A SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP for Custom Signs
Posted by John Bogensberger on Fri, May 28, 2010 @ 01:31 PM
Signs For Success founder thrives with industry support
According to John Bogensberger, there are two kinds of people who move to Spokane: Those who are looking to move to the big city and those are looking to escape the big city.
Back in 2001, he and his wife, Vanessa, were the latter. Having spent their entire lives up to that point in the Seattle area, they were looking for a place with fewer people and less traffic. They chose Spokane.
On the West Side, the couple operated a water- and fire-damage restoration business. When they moved to Spokane, the Bogensbergers decided to try something new: they started a sign-manufacturing business and named it Signs For Success.
In its previous business, the couple had been members of a home builders association in the Seattle area, but they weren't active. Regardless, Signs For Success became a member of the Spokane Home Builders Association early in its first year.
"Some of our first customers were other members," he said.
Nine years later, Signs For Success has seven employees and makes a wide range of signs, banners and vehicle graphics. For example, one day in late April, the company was making banners to hang on light poles along Market Street in Hillyard, menu-item signs for an Asian restaurant, and "No smoking" billboards for Spokane Transit Authority buses.
Bogensberger said the most popular types of signage the company makes currently are vehicle wraps, where the signage takes the shape of the car and frequently canvasses its exterior, and corrugated plastic signs, such as the ones that say, "Another Quality Job By ..." that contractors use.
Roughly 15 percent of the company's business involves making signs for contractors. Other large sectors include its wholesale market, which includes making signs for advertising agencies, and various government agencies.
Bogensberger said he has been active in SHBA, and he's been grateful for the organization's support. Last year, when the city of Spokane proposed a restrictive new sign ordinance, Bogensberger said SHBA lobbied on behalf of Signs For Success and other Spokane-area sign makers. Ultimately, the city passed a revised sign ordinance based on the recommendations of the sign makers and its supporters.
"SHBA was very helpful," he said. "The Association is not afraid to take a position on an issue. I like that."
By Linn Parish (see more by Linn Parish)
Signs for Success - Custom Wraps and Graphics is located in Spokane, WA and services Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Airway Heights, Cheney and Deer Park, pointing coast to coast wherever successful signs are needed.