Jump to content

kennjsignguy

Board Member
  • Posts

    7
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

kennjsignguy last won the day on February 21 2013

kennjsignguy had the most liked content!

Profile Information

  • Name
    Kenn Cowgill
  • Company
    Kenn Signs & Service
  • Job Title
    Owner
  • City & State
    South NJ/Philadlephia,PA
  • Gender
    Male

Previous Fields

  • Company Type
    Full Service Shop

Quick Company Info

  • Contact Number
    856-346-9167
  • Address
    Lindnewold, NJ

kennjsignguy's Achievements

Drive By Register

Drive By Register (1/6)

3

Reputation

  1. Hey Paul Signs.... How did I know that you'd be the one guy to post all your accomplishments and licences that you hold for NYC. Yes, I stand corrected it's not that you have to be Union to install signs in NYC but.... every sign that is installed in NYC must be inspected and approved by a UNION shop before it can be installed. CORRECT So the question is do you pay the extra money to have your signs inspected or just hire a Union shop to install and inspect it all for one price? More than likely you'll get it at a discount if the salesman knows what he or she is doing. So thanks for correcting me and when I folllowed up with my BA from Philly, Fred (and he says HI), you were the one name that he could think of that was non-union in NYC that could corret me. Thanks Again, much appreciated. How much do you charge to have your clients signs inspected again >>>>> For the record I an Union and I work everyday. I don't sit back and wait for that "One Big Job". If you've been doing this long enough then you know the reality of what it takes to keep a shop running no matter if your union or not. I know you have such a grand repore with #137 and I'm sure the feelings mutual. Next time your down by Philly doing a job you should let me know and we'll come by an swap job horror stories and I'll bring Freddy by to wash your truck and clean up that anti-union sticker you so proudly display. Have a great day and stay warm, it's cold outside.
  2. Signgirl....I'm not over paid. I barely make it by like the rest of the country. I too have been working my ass for for many years and did it for a long time for someone else. I made the choice. I went out on my own. I am a working owner. I do it ALL. I don't sit at my desk all day. I have actual work that I perform and any day you want to go head to head on skills, training, knowledge of the industry, or technical issues I'd love to. I'm not saying that you don't know the business but I'd like to clarify for you and all the other haters that union shops struggle just like non-union shops but it's the quality of work produced that keeps the customers coming back. Rigby, you are just a hater. You must not have anything to do but sit on your ass all day and play at your computer and think of ways that the world is unfair to you and must have done you wrong in some way. I didn't pull the info out of my ass about the UAW, and it is a dam shame, but do you think that this is the only industry that large corporations have totally screwed the American people with. I did work for McDonalds a few years ago and 80% of the product was coming from China. It was all crap but this was the deal the worlds largest fast food chain made so they could put their stores in there country. The unions made this happen, right??? How about thinking that american worker don't like to work but exspect to be paid to dollar for doing nothing. This isn't a union issue this is a lack of personnal pride that this country is coming to. It's the unions that have been recognizing this bad trend and trying to shift things back to american shops. We fight for this right to make our own product and keep it here in the US but so many non-union corporations don't feel thats cost effective. This is the unions fault to I guess. Go fishing. People, it's not the union or non-union shops that are bringing our country down. It's the lack of pride and professionalism that todays society has come complacent with excepting. I for one am not one of those people and work very hard to curve this attitude. I would hope that every shop, union or non-union, would start putting some pride back into there people and start bringing the country back up to speed. It's not just a one sided effort for this to happen and maybe some people need to stop living in the past and start focusing on the future or the next thing we'll kow is that we're all speaking something other than english. You all might want to take that issue up with your legislators because they are the ones that seem to feel it's a better deal to give a tax break to another country but keep screwing over it's own people. That's us for those of you that don't get it. Start standing up for yourselfs vises looking for exscuses why things aren't going your way. You don't have to be a union member to see this, you just need to recognize it, and not keep excepting it. Pleasure speaking with you all. Have a great day.
  3. Eugene, I agree with you on the fact of why pay for waisted space. It's your call as an owner if you want to keep or get rid of someone. In my union they don't dictate to me who I can hire and fire and when it comes to the man himself his work ethics and quality are what keeps him working, not just because he hold a union ticket. We also give out bonus's and I take care of my people as any good owner with quality personel should do, regardless of status. Theres good unions shops and theres bad union shops. Theres good non-union shops and theres bad non-union shops. I might talk myself and my people up because I have PRIDE and CONFIDENCE in what we do, not because I'm union, because as an owner that's what I do. I don't think to many shops will talk down about themselves if they wish to stay in business. Just because my opinion is towards my company and how it performs is not because I just talk a good game but it's my business and any owner with confidence and pride in me and my people I can say it and mean it. I also back up what I say with my efforts and skills not just my mouth or words as SO MANY Companies like to do. I don't have a web site and my office is in my home for those that are trying to find me. I'm not hard to get ahold of. Kenn Signs & Service, Lindenwold, NJ, look it up. You won't be able to tell our capabilities from a photo on google maps. You have to call or e-mail us and that's how we start a repore. Drop me a line if your that interested. One last thing. I thought this was a discussion about unions and being that this is on the sign syndicate web site I would figure that we should be discussing more of the sign industry other than every union in the country. I have always said there's good ones and bad ones but it's always your choice in the end. Have a great day.
  4. Hey Rigby, I grew up in Michigan. I guess with the down fall of the states economic status, the auto industry pulling all there work out and shipping it overseas, and the fact that NEON has taken the biggest hit in the industry in the last decade, has really put a bad taste in your mouth. I know nothing about the other unions from across the country and how they operate but they way of the beast is that all those Union contracts that YOU state are awarded to just Union companies is totally farce. Did you ever think that the majority of goverment contracts go to women or minority owned business that are not necessarly union. What do you say to them. Dam you for being a women or dam you for being ethnic. Get out of your small thinking mentality and take a good look at the WHOLE picture. Our economy sucks, our leadership sucks, and we as the people are seemingly standing for it. As for me, I'm not and I do voice my option when I feel it's worthy. You're just a hater at more than one level and right now you feel it's the Unions that created the problems but you're so far off the mark it makes me laugh this morning. Sorry but I have to go get some work done and don't have time to play any more mind games today. We'll continue our conversations and discusions later. Have a great day to all.
  5. Everyone, lets get out of the past. I can fire any employee with just cause or simply lay them off without notice. I've know the union reps for 20 years and if I have a problem with a worker I can take that issue up with them with not back lash. Back in the day there may have been other tactics used to control an area. I know for a fact that NYC sign unions are strong and tough and they will go face to face with you if you don't follow to proper protical to work in there area. This isn't done by storng arm tactics or political pay offs it's actually written into the construction laws for the city. This was done years ago so if you want to change it then take it up with the city of NY because they put it into law. Other unions accross the contry have never did this and that's one of the reasons the sign unions have a bad reputation but once again you can't say every union works at this level nor sits around exspecting something for doing nothing. It sounds like many of you never found the right shop to get your work done in a Union area and either tried to get around the issue and got caught, which makes the situation even worse, or didn't research the area and the protical that you had to follow and didn't have enough money into the job to cover your costs or hit your profit margin pretty hard. Sounds more like the idea that you all don't like the thought that you may have to put some additional time into your jobs to make sure you cover ALL your bases. DO YOUR WORK. Don't blaim your bad jobs on the Unions. Maybe your project managers need to be trained properly so they know what they are getting into before hand other than just throwing out that low bid to get the job. Most of the product that comes into my area is made by non-Union shops from across the country. How many times do you hear of a contractor refusing to do a job because of the product they recieived was made by a non-union shop? Not too many. That's old school mentallity and it doesn't fly that way any more or contractors would not have enough work to keep them in busniness. Unions shops have had to make hard decisions and restructure the way they do business over the last decade to stay competative with the entire industry. Please don't keep thinking that the unions have a lock on the construction industry because they don't. We battle everyday against all shops on the bidding battle ground and believe it or not, we don't always win. As for the people I employ and work with, they can't be beat. We are all highly trained sign mechanics, with certified equipment, with over 100 years of combined exspeience. There isn't a job to small or too large that we can't handle with 100% confidence in out abilities and quality of work to get it done. We also stand behind our work and exspect to be paid in an appropriate time fashion. The NON-Union shops that employ us know that and that's why they keep coming back to us with work. NOT because we are union it's because we are good at what we do. The Union thing is just a stamp that lets people know the quality of standards that we operate at. I also guess our pricing must be pretty competative if we can go against both union and non-union shops and still get the work. Its not always about the mighty dollar but that sure ways in at a large factor. Most of the time customers want a well rounded shop that can handle the work, give them a decent price, do the job in a timely fashion, and know that the way they want the job done is the way it will be done with no call backs. Doesn't matter if your union or not. If you can operate at that level then you succeed if not then you fail.
  6. Ladies and Gentlemen, My point is like everything else times have changed but politics have not but for us individuals we have to choose which way we want to play. You and I can not change the way industry works within the major cities or within the goverment without enough people standing up and taking a firm stand. I am a proud Union member but I'm also a business man who has to look at things more than one way. We have non-union shops in our area that charge the same, if not more than our rates, and we still battle on the bidding grounds everyday. Not every job requires a Union shop and if I were to operate with only all Union work then I wouldn't be able to stay in business. What would you say to those owners who don't pay benefits to their employees but just pocket all that extra profit even knowing that they beat out both non and Union shops who do pay the benefits to there employees. A Union contractor is obligated to pay the benefits for there employees at the same level as any other member but a non-Union shop can just simply choose too or not too. I can go on an on about the differences but it isn't going to change the simple fact that everyone makes there own choices and if you don't like yours then do something about it or keep it to yourself. I'm not any sort of a bully but I'm not to be brow beat because of stereotypes of an old age long gone. I'm not in the mafia, we don't need to threaten violence to get our point accross, we just stand together. Simple as that. I've choosen to stay a Union shop because it only opens up the opportunites for company to gain more work opportunities with no restirictions and a trained and qualified workforce to back me if I need it. Take away my Union card and I'm still a businessman who feels it's only right to give my employees the same benifits as anyone else. But as a Union member it's all spelled out for you. I'll fire a guy if he sucks regardless of his Union or non-Union affiliation, PERIOD. You all have the same options in your busniness's and how you run them. Before this turns into a you said I said game I'd like to end on this note. "I'm an old navy man, set in my old school ways. I come from a time when a persons word and the way they handle themselves is a true reflection of who they are and the quality of work they put out. I don't really care if your a Union or non-Union shop, that's your choice, but if your work sucks then your work sucks and I don't have a problem saying to either. We all should agree that there's bad apples on both sides of the river but the true fisherman is the one who catches enough each day then always trying to catch that easy score at a price they're not really willing to pay. The choice is always yours"
  7. People, lets get a realtity check on things. Everyone has the right to work and everyone has the right to choose who works for them. In the construction industry there isn't to many trades that still offer training and exsposure to the job and materials used, other than in a Union enviroment. There isn't one company that I know of, from accross the country, that offers a training program for their new installers / technicians other than in a Union enviroment. Most of the time it all about weather you have a license and can show up to work on time without still being all jacked up from the night before, and then they go from there. YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU GET. It all comes down to the mighty dollar and I've landed more work from supposedly Union shops that offered the same amount of quality as mine but fall way short because there putting non-union, unqualifed, untrained personnel out in the position of a qualified man and charging for it. THAT'S A DISCRACE TO ALL UNION SHOPS AS WELL AS TO THE INDUSTRY ITSELF. Don't claim what you can't back up, but keep trying to make it happen, I'll keep taking the work. I have aquatences from both sides of the industry and the quality can go eitherway but if a company puts a Union stamp on there name then there isn't any reason that you should stand for anything less then top notch. If they don't do that for you then move on. You don't have to stay with the same people if they aren't giving you what you want, but a price for that type of service does come with it. Certain areas of the county almost require Union representation for all there work, recognizing the quality and standards that do come with it, and not settling for less. The US goverment and most state and local agencies, in this region of the country, require or request Union representation for there work. So if that's what the governing bodies considier a quality of standard for there work then they must have a reason why. It's not all about how much a company makes on a job but also about the standard of living a person is guarenteed for doing a job. Most non-union shops don't offer paid leave or vacation with the amount of years you put into them. Most non-union shops don't cover there personnel and ALL of there family with medical, dental, and insurance programs at no cost to the employee. What makes one man any less or more than the other ??? Qualifications, dependablity, certifications, proper licensing....These are the THINGS and I'd love to know of a non-Union company that does all that for their employess. If you're going to be working within a Union area then suck it up and find you a good shop that will represent you and your customer with those standards. There is good shops from both ends of the industry but if you know that you have to have Union representation when you go into an area then plan accordingly. Put the money into the job and tell your customer that this is the way is has to be for things to go off without any hitches. Yes, it's a game, but you don't have to be a sucker you just have to be professional and know what you're looking for. I'm sorry for all of you who have gotten a bad deal with a Union job but shame on you for trying to go into a Union area and get away with it. "Proper planning produces a quality outcome but Piss poor planning produces Piss poor results". YES, I am a union employee as well as an owner. I feel very strong when it comes to standing behind the quaility of work my shop produces and conditions for my employees. I've worked both sides of the street and know what it's like to keep a business going or just keep a pay check coming in so don't tell me that you can't get things done appropriately wether it's in a union or non-union enviroment. Your people are the exstention of you and your standards so if they aren't getting the job done the way you want it then find someone else. Life is all about choices so make yours and live with it but that doesn't always mean that your stuck with it forever.
×
  • Create New...