Leader in Business: Texas Coast Signs
CORPUS CHRISTI Name: Kathy David
Title: CEO
Name of business: Texas Coast Signs, LLC
Address: 4639 Corona Drive, Suite 40, Corpus Christi, TX 78411
Phone: 361-851-8771
Website: www.txcoastsigns.com
Company description: We build, install and repair custom signs. We offer in-house graphic design and logo development, large-format digital printing and laminating for vehicle wraps, storefront graphics and trade show advertising. We have a master electrician on staff for electrical signs.
Hometown: Peoria, Ill.
Years in business: Three
Tenure in position: Three years
Education: High School in Dunlap, Ill., attended the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management.
First job: At 14, I was a carhop at Rainbow Drive-In. It was a great learning experience and taught me the importance of good customer service.
Biggest career break: I was hired by a small painting contractor who gave me the support and trust to run his business office. I was in charge of marketing as well as day-to-day business administration. We grew that business to more than 60 employees and became one of the largest commercial painting/building contractors in the Albuquerque-Santa Fe, N.M., area. It did more than $3 million a year in sales within a period of five years. We did it by showing customers that we would do what we said we would do and if errors were made, we corrected them without hassle.
Business turning point: We moved here to be close to the water and, by October 2009, our business took a turn for the better. We started to see return customers with larger and larger projects. Once we see that the economy is stable and our projects start stacking up beyond three weeks, we will hire more employees and invest in more equipment.
Business philosophy: Do right by the customer, provide extra value, acknowledge any mistakes and quickly correct them. Our overall credo is to treat others with respect. One of our clients commented, “Good people, great results,” which we now use as our tagline.
How would you improve the Coastal Bend’s business climate? We need to support our local economy through education. Companies that look to relocate here should see that we have an educated and diverse group of people ready and willing to work for them. The business leaders who might relocate here may have children and they would want them to have access to a world-class education system. We also need to simultaneously use and protect our natural resources so that eco-tourism and oil-gas industries can both reap economic development. We need to encourage research and development firms to move here, as well as high-tech industries to diversify our economic base. We need to promote this area as a great place to live, work and retire.
How has your business changed with today’s economic climate? The downturn in the economy affected us all, and in response, we have had to watch our materials and labor costs very closely. Mistakes in production are costly so we exercise great care in all our projects to make sure they get done right the first time. We ask all our employees to take responsibility for the work they produce and reward them accordingly. We donate our time to worthwhile civic, community and church endeavors.
Janet Herlihy/Special to the Caller-Times
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