Chris Runion, president of Eddie Edwards Signs in Harrisonburg, Virginia, bought the company in 1991. At that point, he had 10 years of experience working at a large poultry company but decided the opportunity to own, operate and grow a small business was the best vehicle to provide for his family and make a difference in his community.
Eddie Edwards Signs began in 1952 as a traditional sign shop and now is a regional leader in the design, manufacturing and installation of all types of interior and exterior signage, vehicle graphics and digital electronic media. They are a full-service provider of image solutions to all their customers. Runion feels blessed, through the great efforts of their team, to have invested and adopted new and innovative technology. Since his ownership, they have upgraded to digital printing capacity, more sophisticated cranes and bucket trucks, advanced computer-aided design and manufacturing facilities as well as a sophisticated accounting system.
Runion says the eight years of the Obama administration was the most challenging period the business experienced. They saw their costs rise exponentially, their regulatory burden expanded and they weren’t able to increase revenues to keep pace. Unfortunately, they had to lay off employees, eliminate capital expenditures and work harder to control costs. However, the past two years have been exceptional. They’ve expanded their workforce, increased wages and benefits and invested in new technology and equipment. Most importantly, they continue to build and invest in their team of talented and capable workers. He wishes he could find more of them to allow the company to continue to expand.
Runion believes elected officials should address the need to create and maintain free-market friendly taxation and regulatory policies and not impede hard-working businesses from achieving success.
Runion is an active member of NFIB Virginia’s Leadership Council and remains committed to his local community through his time as a member of the Rockingham County Planning Commission, President of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, and most recently as a Rotary District Governor. It’s with that passion for public service that Runion has decided to run for the 25th House District of the state legislature this year.
