Jim Wafford, owner of Logan Street Signs & Banners in Noblesville, was named Business Person of the Year Thursday at the second Enterprise Awards luncheon, which the City of Noblesville and Noblesville Chamber of Commerce sponsor. --
NOBLESVILLE -- When Jim Wafford discovered a client had given him the wrong date for an event that he'd printed on pole banners he'd put around the Courthouse Square, the owner of Logan Street Signs & Banners was on a stepladder late that night making the fix so nobody would know any different.
That's the kind of guy Wafford is: dedicated, loyal and a perfectionist. He wants every job he does just right, every client happy.
And he has a lot of clients to satisfy. In fact, the sign and banner business he started 13 years ago in a 100-square-foot space in the former Noblesville Emporium on Logan Street has grown from 40 customers a month to this year more than 400 customers a month at its current 10,000-square-foot location at 1720 S. 10th St.
Thursday, the city of Noblesville and the Noblesville Chamber of Commerce honored Wafford as Business Person of the Year. He was one of six Enterprise Award recipients, narrowed from 18 finalists and more than 50 nominees.
Noblesville Mayor John Ditslear described Wafford as a "great community servant."
Chris Hamm, the city's director of economic development, said Wafford is tirelessly devoted to the community.
Though Wafford, 49, grew up and still lives on Indianapolis' west side, his life has been in Noblesville ever since he fell in love with the city 20 years ago.
The 1974 Cardinal Ritter High School graduate worked two years for the Hoosier Lottery, setting up warehouses and distribution before he was leasing manager for Noblesville Emporium, where he met Chuck Layton, who sand-blasted rocks. Wafford partnered with Layton and bought a machine to cut rubber stencils on the rocks.
"That's what led to the sign business," he said. "We realized that's what this town needed."
Layton was Wafford's first employee and is still a loyal member of the staff, which now includes four full-time and two part-time employees.
The business, which was located in the Emporium for three years, moved in 1995 to the 900 block of Logan Street. The sign business moved in 1998 to its current location, where his latest equipment is a 60-inch solvent ink digital printer that will create vehicle wraps and full-color outdoor banners economically.
Wafford has 70- to 80-hour workweeks, which means sometimes he sleeps at the shop and doesn't go home until the weekend. "That's how we get more done," he said.
He attributes much of his success to community and family support.
While Wafford supervises operations and makes sure everything gets done, his sister Deb Wade runs the sales side of the sign shop. His wife Sherry, to whom he'll celebrate his first wedding anniversary in December, runs the sales side of The Sign Guy's Noblesville Trophies, which Wafford bought and moved next door to his shop in March. His 10-year-old son William helps out on Saturdays.
Sherry said her husband is a dedicated, caring and loving man and "is truly deserving of this award."
A flattered Wafford said the honor is an early birthday present. He'll turn 50 Sunday.
"There are so many deserving businesses in town that work as hard as I do," he said. "As a small business, we don't work for awards, we work for our livelihood. So when we get recognition, that's just a bonus."
Posted 1:04 AM October 21, 2005 
