Even though they might not know it, almost everyone in Milwaukee is familiar with the work done by Poblocki Sign Company LLC.
The West Allis company’s signs can be seen at Miller Park, atop large buildings downtown, on the campuses of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University and in hospitals all over town. Poblocki Sign Company has also worked on Midwestern landmarks such as Lambeau Field and Soldier Field in Chicago.
One of the company’s newest creations was recently installed at the Harley-Davidson Museum, under construction just south of downtown Milwaukee. The museum is expected to open this summer.
In its 110,000-square-foot facility at 922 S. 70th St. in West Allis, Poblocki Sign Co. designs and manufactures both interior and exterior signage. Projects range from the large sign on Miller Park’s home plate entrance to directional signage used in hospitals and health care facilities to digital signs used to show what meetings are being held in different conference rooms at different times.
In fact, the manufacturing space at Poblocki Sign Co. is divided into interior and exterior divisions. While the exterior division takes up more space, the interior division produces far more individual signs, even though they are much smaller.
“The term we use is architectural signage,” said Paul Poblocki, vice president and general manager of the company’s interior sign division. “It’s anything that identifies the company or helps way-finding in the facility.”
The company’s work at Miller Park and the InterContinental hotel in downtown Milwaukee shows its range of capabiliities. At Miller Park, Poblocki Sign Co. was asked to build all exterior signage, as well as interior directional signs, suite identifying signs, restroom signs and even individual seat number signs.
And when the InterContinental hotel in downtown Milwaukee was renovated and renamed, Poblocki was hired to create new exterior and interior signs, Poblocki said.
“We did everything from the bathroom to ballroom signs, using the unique materials and designs that would match with the designs that the Marcus Corp. (the owner of the hotel) was trying to achieve,” he said.
Most sign companies specialize in exterior or interior work, not both, said David Drury, president and majority owner of Poblocki.
“We’re one of a few companies that can do all of that effectively,” he said. “One of our things is that we bring more value (to customers). We’re a one-stop shop.”
Several of Poblocki Sign Co.’s clients have not only asked the company to design and build interior signs, they’ve asked the company to create decorative elements that have become part of the building’s design.
For example, when Motorola Corp. asked the company to create room identifying signs for its headquarters in Chicago, as well as facilities in Los Angeles and Florida, it also asked for wall coverings that would help inspire its workers, Poblocki said.
“And for Wheaton (Franciscan Healthcare), for its Franklin hospital, we did a Psalm (wall covering) on each floor,” he said. “That’s another architectural element beyond signage.”
Poblocki Sign Co.’s experience also means that the company is called for challenging or unusual work. In early 2007, the company installed a new sign for the law firm of Quarles & Brady LLP atop 411 E. Wisconsin Ave., using a helicopter.
“We had dealt with helicopters a few times before,” Drury said. “With that kind of thing we say, ‘Challenge us, and we’ll try to get it done for you.'”
Many times, the company is hired to produce signs quickly.
“Paul gets that more often (in the interior division),” Drury said. “Often someone forgets to order signs and they’re an afterthought until they need the signage.”
One of the largest construction projects that Poblocki Sign Co. is working on now is the Trump Tower under construction in Chicago. The building is opening floor by floor, Poblocki said, which means that suppliers like Poblocki Sign Co. have much more frequent deadlines for signs and other items.
“We’re doing things in five phases until 2009,” Poblocki said. “And it’s very high end, where design is a huge concern. They want to match all of the glass and wood to a ‘T.'”
Most of the work that Poblocki Sign Co. does is in Wisconsin and northern Illinois. However, it has worked on several hospital projects in Georgia and Florida, as well as a large aquarium in Atlanta.
The company has also worked on exterior and interior signs for Target stores that have been built all over the country. Its other national clients include Weyerhauser, Northwestern Mutual, Lockheed and Holiday Inn.
Poblocki Sign Co. was founded in 1932 and originally specialized in signs for theaters through the 1940s. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the company began creating signs for banks, and by the 1980s it moved into interior signs when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.
Today, the company has about 160 employees at its West Allis headquarters. Two others work at the firm’s remote sales offices in Chicago and Atlanta.
Drury purchased the company from Jerry Poblocki in 1999. Mark Poblocki, one of Gerald Poblocki’s sons, partnered in the purchase with him.
Poblocki Sign Co. had about 30 percent annual revenue growth in 2007. Because of economic “jitters,” the company is not as confident about growth for this year, Drury said.
“Through the end of February, we’re 15 percent ahead (of last year),” he said. “We haven’t felt the recession yet, but we can see some signs of softening.”
Poblocki Sign Co. has several long-term growth plans, with specific geographic regions, industries and technologies targeted, Drury said.
“Chicago is a huge market, and there is no one like Poblocki in Chicago,” he said. “It’s a challenge to cover it adequately but I think we can do it if we find the right people here. And if we can’t, is there a smaller competitor in Chicago that might want to be part of Poblocki?”
The company is passively looking for a metro Chicago company to acquire now, but will start a more aggressive search later this year, Drury said.
For additional growth, Poblocki Sign Co. is looking for more health care-related work around the nation, largely because of how many new facilities will be built in the next few decades.
“Health care is a market that we’re focused on,” Drury said. “We rely on our Atlanta (sales person) to be aware of what is going on in the southeast because they are having faster growth there than we have here.”
LED technology is becoming more popular in signs, both Drury and Poblocki said, and Poblocki Sign Co. is finding ways to use the emerging technology with interior signs as well.
“Hotels, convention centers and hospitals are constantly evolving – they’re almost like a maze,” Poblocki said. “(LED signs) are becoming more popular, especially for main corridors or for rooms where the function changes on sometimes an hourly basis.”
Poblocki Sign Company LLC
Address: 922 S. 70th St., West Allis
Industry: Interior and exterior signs
Employees: 160
Web site: www.poblocki.com
