Built with rural Wisconsin pride, installed nationwide

Lisa Haefs

Contributor

April 14, 2025

ANTIGO – Dalton Gallus said his new business is a sign of good things to come.

Two years after its founding, Gallus said Wisco Sign is stretching its footprint beyond its home base in Antigo to throughout the Midwest and soon Texas.

“If you had told me six or seven years ago that I could be in this position today, I never would have believed it,” he said. “I’m living the dream right now, and I’m so happy with what we are doing.”

Gallus said he established Wisco Sign in 2023, with a goal of taking a process he knew well and making it better.

“Signs are more than just letters and logos – they tell a story, create a legacy and leave a lasting impact,” he said. “From small businesses to major landmarks, every sign we create carries meaning. This is why we do what we do. It’s about making a difference for businesses, communities, and people. Every great achievement starts with just a simple idea.”

Gallus, 33, said he studied auto body and welding at Northcentral Technical College and spent years in construction, including working with a North Central Wisconsin sign company.

Thanks in part to the knowledge and know-how he obtained through those experiences, he said he was inspired to take what he calls a “leap of faith,” sinking his life savings into his own business focusing on indoor and outdoor signs.

“I saw how the company I worked with was doing things and thought I could do better,” he said. “Since I had a background in construction and fabrication, everything clicked. It was more or less second nature to me.”

Slowly but surely

Though he had the knowledge, Gallus said he admits it wasn’t quite that simple branching out on his own.

When he established the company, he said he was missing one important component – a client list.

Instead, Gallus said he began driving around Antigo, Wausau, Rhinelander, Appleton, Green Bay and through North Central Wisconsin, looking at signs and making cold calls to owners and managers with suggestions for improvements.

“It was crazy,” he said. “For the first month, we didn’t get anything. I think we made 600 or 700 cold calls and only got a couple of small jobs. Word of mouth was key. Slowly, people started to see the work we were doing and started calling us back. (Business grew) from there.”

Customer service, then and now, Gallus said was key – having careful attention to detail and placing an emphasis on communication.

One recent client – Peace Lutheran Ministries in Antigo – Gallus said, ordered a mix of branding and wayfinding signs as it completed a major addition and renovation project that flipped its traditional public entrances.

“We were very pleased to be able to find a local company able to do the job,” Pastor David Karolus said. “Dalton was great to work with and was very responsive. The new signs are distinctive and clearly meet our school and church needs.”

Now with seven employees, Gallus said Wisco Sign manages all aspects of a signage project, including design and branding, planning and permits, manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

“It doesn’t matter (if) it’s a national corporation seeking a coast-to-coast rebrand or a local mom-and-pop shop looking for that perfect signage to stand out,” he said. “From concept to installation, our goal is to deliver impactful, high-quality signs that elevate our customers’ brand and make a lasting impression. The entire process is under one roof.”

The process of creating a sign from conceptualization to completion, Gallus said, is a careful one.

“There are so many different types of signage,” he said.

Exterior signs, Gallus said, run the gamut from ground-based signs used at the entrance of buildings or complexes, to tall, free-standing varieties seen at shopping centers or gas stations.

Three-dimensional letters, often illuminated, he said, can add a special touch to the facade of buildings, while marquee and digital/LED signs can show changeable information or event details.

Gallus said Wisco Sign also designs and installs billboards used on highways or busy streets.

Furthermore, the need for signage, he said, doesn’t stop at the door.

Other applications, he said, include lobby displays, wayfinding assistance to help visitors navigate inside buildings, menu boards and signs complying with Americans with Disabilities Act standards for braille and tactile elements.

Gallus said there are some key elements to good signage – including consistency in design, clarity, readability and strategic placement.

“Location plays a huge role in visibility and brand impact,” he said. “We encourage our clients to use eye-catching designs and imagery that align with their brand identity. This draws attention and helps make a lasting impression. High-quality materials not only make the signage durable but also reflect the professionalism and reliability of the business. Consistent branding across multiple locations also reinforces a company’s identity.”

A detailed process

Gallus said Wisco Sign starts with gathering information such as the site plan and survey, a review of local and state code requirements and the client’s criteria.

“From there, we begin to brand the site and design that signage,” he said. “We offer a ton of options to choose from and our designers can customize the signage to meet any expectations.”

Once the design has been finalized, Gallus said Wisco Sign provides a price estimate for the project, which typically takes three to five days to prepare.

Before fabrication can begin, he said Wisco Sign will apply for permits and engineering approvals – a crucial but often misunderstood step.

“We do all the research necessary to see exactly what the city and zoning district allows,” he said. “If necessary, we are more than willing to go through the sign variance process with the board of appeals to make sure our client has every opportunity possible to get the perfect sign.”

Fabrication, Gallus said, typically takes four to six weeks to complete, depending on the complexity of the design, followed by installation and final inspections.

“I built the company for travel,” he said. “We have all our own equipment, trucks and trailers. From design to working with cities on permits to drilling and setting footings to putting up the signs – we do every last detail.”

That mobility, Gallus said, has allowed Wisco Sign to stretch well beyond its small-town boundaries, with eight projects recently completed in Tennessee and several on the docket in Texas.

“I don’t take many days off anymore,” he said. “We’re out of state quite a bit now, and we’re down in Milwaukee all the time. Right now, we are operating from two warehouses, plus we have purchased land just south of Antigo and plan to build a central warehouse, offices, design area and showroom as soon as we can catch our breath.”

Just like those cold call days back in 2023, Gallus said persistence has been the key to gaining regional and now national clients.

“I want us to be a national company,” he said. “I’m content, but I’m not. I want us to stretch from the East Coast to the West Coast.”

Even with all the travel and growth, Gallus said he still gets a kick out of jumping in his truck and doing a little sightseeing.

“I love to just drive around town and see the projects we have completed,” he said. “It’s great to know you are helping a business grow. You feed off their emotion and it really gets you going. It’s really gratifying.”

More information on Wisco Sign can be found on its Facebook, as well as at wiscosign.com.