Growing from a small family-owned business into one of the leading sign manufacturers in the industry, Selkirk Signs celebrates an impressive 40 years in 2024.
Selkirk Signs has grown immensely over these 40 years, from a reputed but limited signage manufacturer to the one-stop shop for signage solutions it is today. The company offers a variety of services including sign design, manufacturing, installation, maintenance, and repair, along with effective planning, execution, and logistics.
When it comes to national brand rollouts in particular, Selkirk’s years of experience and attention to customer care come in extremely handy.
“When we engage a national or regional brand and there’s a mutual interest to partner, we try to do kickoff meetings whenever possible. It’s a must,” says Russell Byrd, Business Development Manager. “We always try first to meet with the key stakeholders and quickly get everyone’s expectations out and laid on the table. What we’ve learned over years of experience is that just because something’s an ambitious desire or rollout, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good plan.”
Selkirk Signs aims to gauge timeline expectations and any caveats, uncertainties, or special circumstances, and bring in its project management and design team members to see if everything lines up: will the colours work; is a new brand rollout feasible and cost-effective; does it look good? “There are a lot of details to go over, and then naturally with the brand rollout planning after that, we engage with any hard-hitting questions from both sides,” says Byrd. This includes checking for any red flags that have come up with previous partners that Selkirk should know of.
“We also share things we’ve encountered with partnerships that we want to outline. So, it starts with some open, healthy dialogue. From there, we typically find both parties have a good sense of whether or not we want to move forward.”
Communication, says Byrd, is a big part of Selkirk’s success. “It’s essential. Drawings and specs and manufacturing—yes, those are the bare bones of our industry, the how and the what. But the why of the questions and the communication is what allows us to be so effective at what we do,” Byrd says. “Ultimately, if we do really well with our manufacturing but fail to deliver on expectations, that point is missed. It doesn’t matter how good your product looks if it’s delivered improperly.”
This theory also applies to the company’s customer onboarding process, which has evolved over time. While in 1984 Selkirk was a “father and sons” sign shop with hand-drawn sketches, today it’s vastly different.
“We have more protocols in place because we’re a larger company,” says Byrd. “Now we have to scale things. We’ve found that especially over the last 10 to 15 years as some of our brands have grown across Canada. No more assumptions. No more reading between the lines. Now we start the rollout when everyone’s on the same page.”
Being on the same page means establishing clear direction and communication from the start while helping customers decide exactly what they need. “We had a brand come to us recently saying they wanted value engineering, value-added, and what did that mean to Selkirk? We came back as a team and thought, ‘wow, that’s actually a fantastic question.’”
The response was a second version of the company’s branding, an alternative build of a sign they hadn’t thought of, employing Selkirk’s creative teams of designers and marketers. “It looked cool, and they were very pleased with that,” Byrd says. “They didn’t know what they meant by value engineering, but this was exactly what they wanted. So we’re being hyper-attentive to their needs.”
Indeed, pivoting to meet customers’ needs is a big part of the sign industry, he adds. “The first thing I learned is flexibility. You get a small business owner or a huge brand across Canada, and sometimes they have things undefined. They have to rent from the landlord, and these are the restrictions they face with municipality bylaws or landlord requirements. But [they’re saying], ‘here’s my picture on a PDF. How do I get this from here to there?’ That’s where flexibility is required in the signage industry.”
The company also prioritizes quality assurance of all its products. Selkirk is CSA certified, ensuring any electrical components for exterior signs are up to code, and adheres to safety parameters that speak to the company’s standards of excellence.
Not every shop is created equal, Byrd says, but Selkirk strives for excellence. The company has continually raised the bar to show it is committed to the highest-quality materials and safety practices and the best equipment.
“For us, materials are everything,” Byrd says. “But not all materials are created equal. I could build something with a thinner aluminum or a lower grade of steel, and my cost would be cheaper. But that’s where we have to weigh it with our customers’ needs. They may ask for ACM (aluminum composite material) for an exterior sign that’s seven feet tall. And I say, ‘no, ACM isn’t meant for that type of application. It will get jagged and won’t age well.’” That ability to pivot goes hand-in-hand with the team’s dedication to quality and guiding the customer in the right direction with the right material.
Pivoting also came into play during the height of COVID, when both national corporations and local businesses were shuttered, leading to some tough decisions including minimizing staff.
“It was a very stressful time for us, and we had to look at the financial impact on our business and how we could make it work,” Byrd tells us. “But it was also a blessing. Work from home became more normalized, and the hybrid model for many front office staff was beneficial for them. The cross-training model was hugely impactful and has helped us in leaps and bounds today.”
Cross-training has led to many employees being able to work efficiently on different tools at three or four different stations. “It was a hard time, and many good people were laid off. But the pros were efficiency and the scrappiness we have today.”
“Scrappiness” could be the company’s motto as it celebrates its 40th anniversary and the ability of employees to maintain a positive culture throughout various challenges over the years. “During COVID, morale was up and down, but obviously, we found that the better we communicated, and the more proactive we were in our communication and our decisions, the more morale stayed steady,” says Byrd. “Today our communication protocols have never been more clear. We’re honest with our staff on the good and the bad. We don’t dance around when an issue or a mistake is made; we address it. Then we address how we’re going to fix it.”
When Selkirk makes promises to its staff, it shows them the plan to fulfill the promise, not just “pointing to a mountaintop and saying, ‘this is where we’re going,’” says Byrd. “I want our team fully invested and hope to resonate with everybody. But we’re probably the healthiest we’ve been in a decade in culture, optimism, communication, and conflict resolution.”
The year 2024—the company’s 40th anniversary—has been a “scrappy year” involving a bit of a restructuring internally with the leadership team experiencing a healthy reshuffle and a reorientation of some of the company’s goals.
“We’ve even drilled down into our niches a bit more purposefully,” says Byrd. “You’re never done with learning, but this 40th anniversary is kind of like that old saying of working so hard with your head down, you forget to celebrate the wins.” Selkirk decided as a team earlier in the year to be very purposeful in highlighting the good, he adds. While it’s often easier to deflect and defer to the critical or what’s going wrong and what can be better, it’s vital to take time to celebrate the successes.
“We’ve been around for 40 years—four decades. That’s a big deal,” he says. “We wanted to acknowledge the partnerships that have helped get us here today and are still here. That’s amazing.”
Not taking success for granted is also vital. Selkirk started as a small shop in Cranbrook, British Columbia before finding national clients and buying a sign company in Calgary and eventually, Fort Saskatchewan. There has been amazing growth over 40 years.
“This celebration has been expressly to say, ‘look at the wins we’ve achieved, and it’s only getting better,’” Byrd says. “This is a year of joy. This is a year of wins. I’m proud to be a member of Selkirk Signs and we’re going to hit our big corporate barbecue and celebration in September.”
Part of that celebration includes highlighting the company culture, which “can’t be understated,” adds Byrd. “No matter what you make, if you have an unhealthy culture, that business is going to fail, or it’s not going to do as well,” he says. “We preach ownership thinking at Selkirk Signs. This doesn’t mean, ‘well, I’m not an owner, I don’t own the company.’ It means, what can you control? What destiny can you control? Are you proud of your work? We’ve had some dips in our years of culture where the people couldn’t see it, they couldn’t believe it. And that kills your company,” he shares.
“That could sound manipulative, but it’s more that we want to inspire people to be their best. When our culture and our company are healthy, we’re delivering better quality assurance. Our biggest challenges are just having clear vision and direction as a company and then protecting our culture.”
On the horizon, Selkirk has its sights set on market share and growth—particularly in the West—but rather than buy too much, the team is only aiming at the targets that are best achievable. “We’re going to nail it out of the park in our region and do it really well, so owning the West is one of our milestones.”
In the meantime, the company plans to celebrate 40 successful years while continuing to look after its customers and maintain a positive company culture.
“Our mantra is, ‘get it right, stay on track, and go the distance,’” Byrd says. “That’s our secret sauce right there. That’s what separates us from any brand or local business. If you want to bank on a sign company to do those three things for you, that’s what Selkirk is going to commit to.”
