The first 1 Million Cups program of 2017 featured a new type of marketing sign and a local winery.
Guerrilla Signs began in May 2014, CEO of Engineering Russell Smith said, with a different, smaller type of sign product that was strictly for residential real estate use. The current design’s main concept is that there are no tools involved to set up or take down the metal sign, as the user utilizes the sign itself to drive the stake into the ground.
“It’s something anyone can do by themselves,” said Smith, who invented the product. “… What this product does is it empowers you to be able to go out and market your product and services everywhere you go.”
Other options for the sign include using a stand for indoors or on concrete, or attaching the sign to a trailer hitch. Smith added that the product has evolved from the first one as they received customer requests — allowing a banner on two sides instead of just one — and was even wind-tested up to 80 mph.
Smith gave the example of a lawn care company that could spend a couple minutes setting up a Guerrilla Sign with its logo and phone number to advertise while employees work at a house or business, then taking a couple minutes to take it down to use at the next site.
“When you look at what the product actually offers, it ends up saving you money,” Smith explained. “If you look at, say just an ordinary wooden frame, commercial real estate sign, those on average are about $500 — you have to pay for the material, you have to go out and paint it, pay someone to set it up and take it down, and pay for storage if you want to use it more than once. (Guerrilla Signs) is $695 and you get to reuse it, you don’t have to pay for storage or pay someone to put it up.”
Guerrilla Signs, headquartered in Springfield, are already sold nationally through sales representatives in various cities across the U.S. Smith said they plan to move toward more structured manufacturing as they add more sign products and accessories.
Wildlife Ridge Winery, about 14 miles from Sedalia in Bahner, was started by Kevin and Kristy Long in 2013. The couple built a 2.5-acre lake where the winery building sits on their farm property.
Kevin, who gave the presentation Wednesday, pointed out the large tourism impact wineries have on Missouri.
“The winery business is a really big tourism draw,” Kevin said. “About 990,000 people a year tour wineries, so it brings a lot of tourism dollars to Pettis County, the communities around. … Overall it’s about a $1.76 billion-a-year impact for Missouri, which is pretty big. It’s a lot bigger than we thought it ever would be when we started looking into it.”
Kevin and Kristy began making wine about eight years ago in small batches, and today they make about 6,000 gallons of wine a year, which is about 30,000 bottles. Wildlife Ridge wine can be purchased at 35 locations across the state, such as Hy-Vee and many local businesses like Craft Beer Cellar, Bodyworks and other restaurants and stores. Kevin said they plan to make an announcement in the next month about a new “large chain store” that will carry their wines.
All of Wildlife Ridge’s grapes are purchased from Missouri wineries, with the exception of grapes for Merlot, which are purchased from Sonoma County, California. Kevin talked about the winery’s award-winning Deceitful Red, a blend created by Kristy. It’s a popular option, as the first batch was about 350 gallons and Kevin said this year they plan to make 1,000 gallons.
Kevin said their goal is to eventually do more of their own production on site in Bahner, as right now they house their tanks in rented space at Les Bourgeois Winery, and they’d like to branch into shipping wine across the country by partnering with a company with the proper licensing.
1 Million Cups, which is open to the public, is hosted at 9 a.m. the first Wednesday of each month in the Thompson Conference Center at State Fair Community College. For more information, visit www.1millioncups.com/sedalia.
