Signs come in all shapes and sizes. Some are just small cardboard-type signs that are stuck in the ground. Others are big monuments that are in front of buildings. But all take understanding of marketing, construction, design, and manufacturing. That’s why you want to hire FastSigns! They will help you determine what kind of sign you need, how it will go with your brand, and what it needs to say (marketing). They will work with the city, village, or township to determine what the laws are around signs and what you can and cannot do (construction). They will create the design for you in-house and let you see what the sign will look like before it is created (design). And they will even do the build of whatever sign you pick (manufacturing). 

Ed Gonzales retired from a very large manufacturing company, but wasn’t ready to stop working just yet. It was important he find a way to use all of his talents that included manufacturing, marketing, finance, business development, and strong people skills. He didn’t want to travel a lot for work anymore, and wanted to have a small team. As he looked at the different business opportunities out there, he kept coming back to making signs. So he launched his business called Pilot Signs and Designs in 2011.

Over the years he met a competitor who had a FastSigns franchise. A franchise is a business you purchase, so you receive a brand (the name of the business, logo, tag line, etc.), procedures and policies, and support from a corporate office. They started to work together and pretty soon it was clear they could merge the two businesses and do bigger and better things. So in 2018 they merged and Ed became FastSigns. Since then he has moved the business to a larger facility and grown the team to 6 people.

When you are a team of six people, everyone needs to really engage with the work and be willing to speak up. They need to think about the project as THEIR project or OUR project – not the company’s project.  So when we bring someone new into the team, they have to be a really good fit because we spend a lot of time together and we need all the pieces to fit. Also because we are a small business, everyone needs to think like an owner. What could we do better? How could we be more efficient? What could make the customer even happier? We teach some of it, but we need people who want that kind of team. 

Most of our projects are local in Northeast Ohio. We work with lots of companies in the area and they appreciate we know the rules and regulations of their community. Recently one of our biggest customers has asked us to handle their signs at all their locations so those are nationwide. It is a challenge but it is also a lot of fun to see our work in so many locations. 

One of our biggest products we use is ink and we recycle as much of it as possible. We want to be sure those chemicals aren’t getting into the environment. 

Every community determines what they want to see when it comes to signs. These regulations can be very different, depending on the type of community and we specialize in thoroughly understanding what we can and can’t do before we approach the governmental agency. Because we are part of a franchise, the corporate office also engages the government on behalf of the sign industry. 

We post all our openings on our website and job posting sites. We also do a lot of networking and get referrals from people in the community. 

Why do employees like to work here?

 Every day is different here and it is always based on customer needs, so you know the impact your work is having on a company. There is very little red tape and if you see something that needs to be done, you are allowed to do it. We’re flexible and suggestions and ideas are always heard.