Looking Good in the Neighborhood

As a sign company, we understand that utility and beauty are not mutually exclusive. While the signs we fabricate and install for our customers have the commercial objective of calling attention to their businesses, we also want them to be as appealing as possible. An attractive sign is, after all, one that gets noticed.
And speaking of changes, you may have recently noticed some big ones at Meyer Sign & Advertising’s location on Old Highway 99 South. Back in April we shared the story of the removal of a trailer on our property that had formerly been the home of founder John Meyer and his family. Before being demolished, the structure was pressed into excellent duty as the site of a day-long training exercise by the Mount Vernon Police Department.The original intention behind the trailer demolition was to create a better work flow. We regularly have large trucks that come through our site to load and unload goods and materials, and having John’s house situated where it was made it difficult to maneuver them in and out of our property. Doing so inevitably required blocking traffic on Old Highway 99, and we disliked inconveniencing anyone who happened to be driving past.

While addressing this challenge, we saw an opportunity to resolve another. Among our most important capital assets are our fleet of installation vehicles, which for years have been parked outside for lack of any enclosed space in which to house them. Opening up the space occupied by John’s house now meant that we could build a structure to better protect our vehicles.

After reviewing several options, we elected to put up an awning structure to get our service and install vehicles out of the elements. A large tent canopy was the perfect fit. The protection it offers benefits our vehicle fleet.

Like a well fabricated sign, we might easily have settled for achieving a laudable commercial objective. For our president and owner, Martin Boer, however, there was the question of esthetics as well. While it goes without saying that fabrication facilities by their nature tend to be long on utility and short on beauty, Martin had our building repainted and hired a landscaper to beautify our grounds. Call it curb appeal if you will, but just because we’re a business doesn’t mean we can’t be a good neighbor — and in addition to alleviating congestion on our Old Highway 99 South, we thought it would be nice to give passersby something appealing to look at as they drive down the road (in addition to a building that was once a World’s Fair exhibit).

Beautifying our site isn’t just a matter of pride when it comes to our business…it’s a matter of pride when it comes to our community. Like a great sign, utility doesn’t have to be achieved at the expense of beauty — and like a great sign, beauty gets notice, and we are, after all, in the “getting noticed” business.