Signage Spells Success

Erik Sine · November 15, 2006

CEO: Saturn deal will bring jobs to Riverside plant

07:31 PM PST on Monday, November 13, 2006

By RODD CAYTON

The Press-Enterprise

Saturn's $150 million update of the looks of its stores will bring jobs to Riverside, the CEO of the company that won a sign and exterior remodeling contract from the automaker said Monday.

Nashville-based Cummings Signs has been picked to outfit about 500 dealerships across North America over the next three years, said CEO Steve Kerr.

Cummings has production plants in Nashville, Riverside and Dothan, Ala. Most of the manufacturing for the contract will be done at the company's Alabama plant, he said, but Cummings West, at 1495 Columbia Ave. in Riverside, will probably at least make small signs for dealerships in Southern California and Arizona. Larger signs could be made here as well, if it becomes favorable compared with shipping the signs from Alabama, Kerr said.

The number of large and small signs at each dealership will differ according to dealer needs and local codes, he said.

To get the contract, Cummings Signs had to beat out about a dozen other companies; six finalists were chosen to make presentations to the automaker, he said. Calls to Saturn headquarters in Detroit were not immediately returned on Monday.

Kerr said the company is finalizing a deal with another automaker that will bring more work to Riverside; manufacturing work for that company, which he declined to name because the contract hasn't been signed, would all be done here.

He said details of that deal should be available in about a month.

Employment at the Riverside plant is between 40 and 50 -- or more than twice its 2000 work force of 18. Kerr said new jobs will be added because of the upcoming contract with the unnamed automaker, but he didn't yet know how many. Most, he said, will be production positions, although management and other jobs could be added as well.

The Saturn contract is part of a larger effort by the automaker to draw attention to its new or recently launched vehicles, said Kerr.

Cummings Signs has worked for various automakers since the 1960s, and currently has contracts with Kia and Saab, Kerr said.