Signs of the Times - September 2012 - 93

INDUSTRY NEWS Noteworthy
Modagrafics Partners With Classic Stripes
Modagrafics (Rolling Meadows, IL) has announced its strategic partnership with Classic Stripes USA (part of the Astarc Group and Navis Capital), a massive automotivedecal and imaging-solutions provider. This significant commitment will allow Modagrafics to expand its North American footprint and provide its customers with cuttingedge technologies and solutions. The current management team will remain in place, although Moda grafics’ founder and chairman emeritus, Len Carlson, has retired.

Industry news should be sent to signs@stmediagroup.com.

3M Partners on “Knifeless” Tape
3M Commercial Graphics (St. Paul, MN) and Knifeless Tech Systems (Winnipeg, MB, Canada) have announced an exclusive partnership to distribute Knifeless Tape, the film with the high-strength filament embedded inside that precludes the need for cutting film with a knife. 3M also says that it uses the product in its Advanced Installer Training Class. two other members of National’s executive team are John Graff, VP of operations, and Joann Warren, controller. Signs Now in Clarksville, TN, won the Highest Sales Volume Award for a single center, and Dan and Kristin Trevino, owners of three Signs Now centers in the Portland, OR, area, earned the Highest Sales Volume Award for multiple centers.

Signs Now Announces Top Franchisee Awards
Signs Now, (Plymouth, MI), a division of Allegra Network LLC, announced its top yearly franchise awards at its 2012 Allegra Network Convention in Orlando, FL. Christopher and Ericka Freeman, owners of centers in Carrollton, Plano and Haltom, TX, received the Best of the Best Award. This top prize is based on a combination of sales volume, sales growth and participation in corporate programs, including peer-performance groups and operational studies. Richard, Suzanne, Kenny and Kelly Pryor, owners of the

GSG To Provide SloanLED V180 Product
Graphic Solutions Group (GSG), Dallas, TX, is offering the SloanLED (Ventura, CA) V180 LED product that’s designed for illuminating small and shallow channel letters. Its patented, three-diode, LED array can provide a 180° viewing angle in can depths as shallow as 2 in. The V180 can power up to 60 ft. (150 modules) on a single 60W 12VDC power supply. It is IP68 rated and features constant-current technology.

National Signs Names Hollenberg President and CEO
National Signs (Houston) has named Greg Hollenberg president and CEO, as he replaces company founder Al Ross. Ross recently sold his company ownership to Tulcan LP, a Houston-based, private-equity firm, and members of the management team. Hollenberg has served as president since April 2010 and COO since February 2008. The

In Memoriam Dave Seastrom (1953-2012)
Dave Seastrom, best known as the former owner of Port City Neon Sign Co. (Muskegon, MI) and a former (1995-97) president and board member (1989-1999) of the Midwest Sign Assn. (MSA), died unexpectedly July 28. He and his brother, Larry, were members of MSA for more than a quarter century. Dave served as MSA’s representative on the Intl. Sign Assn. (ISA) board for two terms (19982003) and in the latter part chaired ISA’s Government Relations Committee. Dave also was a member of World Sign Assoc. (WSA) for a decade (1994-2004). When the Associated Sign Industries of Ohio (ASIO) expanded to become the regional MSA in 1986, Dave became the first non-Ohio member. Dave started his career under his father, Leonard Seastrom, at age 15. When Leonard died in 1981, Dave and Larry assumed co-ownership and operation of the sign company. In 1983, Dave and Larry expanded the business and bought their own building. The company built custom neon signs, freestanding and monument signs, backlit letters, embossed and routed signs, and anything custom made. Dave and Larry sold Port City Neon Sign Co. in 2004 to Planet Neon (Novi, Dave with his granddaughter Emma Seastrom. MI), where Dave worked until 2008. Dave decided to start a new company, Port City Signs in 2008, where he had been operating his business alongside Jim Wilde at Wilde Signs in Muskegon ever since. He is survived by his son, David Seastrom Jr.; his daughter, Katie Ruger, and son-in-law, Troy Ruger; and two granddaughters, Emma Seastrom and Faith Ruger.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES / SEPTEMBER 2012 / www.signweb.com 93

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Signs of the Times - September 2012

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