RPM Signs' new location shows commitment, signals growth

Russ O Reilly, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—RPM Signs has moved into a bigger, more visible location, which will facilitate growth of jobs and services, the company's owners said.

Co-owners Dave Crichton and Stan Haberkorn said they see a lot of potential in their new 11,000-square-foot facility at 1011 Scalp Ave. in Richland Township.

They can dust off equipment they didn't have room for previously and branch out into retail services.

By the end of May, a portion of RPM's location will be a shop where customers can make personalized, engraved gifts in minutes.

"There are lots of things in the sign industry that we never delved into because we had no room to do it," Crichton said.

"Or personnel. We would have loved to hire more people, but we had no place to put them."

The move was completed April 5, bringing RPM's business under one roof for the first time since the company was established in 2013 by the merger of two long-time Johnstown businesses, Minahan Sign Co. and Richland Plastics and Engraving Co.

RPM's daily, full-service signage operations had been previously split between the former companies' locations — Richland Plastics headquarters at 624 Lamberd Ave. in Geistown and Minahan Sign Co.'s facility in Tire Hill.

Even with limited space over the years, RPM produced and installed signs for professional and collegiate sports team venues, businesses and agencies responsible for highway signage.

"From the little place we were in, we did a lot of stuff for some big time companies, and I'm proud of it, and I'm more proud now," Haberkorn said.

"This is opening some doors for us."

In the past year, the company's crew completed a rigorous 3M course that earned the company an uncommon designation as a 3M-preferred graphics designer. Through the course, RPM gained expertise in wrapping signs around vehicles and installing murals.

Haberkorn's grandfather established Richland Plastics in1969.

"It's surreal," Haberkorn said. "I remember being a kid watching my grandfather make signs in his basement. I'm the third generation, and to bring the business to this place is awesome."

Crichton said RPM will hold its new location long into the future.

"In the face of the pandemic, everybody is concerned about whether businesses will survive at all," Crichton said, "so I think it's a very positive step that we are making a big investment in our community by staying here and moving into an operation where we can grow far beyond the reach of where we were before."