The honor was awarded to the Bloomington FASTSIGNS center for its donation of “welcome home” banners to family members with soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard’s 34^th Red Bull Infantry Division, the 175^th Forward Support Company, the 204^th Area Support Medical Company and several Operational Mentor Liaison Teams. They also donated banners to any family with military personnel returning from a war zone who lived in Minnesota or served with a Minnesota unit. When it was time for the soldiers to begin returning home in early 2010, owner Sue White and her team ensured that every family who wanted one had a banner in hand with which to greet their returning loved one.

“When it came to creating the banners for the Red Bulls, we had a very small window of time in which we were able to produce them,” said White. “Luckily, the other Minnesota FASTSIGNS centers were happy to step in and helped produce about half of the banners. This also gave families the ability to pick up their banner at the location that was most convenient for them.”

Presented by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Best in Business Award honors members of the business community that support and accelerate the region. The Best in Business Awards dinner, which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 10, will honor the six companies who have excelled, grown and supported the community in unique and meaningful ways.

“It means a great deal to us to be recognized with this award but, really, the best reward was getting to show our gratitude and give back to those who made the ultimate sacrifice,” said White. “It was a wonderful feeling to work on those banners because every request meant someone was on their way back home.”

White, who opened the Bloomington FASTSIGNS center in November of 1993, was also recently honored with the Small Business Commerce Association’s (SBCA) 2010 Best of Business Award, in the Designers category.

“This year, several units have been redeployed and another 2,500 Red Bulls are getting ready to leave,” said White. “We’re hoping that all will return safely in 2012 and we will be gearing up to make sure that their families will have “welcome home” banners if they want them.”

FASTSIGNS^® helps businesses, organizations and events solve their visual communications and marketing challenges—large and small. From the simple… to the simply impossible™. The Bloomington FASTSIGNS center provides consulting, file transfer, design, production, delivery and installation for a full range of custom sign and graphics solutions. For more information, contact them by phone at (952) 888-4058, visit them on the web at www.fastsigns.com/190 or use a smartphone to visit m.fastsigns.com/190.

Click here to view an image of the art that the Bloomington FASTSIGNS^® center used to create the welcome home banners for soldiers in the Minnesota National Guard’s 34^th Red Bull Infantry Division.