By Ginny Mumm
For school settings, the team at 1 Hour Signs & More produced signs prohibiting vaping and smoking within 20 m (65 ft) of school property and public areas.
Jodie Parnell, owner of 1 Hour Signs & More in Sudbury, Ont., was not sure what the new marijuana regulations had to do with his business until thousands of ‘no cannabis smoking’ sign requests started pouring in.
In spite of all the publicity about the country’s legalization of recreational cannabis in October 2018, Parnell says he and other signmakers he talked to were not anticipating a large impact on their businesses as a result of the new law.
“I expected we’d be seeing some sign requests here and there, similar to when vaping became a thing,” says Parnell.
In fact, last October, he received very few new cannabis smoking prohibition sign requests. It seemed to take time for businesses and organizations to figure out the legal implications of the new regulations, define where exactly their employees and clients were allowed to use cannabis, and determine what the new legislation required in terms of the language that would be needed on any new signage.
“After this, however, it became a mad rush,” said Parnell.
Dialing in production
Parnell took over 1 Hour Signs & More in 2006, and since then, has maintained a robust production environment.
“Early on, we made the decision to bring in additional equipment instead of hiring more people,” he says. “This judgment call worked out really well for the business as it allows us to complete jobs quickly.”
Today, Parnell operates his 306-m2 (3300-sf) stand-alone shop with help from just two full-time employees. The shop is equipped with three Roland large-format printers and a Roland LEF benchtop ultraviolet (UV) printer to handle any number of projects that come their way.
“We never want to turn away business, so we always try to keep some production capacity available for rush jobs,” adds Parnell.
To this point, 1 Hour Signs & More offers a variety of indoor signage, including exhibit and tradeshow graphics, as well as wayfinding and interior signs, which are compliant with Canadian standards and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). It also offers canvas prints, posters, banners, promotional products, and window, wall, and vehicle graphics. In fact, Parnell’s showroom is full of samples that demonstrate the shop’s range.
“We want to show our clients a variety of projects that are interesting to help start a conversation both about our capabilities and our quality,” he says.
