BEACON FOR BUSINESS
How a New Industrial Park Entrance Sign is Making Waves in Amelia County
COUNTY BUSINESS
Recently we helped a Virginia County with an iconic sign through Timmons Group, a regional engineering and consulting firm.
Amelia County wants more commerce. They specifically desire to attract more manufacturers so residents have a good reason to stay or choose to come back to the area.
They have many strengths:
- Attractive location on State Highway 360;
- Growing demographic – population growth has increased 44% over the past 20 years;
- Although rural in nature, they are considered part of the Greater Richmond MSA.
Realizing they have what businesses need, they wanted an effective tool to toot their horn. New on-premise signage was the answer, and that’s why the County’s core group of leaders approached Timmons Group to look at a better way to market their 112-acre industrial park development in Amelia.
BEST TOOLS FOR THE JOB
Over the last couple years Holiday Signs has been working with the County’s consultant, Timmons Group, on designing a new entrance sign for the county industrial site. Two big tenants had recently moved out, so they needed to take action.
Holiday Signs‘ Project Manager, Henry Moore, said they had a low budget for new signs at the onset of the project to identify and brand the County’s Industrial Site as “Amelia Commerce Park.” We quickly understood that budget was not enough for what they needed and went back and forth to eventually end up in a more effective range.
Collaborating with Timmons Group, we produced a design that six or eight months later was put out for bid and we were awarded the job. But before we were given the notice to proceed, we asked to meet with County managers.
“This is what was bid, but this is what you need,” Henry said, giving them many reasons the size wouldn’t work, showing them why,
and the minimum of what was needed. We presented them with a budget of what it could cost to make a more applicable design. Understanding how to make these types of signs, Henry suggested some things he could do that wouldn’t cost a dime, and also a few things that would add some cost.
The cost to get to what they needed was greater, but Henry explained the value of the extra investment. Henry’s example of this is: “If you need to buy a truck to haul product day after day, you could spend less on a pick-up truck and make lots of trips or invest in a flatbed and reduce your trips needed to haul the same amount of material.” Similarly, a more applicable size would be more effective in bringing in business and manufacturing along with more good paying jobs for the County.
ALREADY A LOCAL ICON
The main focus of the sign is to bring jobs and businesses into the Business Park and the Amelia community. The ancillary function of the sign is to make the public aware of County events.
The final product has a neat look and has already become a local icon that’s attracting attention. During last month’s public meeting, Supervisor Carroll Barnard stated he was very pleased with the new sign and thanked Taylor Harvie, Amelia County’s Administrator and Director of Economic Development, and his staff for their efforts in Economic Development.
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