Joliet sign-making business carrying on after fire destroys building
One week after a Joliet sign-making business burned down, the owner was personally delivering orders to his customers until he can rebuild.
Union Signs and Printing, at 1 S. Eastern Av., was reduced to rubble in a fire on Jan. 29, but owner David Strama's own sense of optimism and the support his community has shown him is keeping him going.
Strama watched one week ago as his business literally burn to the ground, but his attitude about it all might surprise you.
"When you lose everything, what do you got to lose?" he said.
He's spent his entire life helping others get their names out there, making mostly political campaign signs the old school way
"I was doing it silkscreen-wise. So, on large quantities, one in two colors, it was more affordable, and that was what most of the campaigns did," he said.
With Illinois' primary elections just around the corner, this is the busiest time of year for him.
"Oh, this is crazy time," he said.
Despite the fire, Strama said there's no way he can stop now
"Ealier in the morning, we're digitally printing signs, cutting them up, me and my son loading them into my truck," he said.
His printing community has offered to help, too.
"Oh, they're helping me out big time. They're offering me equipment. They're offering me space," he said.
He said his building and its machines can be replaced.
"This is bricks. This is machinery," he said. "You know what? I built this business from 1989. I could rebuild it."
The memorabilia from over the years is what he'll miss the most.
"Memories, pictures. For one, my mom was a treasury agent who passed, and when she died, they gave me her badge, retired on a plaque with her number, and I had that in there," he said.
For now he's focused on getting his clients what they need. He said only then can he focus on the future of his business.
"I'm a man on a mission," he said. "Sometimes you get the most fun out of starting over again."
The cause of the fire was still under investigation one week later
Strama said, once the primary elections are over, he might not rebuild at the same location, he'll stay in the neighborhood.