"If you were waiting for a sign this is it," reads the back of Adam Killian's black T-shirt as he cuts locally sourced lumber for a sign he's working on at the Sea To Sky Sign Company.
The shop has been turning out signs — and signage of all varieties — for over a year in the industrial park.
When company owner Jeffrey Andersen opened the doors, however, he was selling handmade furniture. It was after a customer asked him to produce a sign that a light bulb went off in Andersen's head and he realized that he might need to refine his business plan — a lot.
"Making signs, for me, is far more fun than furniture. It's really creative because every time it's different every sign," he said, his light-hearted attitude reflected by his work environment with lots of colour, music and … you guessed it, signs.
Switching business models wasn't that complicated as Andersen had already purchased the necessary equipment for furniture building, including a big CNC machine.
"It's a giant table with a big router on a gantry so you can cut any shape with the router blade that's programmed into the computer," he explained. "When I got that request from somebody to make them a sign, I just thought, ‘Wow, I really like this,' and I wanted to keep doing it."
Working with fellow entrepreneurs is also something Andersen finds satisfying.
"Small business owners are really invested. When somebody comes to me for signage they take it really seriously. They are inviting us into a special process, helping them shape the way they look and exist," Andersen said, his excitement palpable.
"We are aiming to be the one-stop-shop in the corridor. If you were opening a new business we can do everything for you —all your design, all your branding, all your signage, including installation."
The company has invested in streamlining the design process for clients by offering a bevy of samples, from logo designs to colour palettes to actual signage, he said.
"People are visual. It's hard to interpret samples on paper which is why we like to have smaller versions of our designs on hand so you can see how the light hits it, the depth of it, the shadows."
Sea to Sky Sign Co. is a full-service outfit, making signs out of anything signs can be made from, but their specialty is wood — specifically locally sourced wood.
"Our wooden signs are our flagship. We are the only company in the corridor manufacturing cedar sandblasted signage," he said, adding they can also do more economical laser edging.
Andersen said the company staff works hard to keep with the "Squamish mantra" of living closely with nature.
"We want to have as small a footprint as possible. We try to do everything in a sustainable way — we try to shop local, supply local wood and use water-based solvents and paints when we can. Of course, there are limitations because things have to be able to exist in the rain and not fall apart in a year, but when we can, we do."
Staff is also working on finding ways to recycle petroleum products like vinyl, so it doesn't end up in the landfill.
"It's part of the reason we push the wood signs when people come in. We always ask: ‘Can we do that in wood and what we can source it locally?'" Andersen said. "We want to do whatever we can to be less harmful to the environment."
