FASTSIGNS of Boardman celebrates 15 years

January 28, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

BOARDMAN

In 15 years, FASTSIGNS in Boardman has seen some changes.

The international company’s local franchise owners started with just a 15-inch plotter, a tool used to cut out vinyl letters and other designs for signs.

Today, the local franchise on Southern Boulevard has a 60-inch plotter, a UV flatbed printer that prints on materials up to 2 inches thick, and a roll-to-roll printer.

Technology advances have decreased the labor involved with projects and increased the time projects can be turned around at FASTSIGNS in Boardman.

“We have the unique ability because of technology and a great staff to turn things around quickly,” said Jay Summer, president of the local franchise.

FASTSIGNS is a Texas-based sign company with more than 530 locations worldwide. The company makes banners, building signs, vehicle graphics, signs for windows, walls, doors and floors.

Summer started the local branch 15 years ago. He didn’t have a background in signs, but did in marketing.

“The sales background was there,” the South Carolina native said. “The rest was just learning the industry.”

Summer moved to the Youngstown region and opened his sign shop in Boardman. Within just a few weeks, he went from being just opened to busy thanks to a referral he received. The referral led him to a top client he still has today, Youngstown State University.

“They are still our No. 1 customer,” he said.

Mostly everything the company does is business to business. The company creates banners to complete sign and graphic makeovers. One of the larger projects FASTSIGNS in Boardman worked on was for Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course. Outside of working with businesses, FASTSIGNS also works with local school districts and organizations.

His wife, Penny, is the vice president of FASTSIGNS of Boardman. The Boardman location has six full-time employees and one part-time to serve about 5,000 active customers. Jay does a little bit of everything in the office from installation to accounting.

He would do it all over again if he had the choice to take on the franchise. “It’s high ranked, out of the franchises out there,” he said.