Banner year

Business activity: A devastating fire in 1992 - determined to be arson that destroyed the building and all its contents has failed to stop Zane Williams Inc.

The family owned sign, banner and decal company was back in business four days after the fire and is now in its 41st year in the city of St. Louis.

Started by Zane Williams in 1959, the company is owned by his son, Jeff, who has found a niche providing pole banners. Nearly 90 percent of the banners in the St. Louis area come from Zane Williams Inc., which is the second-largest provider of pole banners in the country.

Sales are split about 50-50 between the metropolitan area and out-ofstate. Through a network of 12 distributors, the company's "Banner Up" line is sold across the country Locally, the company maintains the Zane Williams name in its sales.

All major St. Louis professional sports teams have banners printed by Zane Williams. The new Cardinals banners which surround Busch Stadium came off the presses recently. The company got a boost during the Rams run to the Super Bowl title, producing Super Bowl banners. The Blues banners outside Kiel also are Zane Williams products.

Zane Williams presses turn out banners and signs as large as 4-foot-by12-foot with some of the most noticeable signs being those on Bi-State buses.

Taking the film process in-house about four years ago has been a big boost. Producing its own film has cut the cost from $2,500...