At the age of 81, James Hardy (Jim) Nelems, founder of the Atlanta-based Marketing Workshop, died on November 3, 2022, after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Nelems
Jim Nelems was born and raised in Hueytown, Ala., and raised in Birmingham. Even as a child, Jim had a penchant for numbers which segued into a successful marketing research career, one of the foremost marketing research business owners. He was a resident of the Peachtree Corners from 1972 until 2015.
He was a graduate of the University of Alabama, where he earned a B.S. and M.S.C. degree in Marketing. His initial work was as a research analyst for the Pillsbury Company, and later was director of marketing for Henderson Advertising Agency.
In 1972, he founded The Marketing Workshop in Atlanta. Together, Jim and his wife, Dot, managed and grew the business which is in its 50th year of business. He also started Compass Marketing Research, a data collection research facility.
In 2015, Jim and Dot retired and moved to Bluffton S.C., relinquishing management of their business to Sherri and Scott Taylor, their daughter and son-in-law.
Over the course of Jim’s career, he served on the Board of Directors for the Council of American Survey Research Organizations and chaired the Research Quality Committee. Jim was also a member of the University of Georgia Marketing Research Board of Advisers, as well as President of the Atlanta/Southeast Chapter of the Marketing Research Association. He was also involved in the Travel and Tourism Research Association and the Southeast Tourism Society.
He was also an assistant professor of marketing at Furman University and an adjunct professor of marketing at Brenau University.
A memorial service will be December 9 at 3 p.m. at Crowell Brothers Funeral Home in Peachtree Corners.
Follow Us