May 28—Editor's note: What We Make and Evolving Enterprise, a bi-weekly series, will spotlight innovative and dynamic companies driving the local economy through manufacturing and distribution, technology development and education, all while connecting our region to the world.

Signs produced by a Richland Township business have decorated NHL locker rooms.

On the road, RPM Signs' markers direct turnpike travelers to roadside restaurants and gas stations.

Others stand tall outside retail stores and power plants.

And every one of those signs and more — from handheld, self-inking rubber notary stamps to big-time banners — is produced inside RPM's 12,000-square-foot Scalp Avenue facility.

"People have no idea what we make in here — the products we have rolling out of here every day," said Dave Crichton, who co-owns the business with Stan Haberkorn.

"Over the years," Haberkorn added, "we've done work for five Stanley Cup champions — as well as the Olympics."

It's all part of a decade of growth for a nearly 10-year-old company whose roots date back generations in the area.

Humble roots

Before a 2013 merger, Crichton led Minahan Signs.

Haberkorn was a member of the third generation in his family to operate Richland Plastics & Engraving.

Minahan's origins dated back to the 1950s, with its namesake, Bill Minahan, crafting many of the era's neon signs.

The throwback 10-gallon-hat Arby's sign that glows atop the Scalp Avenue fast-food restaurant is among the company's creations that still remain in the community, Crichton said.

Richland Plastics & Engraving established in the mid-1960s, started out as an engraving business and expanded to office signs, magnetic vehicle signs and rubber stamps in the years that followed.

For decades, the company created trophies that were distributed to youth sports teams, bowlers and award-winners each year.

And in recent years, Crichton and Haberkorn often partnered on multi-product projects — when customers wanted small and large signage, Crichton said.

Eventually, "it just made perfect sense to merge," Crichton added.

Aside from neon signage — "a lost art," Crichton said — RPM Signs still does the same type of work that its previous companies' founders did for years.

But investments in new, cutting-edge technology enable them to do much of it faster, better and in ways "we never could have imagined 20 years ago," Crichton said.

Technology-driven

Among the company's latest additions is a flatbed wide-format digital printer that enables RPM staff to print signage as large as eight feet wide.

"Something that would have taken us two days worth of work on vinyl," Crichton said, "we're able to do all at once — and get out the door fast to customers."

Signs can be printed in texturized layers, adding definition and detail, they said, displaying an ad that used the technique to create a brick-like feel.

Specialized routers enable staff to quickly add curves and shapes, too.

Sales have jumped nearly 60% since the companies merged, partly thanks to the increased efficiency of having their entire staff and a catalog of equipment all under the same roof, Haberkorn and Crichton said.

RPM Signs now employs eight workers, and they are looking for more people with backgrounds in sign creation and graphic design expertise, they said.

The new building includes a large manufacturing garage at one end of the site to create 3D outdoor displays.

That new technology also enables them to expand into fields other than signage.

They're working with one company to create the pieces necessary for "conversion" kits that enable people to camp and sleep inside the back of their SUVs or wagons.

"The advances we've made with technology since I've started," Haberkorn said, "it's just unbelievable."

And it has rapidly ramped up the pace at which those jobs can be completed, Crichton added.

Crichton said "word-of-mouth" and local connections have also been a driving force behind their business growth.

They were able to score contracts with NHL teams, including the Pittsburgh Penguins, through Westmont native Dana Heinze, who spent 33 years working as an equipment manager in pro hockey before retiring in 2022.

Regardless of the project — or the technology — Crichton and Haberkorn said they take pride in the fact that every project is locally made.

"Hands in Johnstown touch everything we create. The technology has changed, but everything is still handmade here," Crichton said.

Haberkorn said the company is "blessed."

"We have a great crew working for us. Our staff is what makes us," he said.