Business Profile: Sun Dog Signs, Carmel
By Nancy Sorbella – All around Putnam County there are new signs—business signs, town line welcome signs, cultural signs, personalized home signs and even a few street signs—all detailed, carved—often with gold leaf, meticulously painted, often with intricate custom detail.
Thunder Ridge Ski Area, Manitoga, The Garrison, Welcome to the Town of Kent, Mahopac, Pawling, The Mahopac Library, Middlebranch Veterinary, The Lantern, Cargain Funeral Homes—are just some of these signs—all the custom creations of Drew Howland, owner of Sun Dog Signs in Carmel.
Located inconspicuously in a barn on the Howland family’s sprawling compound at 1408 Peekskill Hollow Road, Sun Dog Signs has been quietly impacting the visual landscape of the Hudson Valley.
Sun Dog Signs began in 1998 as a creative outlet, a response to years toiling in the world of corporate communications where Howland had been an Associate Director at ABC News. Always handy, with an affinity for wood shop, carpentry and construction, while still logging long hours in the city, Howland built a spec house and performed extensive renovation on his and wife Michele Berdy’s country home, the eighteenth century centerpiece of the property that they and their two sons currently call home.
Around this time, while biking around Cape Cod he discovered a custom sign shop where every sign was hand carved on wood with exquisite detail. There was a house, the sign shop and the owner’s family. “The set up really resonated with me. I liked the combination of the family home and the shop on the same property.” Says Howland when describing the scenario he found, and “you can tell a lot about a place by looking at the shop, and this one was impressive.” But there were misgivings as well. “The work was very labor-intensive and time consuming. It could be hard to make a steady living.”
Fortunately, after this encounter Howland learned about Jay Cooke of Hyde Park, VT, a renowned art director, production manager and one of the top sign makers in the country. But unlike the Cape Cod artisan, Cooke perfected his craft using urethane and other synthetic products enabling the business to run efficiently and not just as a hobby. Howland was able to study with Cooke for two weeks, learning his techniques and working on the CNC router, which, upon being introduced to this instrument of efficiency, understood, “oh, this is how you are able to turn sign making into a business.” Says Howland, “I was totally fascinated by the business; the design, computers, technology and this cool tool, the CNC router.”
Having “learned the language” of sign making from Jay Cooke it was time to take the business to the next level. “I used his business model as a blueprint for my own”, and insulated the barn, a former dirt floor stable, and officially christened the business Sun Dog Signs because it “sounds friendly, we have dogs, and I was inspired by the Black Dog of Martha’s Vineyard. It’s logo-driven and easier to remember than the Drew Howland Sign Company.”
Sun Dog Signs are made to order and can take up to 5 weeks to deliver based upon complexity and of course how busy the sign shop is. All signs are made of a durable high density urethane and won’t hold water nor expand or contract. All are painted with latex paint and last up to 15 years or more. The business has expanded to include many other sign formats over time.
Sun Dog Signs does most of its business through referrals, word of mouth and through an ongoing Eagle Scout project through Carmel Recreation at Sycamore Park. Scouts design and raise money for specific signs for the local park and all are created by Sun Dog Signs.
The shop is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and by appointment. Drew can be reached at 845-228-6447, at sundogsigns@comcast.net and at www.sundogsigns.com and on Facebook.
Examiner Media – Keeping you informed with professionally-reported local news, features, and sports coverage.