Signs of the Times

The floodgates opened when Stewart Signs' employees gathered at a booth inside the Assemblies of God national conference in Orlando in early August.

The Sarasota-based company, which makes traditional letter and LED signs for churches, schools, businesses and other organizations, received more than 300 client leads during the four-day conference, says executive Eric Keller. While some leads won't turn into sales, the haul is nonetheless vital amid what's now a significant three-year sales turnaround at Stewart Signs. Annual revenues are around $20 million, says Keller. That's up 100% from the latter part of the 2000s, when the firm was in single-digit annual percentage sales decline.

“It wasn't a massive slide,” says Keller, vice president of sales and marketing, “but it was headed in the wrong direction.”