FEATURE SIGN SHOP NAME BY ROGER AUTHORWHITTLE
FORTY YEARS STRONG ince its founding in 1980, Persona, Inc., has grown into one of the largest and most-respected sign companies in the United States. As the business wrapped up its fortieth anniversary last year, it found itself as the nation’s top producer of signs for the hospitality and restaurant industries and fourth-largest overall. Wherever you travel in the United States, you will undoubtedly see a sign manufactured by Persona. “We’re proud to be one of the top sign companies in the country,” said Mike Peterson, president of Persona, “but it doesn’t just happen. It is the result of hard work by our professional, dedicated staff and our entire team constantly focusing on the needs of the customer. “Every person at Persona is committed to serving our customers, and our success in doing so is what earned us our
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Sign Builder Illustrated
February 2021
place as a top sign manufacturer.” Persona annually performs around 8,000 new sign installations each year. When Dennis Holien founded the company, he chose the name “Persona” to stress the importance of people and their impact on a company—namely the employees and customers of Persona. He wanted his company to be the standard for excellence in customer and employee experience. It was his goal that customers enjoy the highest levels of service, quality, and value resulting in long-standing relationships. And he saw Persona’s employees flourishing in an environment of respect, collaboration, and opportunity. The result is an organization that is growing, profitable, and enduring. The Origins of Persona Persona began in 1980 with a single
site in west Watertown, South Dakota near the Watertown Regional Airport. Its first expansion came in 1994 when it opened a facility in Madison, South Dakota, specially equipped for channel letter production. Then, early in 2001, Persona opened a second production facility in Watertown, known as Persona West. The 27,277-square-foot plant operates as a face-decoration and distortion-form screening facility. In 2004, Persona Madison outgrew that original building and moved into the current 80,000-square-foot plant with updated machinery and a larger production team. Persona established a lighting division in 2012 to supply customers with “green responsible,” energy-efficient LED lighting solutions for parking lots and safety. Five years later, Persona also opened an signshop.com
All Photos: Persona, Inc.
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Persona, Inc., experiences a fortieth year like no other.
