SPEDA mini-grant recipient uses funds to purchase printer for customizing and personalizing metal, wood signs
Johnny Flatt has been a car guy all his life.
Since he was a kid, in fact. It took him two decades to buy the car that meant the most to him — a 1969 Camaro Z-28, the car he would take joy rides in during high school with the friend who owned it. Once Flatt bought the Camaro, he spent the next four years restoring the car only to later sell it to fund his dream of starting a business.
“I don’t have it now,” Flatt said with a smile. “I have a printer.”
That business is Flatt-Broke Sign Works, a company conceived from the belief that “every sign tells a story” and will pave the way for others to tell theirs. Flatt-Broke — owned and operated by Flatt and his partner, Kelly Mitchell — creates nostalgic, personalized, decorative signs on heavy-gauge metal, hand-crafted barn wood, or other materials. Signs can be personalized and customized to include names, photos, or other artwork.
Flatt-Broke was one of four businesses to be awarded a $2,500 mini-grant by the Somerset-Pulaski Economic Development Authority (SPEDA) in April. The financial reward is accompanied by $2,500 in marketing and advertising services from Forcht Broadcasting.
Flatt was inspired to start the business several years ago during a trip to see Christmas lights. He went inside a sign shop to get warm, where the owner approached Flatt to ask if he had a classic car. When Flatt said yes, the owner told him he could personalize a sign that featured its picture.
“I said, ‘Take my money, that’s the greatest thing I’ve ever seen,’” Flatt said.
And so began the dream to start a business like that of his own.
“When we got in the car afterward, I thought, if you can take this to car shows and put it in front of people who are passionate about their vehicles, this seems like an easy sell,” Flatt said. “Car guys love their cars. They love anything to do with their cars.”
But not just their cars — they love their communities too. Flatt and Mitchell decided to forgo a storefront, instead setting up as a vendor at car shows across the state (they are a platinum sponsor at their hometown show, Somernites Cruise). They display their signs in their vendor space and take custom orders that they make and ship after the show.
The duo has quickly learned that any sign they create that ties to the community will be the biggest seller at every show. In Somerset, for example, their most popular sign features a picture of Fountain Square, originally taken by local photographer John Fitzwater.
“We didn’t anticipate that. It just happened,” Mitchell said. “People want something that’s personalized not only with their vehicle but with their hometown too.”
To make these signs, Flatt and Mitchell needed to buy a commercial-grade printer, and that’s where SPEDA’s mini-grant — and a small business microloan from Southeast Kentucky Economic Development (SKED) — comes in. Flatt and Mitchell learned about the SPEDA program in a news article from SKED about how the organization had helped another business. So they applied for a microloan as well as the mini-grant to purchase the printer, committing to a 100 percent match. SPEDA’s $2,500 gift went toward the printer purchase, and the next $2,500 Flatt-Broke earned went toward the note.
“To small businesses, a grant program like SPEDA’s is invaluable,” Flatt said. “It gives you a leg up or cushion. I don’t think it can be overstated how this helps small businesses in the community.”
The specialized printer, which Flatt and Mitchell call their Storytelling Machine, is “a pretty amazing piece of equipment,” Flatt said. It prints on metal or wood in any size from 5-by-7 inches to 18-by-43, and in three to five minutes after printing, the sign is dry and ready. Flatt-Broke uses all American-made products and materials in creating signs.
The Storytelling Machine gives Flatt-Broke Sign Works a way to capture a memory for its customers, to keep their stories alive. And that doesn’t just include classic cars — Flatt and Mitchell have made signs for first responders, businesses and are dabbling in home decor and a collection for dog-lovers.
And what of the car that helped make the Storytelling Machine possible? It now has its own story. Flatt sold the car to a gentleman from New York, who drove to Somerset and hauled it back on a trailer to give to his parents for their 50th wedding anniversary. Turns out they got married 50 years ago in a car just like it.
“The car started the idea, but then he had to sell the car to fund the business,” Mitchell said. “So it’s kind of bittersweet.”
Learn more about Flatt-Broke Sign Works by following them on Facebook @FlattBrokeSignWorks.
