Precision Signs & Imaging provided large, bright exterior signage for NAPA Auto Parts.

John Swaney, President and Owner of Precision Signs & Imaging, uses his hotel business development experience to provide customers with five-star service and product quality.

They’re something we all see and use every day, often without even been fully aware of it, or the value they hold.

We seek them out when we need a highway exit, a restroom or an indication on which business is occupying what trade show booth. They can lead us to physical safety or to a great retail sale. They grab our attention with eye-catching graphics, clever hooks and high-tech illumination.

They are, of course, signs, and Precision Signs & Imaging (Precision Signs) of Burnsville, Minnesota, knows the value they hold and their multiple uses in the construction industry.

As Owner and President John Swaney says, his 25 years of experience in hospitality has given him the skill set to position Precision Signs as a leader in customer service.

Swaney has worked in multiple management roles in hospitality, in places where some of the best service around is expected and must be delivered in order to succeed: hotels, resorts and private clubs. But his work in business development and strategic planning is also key in client collaborations at Precision Signs.

And for clients unsure about what they need or where to start? Branding, design, marketing, consulting, installation—even glass etching and vinyl removal—are all no problem from where Swaney is sitting.

“We’re a small company that does big things. We are project managers, first and foremost, managing projects from inception to conclusion,” says Swaney. “If something is not right, we’ll make it right.”

Military Base

Swaney and his team know that members of the construction industry have enough to keep track of in terms of project details for their own clients. He is no stranger to the logistics of planning developments himself, having been previously involved in hotel building, redevelopment and operations throughout the U.S. and Asia.

“I opened a Fairmont hotel in California, redeveloped a Turnberry Isle resort in Florida, and I’ve worked with Rosewood Hotels & Resorts based in Dallas, Texas,” Swaney says, in addition to hotels in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Manila. All these experiences contributed to his broad range of knowledge—and he even speaks a bit of Mandarin, in addition to other languages, as a result.

Travel is part of Swaney’s experience not just in his career, but in his military past, as well.

Both lend a broad perspective to his dealings with Precision Signs’ customers in terms of culture and work ethic. In addition to having an MBA in finance and marketing from Wichita State University in Kansas, he attended the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, playing defensive tackle on its football team.

Precision Signs is a Veteran-Owned Small Business (VOSB), with Swaney having served as an Air Force pilot and weapons systems officer for 12 years.

“I bring that military mentality to everything I do,” he says. “We sell the value in signage, not just signs. We stand behind everything we sell.”

Eye-opening Progress

Signs are an industry that some may argue began in the early days with hieroglyphics in caves.

Today, signs involve everything from LED electronic message centers to custom wall coverings to vinyl banners to vehicle wraps. The ways we communicate information has expanded, as have the way signs are designed, created and installed, Swaney says.

More imaginative signage is possible thanks to technology. Nowadays, signs can be pylons, architectural in design, channel letters (the famous “Hollywood” sign is an example), illuminated and erected nearly anywhere. Precision Signs designs and manufactures light-emitting diode, or LED signs, which are proving to be a popular choice among construction companies and other clients.

A semiconductor, LEDs turn electrons into light with less heat than an incandescent or CFL bulb would emit, using less energy. This energy savings is one benefit, as it lowers maintenance costs overall. However, the longevity of the light source is likely its greatest advantage. Swaney adds that it’s no easy feat to change bulbs when signs are high up off the ground, and those typically require the use of heavy equipment, adding time and cost to the relatively low-tech effort of simply changing a bulb.

LEDs—though they can be an investment—are a popular choice with business owners, he says, with the technology improving over time and offering more versatility.

“LED message-center signs began as those time-and-temperature signs you would see at banks about 40 years ago,” Swaney says. “They would be one color—usually red.”

But about two decades ago, this LED signage became more programmable, he says. It opened up opportunities for businesses and their branding capabilities. LED signs were full color and resolution levels progressed considerably, with great visual improvement.

“Back then, they were mostly low-resolution 24-millimeter signs, meaning their LED clusters were spaced 24 millimeters apart. But they don’t even make those anymore,” he says. Today, the majority is at 10 to 16 millimeters, or even as low as 6 millimeters. Although this high of a resolution is not as important for things like billboards, which may be 50 to 60 feet away from their target-market viewers, it can be for LED message center signs mounted in a monument or pylon, Swaney says.

Government, Business Clients

Precision Signs, incorporated in 2012, serves such a broad range of clients that it is constantly improving its ability to draw on resources that accomplish goals and meet budgetary guidelines. The company has provided signs to government clients, such as the United States National Guard and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The cities of Bloomington, Burnsville and Lakeville have all called on the company for its products and services.

Precision Signs also worked with supercomputer manufacturer Cray on its Americans with Disabilities (ADA) signage for its facility at the Mall of America office tower in Bloomington, under a contract with Minneapolis construction company Mortenson.

The company has made blade signs, or perpendicular signs that project out from a wall or building facade, for retailer Nordstrom Rack. More traditional signage was created for Burnsville’s Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, directing folks to its main entrance and school drop-off area. NAPA Auto Parts has relied on Precision Signs for its exterior signage and grocer Hy-Vee and El Parian Mexican Grill for LED-illuminated channel letter signs.

Beyond its commitment to quality and broad range of signage sizes, types and price ranges, Precision Signs knows how things work.

Variety & Know-how Combined

Swaney says he and his team know that most clients don’t know where to begin in putting up signs; nor do they have to. Business owners can expect to be led through the process step by step.

“When we want to qualify a client, we ask, ‘Do you own your building or lease your space?’ Sign requirements would be in the lease. That is just the first hurdle. If you have sign criteria in your lease, the landlord will always have to approve,” he says.

But Precision Signs is schooled in the rules and regulations of signs. Whether an installation is in a freestanding building or space in a strip mall, the team regularly guides clients through the process, which can vary from city to city and county to county, Swaney says. City sign ordinances can then be further categorized by zone. He notes that his company has built relationships over the years with personnel in planning departments to get sign clients’ information more quickly. “We pull the permits,” he adds.

This value in building local relationships, for Precision Signs and Swaney, goes beyond its bonds with permitting authorities.

He is a board member of the Burnsville Community Foundation, Eagle Group of Minnesota Veterans, Bloomington Rotary Foundation Inc., Hanson Scholarship Fund and the Minneapolis Job Support Workshop, in addition to serving as an ambassador with Burnsville Chamber of Commerce.

Swaney believes that his military and hospitality experience, along with these community service connections, are all signs that lead to his company’s continued success. In regard to clients’ success, he says, “A business with no sign is a sign of no business.”