ATLANTA – Sept. 20, 2023 – The Technology Executives Roundtable (TER), an organization of more than 120 Georgia technology leaders, will honor Monty Hamilton, CEOand founder of Sparq, with the 2023 John Imlay Leadership Award. The ceremony will take place from 7-9 a.m. Nov. 14 at the Buckhead Club.
The John Imlay Leadership Award recognizes and celebrates those who have shown exceptional leadership on behalf of the Georgia high-tech community. It is named in honor of the late John Imlay, Jr., former chairman of Imlay Investments, who is credited with helping create two of Atlanta’s biggest tech industries — software and internet security.
This year’s award recipient, Monty Hamilton, leads Sparq, a U.S.-based provider of outsourced digital engineering for building, deploying and supporting digital applications, products and experiences. Hamilton has helped grow the firm, formerly known as Rural Sourcing, through two private equity investments to become one of the largest privately held digital engineering firms across the U.S. and Latin America.
This is Hamilton’s second entrepreneurial startup venture after leaving Accenture in 1995. At that time, he and four colleagues built Clarkston Consulting, where Hamilton was instrumental in growing the organization into a global strategic and systems integration firm having offices in the U.S. and Europe. Clarkston went on to acquire Sparq, where Hamilton became CEO in 2009.
“Monty is deserving of this award not only for his business success but also his mission to create jobs and careers where talent is often overlooked and underutilized,” said John Wichmann, TER president. “Like John Imlay, Monty believes that people are key to making better communities — and he’s doing exactly that here in Atlanta, across the U.S. and around the globe.”
Hamilton is a sought-after speaker on outsourcing and domestic sourcing and has recently been featured on CNBC, BBC, NPR radio, as well as at industry conferences like Gartner. In addition, he is an investor in early-stage technology companies and serves on several boards, including Ventures ATL, an Atlanta-based technology company providing careers for adults on the autism spectrum. Hamilton holds a MBA from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University and a BBA from Millsaps College.
"When I arrived in Atlanta fresh out of business school in 1988, one of the first tech companies I learned about was MSA,” said Hamilton, referring to Management Science America, a company John Imlay took from bankruptcy to one of the nation’s most successful software companies and an incubator of technology executives. “Back then, I was in awe of how proud people were to tell me about the company. That esprit de corps and camaraderie still exists today.
"This accolade is not just for me, but a testament to the collective efforts of everyone who has been a part of my journey — from my family to mentors, business associates, and all those who have shown faith in my endeavors and my vision, no matter how crazy-sounding."
Past recipients of the John Imlay Leadership Award are:
For more information about the Technology Executives Roundtable (TER), visit www.ter-atlanta.com/
About Technology Executives Roundtable
Technology Executives Roundtable (TER) is an association for Georgia technology executives that provides CEOs, CFOs and general managers with the ability to maximize the value of companies through the exchange of top ideas, candid talk and a forum to share what is working, what is not and best practices to unlock business value. Monthly meetings feature speakers and panels of local and national experts covering topics such as strategic alliances, crisis management, non-conventional financing, M&A, intellectual property protection and other issues of interest to senior executives on company growth. For more information, vvisit www.ter-atlanta.com/