Econoline Signs, Inc., a Sonoma County success story, was founded by brothers, Richard and Bill Bourns, in 1963. They first opened for business as Econo-Line Signs on Sebastopol Road, just across from the Exchange Bank, in Santa Rosa, California. The young Bourns brothers had little money, but they had skill, and high hopes for the future. When they opened their doors, sign painting was still a tr
ue craft. There were no computers or software to do the work, only the skill and talent of the individual sign painter, which took years of practice. Not just anyone could make signs. Richard started early in the trade at thirteen years of age, in 1958. He received his training from the journeymen at Santa Rosa Neon Lite Co., where he benefited from their decades of experience. Because of this start, he became the youngest journeyman sign painter in the state of California, at the age of eighteen. Bill was a custom car painter and pinstriping expert. They were well suited to the task of crafting signs. For two years, Richard and Bill built a solid reputation in Sonoma County on reliability and ingenuity. Their determination, talent and "can do" attitude gained a solid future for the young company. Then, Bill left to pursue other endeavors shortly after Econo-Line Signs opened. About that same time, Richard met Margaret Sutton, his future wife. She began working with him at the company as his office manager and bookkeeper. Richard also brought in another journeyman sign-painter , "Frenchy", to help with production. The staff was growing! Richard married Margaret, in 1964, making her a partner in the business. (They have now worked together for five decades!) They purchased a mixed-use property on Cleveland Avenue that had a house for their future family at the front and room for their expanding company immediately behind. They built a shop on the back of the property and the business grew at a fast pace. Soon, they employed fifteen people. Ultimately, the house was sold/removed to facilitate additions to the existing building. A much larger production area and office were constructed for the growing company. Econoline Signs was incorporated in 1977. By 1980, Econoline Signs, Inc. had already grown out of its expanded space. A new property was acquired in a new development on North Dutton Avenue, Santa Rosa Business Park, to build a 14,000 s.f. Richard and Margaret employed over twenty people by this time. The corporation occupied the building on North Dutton for another six years, until they built their current facility at Empire Industrial Park, in 1986, in North Santa Rosa. By then the business was moving even farther toward the future, steadily gaining in production with the assistance of computerized machines and printers. Today, the art of making signs at Econoline Signs, Inc. occurs with experienced craftsmen utilizing state-of-the-art software and machines to produce quality signs and graphics. The true craft of sign making lives on, but with the future of technology opening up grander avenues of creativity. Still a family–owned operation located in Sonoma County, the second generation is taking over. Richard and Margaret's son, Steven, brings new concepts and an inherited passion for sign making to this multi-generational corporation, while a third generation waits in the wings.
