Sale Of Signstrut Will Save Some Jobs

Erik Sine · October 13, 2006

Sale of Signstrut will save some jobs

California buyer says it’ll keep most of 160 employees

Friday, October 13, 2006

Paul Wilson

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A California company has purchased a Delaware signmaking operation and will hire most of the manufacturer’s 160 workers.

Signstrut Ltd., on Pittsburg Drive, was purchased last week by Federal Heath Sign Co. LLC of Oceanside, Calif. Three days earlier, Signstrut had told state and local officials that the 250,000-square-foot plant would close, because the company couldn’t secure financing or find a buyer.

At that point, Signstrut offered a caveat: The troubled company had turned its assets over to its secured lender, National City Bank of Indiana, which "may have located a buyer interested in purchasing Signstrut’s assets," according to Signstrut’s Sept. 29 filing with the state.

Signstrut "encouraged its employees to apply for employment with the purchaser if such sale takes place," according to the filing.

Enter Federal Heath. On Oct. 2, it purchased Signstrut’s assets, including the Delaware operation and properties in Tennessee, Wisconsin and overseas for an undisclosed price.

Federal Heath didn’t take on Signstrut’s liabilities, said Kevin Stotmeister, the California company’s president and chief executive.

Signstrut has built products such as illuminated panels for the sides of canopies for a variety of customers including Enterprise Rent-a-Car, ExxonMobil and Texaco.

With expanding Federal Heath to sell more signs to petroleum companies, the purchase made sense, Stotmeister said.

Stotmeister said 100 of the employees in Delaware will be rehired. He wasn’t sure whether the Delaware workers had a pension plan, but he said Federal Heath will give workers credit for their "length of service for length of vacation and things like that."

Signstrut was one of Delaware’s 10 largest private employers and one of its five largest manufacturers, city spokesman Lee Yoakum said.

"We had heard rumors of financial troubles with Signstrut, so (the sale) was very welcome news," he said.

"Our initial talks and meetings with Federal Heath (shows) this is a company that is interested in a solid Midwest presence."

In February 2005, Signstrut merged with Milwaukee Sign Co. of Grafton, Wis., creating Signstrut Milwaukee, the company that Federal Heath acquired.

The company moved to Delaware County from Franklin County in 1999.

paul.wilson@dispatch.com