FASI was developed in 2015 by Wade Swormstedt to serve as a liaison and strive for united efforts between various sign-industry organizations and related foundations. FASI also maintains constructive relationships with various sign-industry trade journals, including Signs of the Times in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Upon Mr. Swormstedt’s retirement in December 2018, the Board of Directors appointed Bill Dundas as FASI’s President/Executive Director. Mr. Swormstedt continues to serve the organization as a member of the Board of Directors.
FASI’s mission includes reporting news from various sources directly or indirectly impacting the sign industry. Additionally, we support scholarship programs for academic degrees related to signage and also support the American Sign Museum’s efforts to develop a succession plan. Most importantly, FASI provides exceptional educational, technical and business resources concerning all aspects relevant to signage.
In addition to serving the needs of signage professionals, FASI strives to educate the public and regulatory bodies about the historical, cultural, legal and economic aspects of signage and the vital industry it represents.
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President & Board of Directors
Bill Dundas, President/Executive Director most recently served as Chairman of FASI’s Board of Directors. Prior to his membership on the FASI board, Dundas served as Director/Manager of Technical and Regulatory Affairs for the International Sign Association (2005-2014). He also served as Technical Editor for Signs of the Times magazine (1996-2000). During the period 1974-1990, Dundas owned and operated outdoor sign companies performing installations and maintenance of national identity-program signs throughout the tri-state area of western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia.
Contact: bill@signreference.org
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Duane Laska is the third-generation owner of North Shore Sign Co., Libertyville, IL. He served as Chairman of the Board for the International Sign Association in 2012 and served on the Board of Directors’ Executive Committee for four years. Laska also served on the Board of Trustees of The Signage Foundation Inc. (now known as the Sign Research Foundation) from its inception in 2002, later serving as its chairman from 2013-2016.
Alan Weinstein holds a joint faculty appointment at Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. He also serves as director of the colleges’ Law & Public Policy Program. A recognized expert on planning law, Weinstein has written more than 80 articles/books on this subject.
Wade Swormstedt is FASI’s founder and former President/Executive Director. Mr. Swormstedt previously served as Editor/Publisher of Signs of the Times magazine for more than 30 years.
Teresa M. Young has been a consultant to entrepreneurs since 1986, in both retail and B2B sectors. She has served as chairwoman of the International Sign Association and of the California Sign Association. Young currently sits on multiple boards including the Dynamic Signage Expert Group, Signs of the Times Editorial Advisory Board, the American Sign Museum, and the California Sign Association.
Her company, Sign Biz, Inc., has launched more than 200 new entrepreneurs into their own sign businesses under the Sign Biz business model. These brick and mortar shops are located across 43 states and six countries, today known as the Sign Biz Network. Through her business development program, Sign Biz, Inc. secured over $19,000,000 worth of SBA-backed funding for these businesses.
In 2005, Young established LobbyPOP ®, a consulting firm and content provider for sign industry professionals who seek guidance in dynamic signage. LobbyPOP is a trade-only entity supporting the sign industry’s assimilation of dynamic signage as content providers.
She is an in-demand speaker, engaging business owners with topical and powerful business insights and strategies, under her MintyWorks and Coffee with T brands. Young is an in-demand speaker, and a member of Meeting Professionals International (MPI), engaging business owners with topical and powerful business insights and strategies. The School of Sign Arts website, her online education initiative, offers on-demand tutorial videos. These cutting-edge education sessions are syndicated across YouTube.
Brad Nicely graduated from the University of Tennessee in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He began his sign industry career in 1993 with Plasti-Line/ImagePoint (Knoxville, TN), working in positions of increasing responsibility and ultimately serving as the firm’s Director of Installation Services. In 2009, Brad went to work for Icon Identity Solutions as Director of Vendor Management and he later worked for Coast Signs as Vice-President of Eastern Operations. In 2011, he founded Sycamore Sign Service (Knoxville, TN). The company has grown from humble beginnings to its current status as one of the leading, regional subcontractors in the southern USA. Today, Sycamore Sign Service provides sign installation, maintenance and manufacturing for national and regional sign companies.