By Andrew Edwards
Staff Writer
Central Alabama Sign and Banner has been a part of the River Region community for 20 years now and will be celebrating their 21st anniversary this upcoming April.
While the month does bring happy memories to the business owner, Michael Godwin, it also signifies difficult times – notably last year, when the coronavirus pandemic first stuck.
“COVID has been a strain on everybody and it’s really put a lot of people in bad situations. We were blessed because we were deemed essential, so we didn’t have to close down. But there was a temporary drop in sales, and that’s a hill that we’re slowly but surely climbing back up,” Godwin said.
Luckily for Godwin, he’s been in this business for a long time – close to 30 years, in fact. He’s seen just about everything that could be thrown at him.
“I’ve really never seen a pandemic to the likes of this in my lifetime, but we did survive the Great Recession back in the 2000s, so we’re going to be alright this time around too,” Godwin laughed.
Godwin worked for several different signage companies in Birmingham before moving back to his hometown of Prattville, where he helped himself better understand how to craft banners, signs, and plastic faces.
“The experience I got from working at those places really prepared me to own my own business. But I certainly would not have been able to do it all without the help from my wife,” Godwin said.
Michael’s wife, Sandra, has been alongside him helping manage the business since it was started in the early 2000s. Their original location was at 155 Main Street in downtown Prattville, but after realizing the location wouldn’t suit their needs, Michael started to make plans for a move.
“The old spot was a better fit for a retail store, and I just needed more space to work. Then I got in contact with the owner for this building and tried to rent it about five years ago but was never able to do it. I got in contact with them again recently to work out a deal and now here we are,” Godwin said.
Central Alabama Sign and Banner is still located in downtown Prattville, but can now be found at 239 S Chestnut Street. The location has a huge workshop stationed in the back, which gives Michael much more room to work on projects that people want. Sometimes the list can be extensive.
“We do many things here at Central Alabama Sign and Banner – whether it’s custom signs, banners, metal signs, electrical signage, trophies, plaques, you name it. We recently got into the business of custom-made tee-shirts as well, and we’ve found that to be pretty popular,” Godwin explained.
CASB has a wide variety of clients, primarily throughout Elmore and Autauga counties. Part of the tight knit relationship that they have with people in surrounding communities stems from their involvement.
“We recently did two, 5×2 signs for the Elmore Community Hospital, and have done several other projects throughout Millbrook and Prattville over the years. We want to let our community know that we are there for them, best yet they are there for us,” Godwin said.
While the business primarily focuses on the two counties previously mentioned, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t open to exploring more opportunities.
“There’s always room for growth and expansion, and we firmly believe that in the near future that we will be doing more projects for people outside of the River Region communities,” Godwin said.
Project times can vary, as a cooperate electric sign could take 6-8 weeks to build while a plastic banner or sign could be only a matter of a few days. Either way, Godwin says that the work they put into signage will be efficient and fast.
“We have a 54-inch Roland Digital Printer in the back that really helps us speed up our process. What used to take several days to do may only take several hours now,” Godwin said.
For those who want to know more information about Central Alabama Sign and Banner, check them out on Facebook, or visit their website: casignshop.com
