Director, Transportation Planner, National Sales Manager and Marketing Analyst. He also led the division’s annual college recruiting efforts, for several years and his intuition for talent is illustrated by the success of several of his recruits currently in senior executive and leadership positions, at companies throughout the U.S.

After retiring from the AJC, Rob and his wife, Nikki, acquired CertaPro Painters of Roswell, in 2011, a full service residential and commercial painting company. They built the new franchise company from zero to a $million revenue business, in six short years. Their business strategies were to grow the commercial vertical, expand the geographic footprint, develop a support staff, deliver superior customer satisfaction and leverage the internet. They stayed the course, hit on all five and after a record breaking 2016, sold the business, in early 2017.

Along the way, their business garnered much recognition including CertaPro’s 2013 Marketing Award, NPS (Net Promoter Score) Pioneer Award for his work in helping introduce this customer rating system throughout CertaPro’s 365 businesses nationwide and was inducted into the President’s Club for outstanding business achievement. CertaPro of Roswell was also awarded, in 2015 and 2016, “Best of Roswell’s” award in the painter category.

Rob also has a distinguished record of military, community and industry service. Rob’s military background includes Viet Nam era service with The United States Army’s legendary 82d Airborne Division, as a paratrooper. He earned a Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Parachutist badge and expert medals in firearms/grenade.

He has served as Chairman & President of The Southern Circulation Manager’s Association, Chairman & President of the Newspaper Association of America’s (NAA) Circulation Federation Board and led national NAA committees on the future of distribution and advertiser satisfaction.

Outside of his industry, he has served on Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre’s Board, the Foundation Board of Directors at Orlando’s Valencia Community College and Chairman & President of Orlando’s Salvation Army Advisory Board.
He was a faculty member and executive-in-residence for The Maynard Institute for Minority Journalism Education, at Northwestern University, and… has been a frequent guest lecturer at Northern Illinois University’s College of Business, for their MBA program. He also served on the Advisory Board of NIU’s College of Business.

Rob Eickhoff graduated from the NIU College of Business with a degree in Marketing in 1978. He also holds an Associate of Arts and M.B.A. degrees. He also earned an Executive Certificate in Business Strategy, in 2020.

He and Nikki also fund veteran scholarships at two of Rob’s alma maters, Northern Illinois University and Governors State University.