Article originally written for evansvillesignarama.blogspot.com It is a shame that the Evansville Whirlpool plant is closing. Whirlpool has been in Evansville for 53 years. That's just one year more than us here at AmeriStamp Sign-A-Rama. That's pretty sobering. "This was a difficult but necessary decision," said Al Holaday, vice president, North American Manufacturing Operations, Whirlpool Corporation. "To reduce excess capacity and improve costs the decision was made to consolidate production within our existing North American manufacturing facilities. This will allow us to streamline our operations, improve our capacity utilization, reduce product overlap between plants, and meet future production requirements." - from WFIE 1100 local people will be out of work approximately 1 year from now. For the last several years they have been shaving jobs to try to be profitable. How will this affect Evansville? Many, many people will be adversely affected including: suppliers, truck drivers, distributors, local families (many with both spouses or the sole income earner employed at Whirlpool), nearby restaurants and entertainment and a whole slew of other businesses that have depended on Whirlpool to be in business. Is there any good news? Absolutely. City-wide: When Whirlpool opened in 1956, many said that it was the salvation of the Evansville area. Today, Evansville is a far stronger city than relying on just one company or even one industry. So I believe that Evansville itself will survive with no long term damage. Other large local companies are expanding - Berry Plastics, HH Gregg will open soon, things are happening in Evansville! Individuals: This is a scary and uncertain time to be unemployed - there's no doubt about that. I was laid off from an excellent job in 2002. It was one of the best days of my life, I was smiling as I walked out of the meeting with my supervisor as I began thinking about what is possible next. As an idealist I get excited when I think about the potential that is represented from so many newly unemployed hard-working people. How many of you will invent a new product or process? How many of you will find a better job that you didn't even know existed? How many of you will go back to school and be retrained and find that you are good at so much more than you expected? How many of you will work even harder at your next place of employment to make sure that it succeeds? Mourn. Weep. Wail. It is appropriate to mourn. It is appropriate to be frustrated. It is appropriate to vent. BUT DON'T STAY THERE! Your life will go on, you have the capability within yourself to turn this unfortunate situation into something truly remarkable in your life. I know that there will be severe pain, people already deep in debt and struggling to pay current bills will be affected most of all. Good News The good news is that you have time. Nobody (to my limited knowledge) was let go today. Plan, mourn, think, vent, and most of all dream. See this as an opportunity to do something completely new and try what you were never able to try before. If you've never set a budget before, now is the time to start. Be realistic... start saving everything you can even if you have to live off rice and beans for the next few months. Do you need cable? Do you need fast food? Is there a cheaper way to live? Prepare to come out of this time stronger and better than you are now. ...read more

AmeriStamp Sign-A-Rama, your locally owned full service sign company, is sponsoring the final home game of the season for the Evansville Otters. We want you to celebrate with us so we're giving away FREE Tickets! Game Time: 12pm September 6 (Labor Day Weekend) Location: Historic Bosse Field - Home of the Evansville Otters Price: Regular price $5 - Because you're a friend of AmeriStamp Sign-A-Rama - FREE! Special guest performance: Joette Hodgen, who sang the National Anthem for the championship game during A League of Their Own, will sing the National Anthem prior to the game Come, celebrate with us! Evansville Otters Homepage ...read more

Check out my blogger post about how to take advantage of all of the cool business tools that Google offers through their Local Business Center for free.  These tools have helped me get a better grip on managing my online presence and has set expectations and goals for future growth. Also, check out our web page showing a vehicle wrap in under 2 minutes! ...read more