One local sign company has been keeping busy on the ground and high in the air on boom lifts during the pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • FASTSIGNS has taken a hit financially like many businesses.
  • Many signs include graduation themed, birthday orders, and signs thanking nurses.
  • FASTSIGNS broke even according to owner Russ Hall.

Russ Hall is the owner of FASTSIGNS in Syracuse. Just like so many other small businesses, his has taken a hit, but it’s not due to lack of orders, just a change in orders with so many large commercial projects put on hold.

“We’re actually very, very busy right now. A heavy concentration in consumer projects which typically we didn’t do in the past. You’ll see printers running, a lot of these are graduation signs," Hall says.

Class of 2020 signs, drive-by birthday orders and restaurant requests as they prepare to re-open have been a common theme.

“Right now, that includes an absolute crush of orders with safety barriers, social distancing signs, safety signs talking about how to wash hands, that kind of stuff," says Hall.  

On top of these consumer orders, the team has been putting out ‘Thank you healthcare workers’ signs out across the city. It's a personal thing for Russ.

“We made tons of those. That was a personal thing for me because I have a lot of family members that are healthcare workers. I just wanted to say thank you,” said Russ. 

These aren’t big-money orders. Just last month Hall says his business just about broke even, but he’s actually reduced his prices.

“Even if it’s a graduation sign or thank you signs to healthcare workers or essential workers, a lot of these are smaller transactions are a little time consuming,” said Hall. “They’re not high-dollar but we’ve kept the prices down because we think it’s a needed thing in the community.”

Working with the community more is something that won’t change for FASTSIGNS when things get back to normal Hall says.

“It’s actually been a little fun,” Hall said. “I’ve really enjoyed talking to a lot of other individuals so I think something that won’t change is we’re going to continue to do that. From a selfish standpoint this gives us exposure in the market as well cause eventually things will turn.”

When things do turn, FASTSIGNS will be up to the challenge of shifting and adjusting to whatever its customers need, just like they did at the start of the pandemic.