As the end of the year approaches, the to-do list for companies and managers gets long. It’s likely that somewhere on that list is ordering awards or plaques for top performers, dealers, and other employees who have gone above and beyond during the year.

In the hustle to cross off the most important items, it’s not surprising that whether those awards actually matter to the employees who get them is questioned. Don’t they end up collecting dust on a shelf?

Maybe…

But over and over again, studies from Gallup and other leading workplace success firms have confirmed that employee recognition is a significant contributing factor in engagement and retention, two key drivers of overall profitability. In fact, employees who do not feel adequately recognized are twice as likely to leave your company. And those who choose to leave because of lack of recognition are probably top performers, making this doubly painful—and costly!

The good news? Studies also show public acknowledgement with an award or certificate is one of the six forms of recognition employees value most. A monetary award also makes the top six, but so do things like private recognition from a boss and increased job responsibilities—proving that it does not take a big investment to get positive results from the energy you put toward honoring employees who earn it.

So while that plaque or award may gather dust at some point, it won’t happen before it serves its main purpose—creating goodwill and reinforcing a positive company culture with team members and dealers who excel throughout the year.

TIP: When you’re delivering your awards, it’s ideal to make sure the person doing the recognizing is either the employee’s direct manager, or the CEO/high-level leader. Gallup data found that recognition from these two relationships is the most memorable to the employee, more so than recognition from their manager’s manager, peers, or customers.

Popular Employee Recognition Plaques and Awards From PEC

Pella Engraving & Sign Company offers a range of materials and styles for employee and dealer recognition plaques and awards. From simple to modern to traditional, we have an experienced team of designers who can help you create an award that will stand out in your employees’ minds and be valued throughout their careers.

Whether you need a year-end award, an employee-of-the-month plaque, or something to honor a career milestone, PEC is ready to meet your employee recognition award needs!

TIP: If you need awards in the next few months, contact PEC soon for the best selection. Our options and turnaround times vary based on our suppliers, the complexity of your design, and the size of your order.

Sandcarved awards are a popular choice available in many shapes and sizes. We offer three materials. Graphics on sandcarved awards are crisp and have a frosted look.

With our laser engraving capabilities, PEC creates awards that are unique to the organization or company that orders them. You can customize awards like this clock with your logo and the employee’s name, plus a photo placed to the left.

Honoring deserving employees with a plaque for public display is a great choice for many groups. The plaque can include photos and a description of achievements. A classic, etched magnesium plaque with a Metalphoto portrait is quite affordable and can be quickly turned around.

To mark this season of growth, Creative Marketing and Communications Specialist Melissa Chipps was challenged to come up with new signage and wall displays. She turned to longtime friend Tim Sadler, head of Pella Engraving Company’s Sadler Sign & Design division.* Melissa and Tim worked together during the design phase, then the baton was officially handed to Tim and the PEC team. They turned Melissa’s ideas into reality in three major projects:

Headquarters Exterior Sign

First on the list was a new exterior sign for corporate headquarters. The Precision, Inc., team procured the ¼” aluminum and used their capabilities to cut out their new logo. The sign was then passed in two pieces to Pella Engraving Company. The Sadler division welded the pieces together. Then they created an installation template and manufactured brackets to install the sign into the concrete wall of the building. After the PEC team installed the sign, Gritters Electric came in and added LED backlighting so the sign can be illuminated at night.

The exterior sign was installed using brackets fabricated by PEC’s Sadler Sign and Design division.

Wall of Industries and Frosted Glass Brand Elements

In another project for corporate headquarters, the PEC team created a wall display highlighting the industries supported by PPI and PFI. High-definition color photos representing each industry were UV-printed on a thin layer of aluminum. Each aluminum tile was then attached to PVC backer pieces of different thicknesses. Brought together, the varying heights of the tiles give the display visual interest and depth. Glass panels with frosted-vinyl backing display the PPI and PFI logos and feature definitions of the terms, “manufacture” and “sanitary,” as they are used by Precision, Inc. The tiles and glass panels were installed by Tim and PEC Co-Owner Jarid Purvis in a hallway above the main lobby. Across the way, they installed frosted glass panels—also fabricated by the PEC team—that feature the corporate tagline and Precision, Inc., logo.

UV-printed aluminum tiles mounted on PVC backers of different thicknesses create a display with visual interest and depth.

The frosted glass panels display the corporate tagline and Precision, Inc., logo.

Wall of PPI Locations

For the interior of the Technology Center, PEC created another wall display, this time highlighting PPI’s four Iowa and two international manufacturing locations. Black-and-white photos were printed on five 24″ x 40″ Metalphoto® panels. This phototransfer technology permanently embeds dye into the pores of the aluminum, ensuring crisp detail and durability. Each photo panel was paired with a 24″ x 8″ plaque displaying the location name. The display was installed by Jarid and PEC team member Greg Dickenson in the main conference room of the Technology Center.

Metalphoto® anodized aluminum panels showcase black-and-white photos of each PPI location.

“I’ve known Tim for nearly 10 years and have always had a pleasant experience working with him and his team,” said Melissa. “They always seem excited when I bring something new to them, and they always accept the challenge of helping me bring my ideas to life. Pella Engraving Company and the Sadler division are my go-to whenever I need signage or display plaques.”

*In June 2019, Tim handed over the reigns of the signage division to PEC Owners Jeff Vroom and Jarid Purvis. Learn more about the signage team.

A unique process with many applications, Metalphoto requires an array of machines: developer tanks, sealing tanks, nippers, shears, and hole punchers. In recent years, demand for Metalphoto products like asset and ID tags has increased. In response, the PEC team improved its Metalphoto setup.

“We have the experience and capability to handle very large orders,” said Co-Owner Cory Vande Kieft. “With the updated workflow and the new tools we’ve integrated, our team is processing these orders even more efficiently.”

The PEC Metalphoto workshop features an open area where the nippers and hole punchers, once down the hall in the plaque-fabricating area, are installed on mobile tables. Both a new radius-corner nipper and a new shearer for cutting the metal have joined the existing equipment. One mobile table was fabricated in-house for some of this equipment, adding to the flexibility of the space.

“We worked with Medalist Manufacturing in Pella to custom build our hole punchers to run on pneumatic power,” added Cory. More shelving was also incorporated.

The combination of new equipment and a more streamlined workspace significantly increased the capacity Pella Engraving Company can offer its Metalphoto customer base. PEC is now more capable than ever of using its Metalphoto process to create high-quality, durable, and economic plaques, awards, serial tags, and more.

If you’ve got questions about a job and wonder if Metalphoto is a good option for you, contact us today!

Custom line art by PEC artist and etcher Jarid Purvis gives the monument a meaningful touch.

“Our goal was to create something really meaningful for veterans,” said Dennis Leininger of Oakdale Pride, the community organization dedicated to preserving Adel’s historic Oakdale Cemetery. Over the past year, the group has focused on revitalizing Veterans Plaza, the area around the cemetery’s flag pole that is also the site of Adel’s annual Memorial Day ceremony.

The monument is part of a larger renovation project centered around the flag pole area of Adel’s historic Oakdale Cemetery.

With funds for a new flag pole already donated by the American Legion, members of Oakdale Pride turned their energy towards building a monument to honor America’s veterans.

“We were looking for a firm we could trust to create the plaque for the monument,” said Dennis. After contacting seven firms, Oakdale Pride chose Pella Engraving Company. “We found Pella to be the most responsive, the most open, and the most confident they could complete the project the way we had envisioned it,” explained Dennis.

Oakdale Pride’s vision for the monument was simple on the surface: a door-sized limestone slab featuring a custom plaque. In addition to the seals of each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, the plaque would feature an image of three soldiers, covered by a superimposed American flag.

Early on, Traci Thomas of Oakdale Pride teamed up with PEC’s Janeen Eastwood to come up with a plan for turning this vision into reality. PEC artist and etcher Jarid Purvis dedicated 22 hours to creating hand-drawn line art for the plaque based on the photo provided by Traci and her Oakdale Pride Colleagues. The project posed several unique challenges, not the least of which was recreating the semi-transparent American flag.

Jarid dedicated 22 hours to recreating by hand this photo provided by Oakdale Pride.

“We don’t get to do art like this very often,” said Jarid. “Janeen and I worked really closely with Traci and Oakdale Pride throughout the project, which was a real pleasure.”

Jarid and PEC Co-Owners Jeff Vroom and Cory Vande Kieft also participated in the installation of the plaque at Oakdale Cemetery.

“Pella was so committed to collaborating with us and seeing the installation through to the end, you would have thought revitalizing Veterans Plaza was their own project,” said Dennis.

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Metalphoto is designed to withstand corrosion, abrasion, exposure to chemicals, and many other harsh environmental conditions.

When it debuted in 1950, the Metalphoto^® process revolutionized the label, plaque, sign, serial and ID tag, and nameplate-making industry. Once the technology was made public in 1958, it became an indispensable capability for companies around the world, including Pella Engraving.

Metalphoto is a specialized type of photosensitive anodized aluminum designed to stand up to hard use and harsh environmental conditions. The secret of its durability? After the aluminum is anodized, text and images are actually sealed inside the metal. Both steps ensure protection against corrosion, sunlight, temperature changes, abrasion, salt spray, and exposure to chemicals. One frequent PEC Metalphoto customer reported attempting to scratch their serial ID tags with a key to no avail. These steps also guarantee the plaque, nameplate, sign, label, or tag will remain smooth, crisp, and legible for years to come.

Because words and images are actually sealed inside the aluminum, Metalphoto plaques and tags will remain crisp and legible for years to come.

This amazing durability, combined with high-resolution photo and data embedding capabilities, make Metalphoto the product of choice for many manufacturers and military and government organizations, including:

• U.S. Department of Defense
• NASA
• U.S. Navy
• U.S. Army
• Boeing

Pella Engraving was an early investor in Metalphoto equipment. Previous PEC Co-Owner John Vroom had the foresight to encourage his son and current Co-Owner, Jeff, to integrate the process into the company’s manufacturing capabilities. For more than 20 years, Pella Engraving has been proud to use the Metalphoto process to create highly durable ID tags, ID plates, and plaques to fit the needs of our customers.

Check out our ID and serial tag and Metalphoto plaque services to learn more about how PEC uses anodized aluminum.

To ensure accuracy, PEC developed a unique organization system: arranging cut tags by size and installation location.

When an order from a government customer for 9,000 Metalphoto^® ID tags lands on your desk—for a battleship, nonetheless—you know from the outset that quality and accuracy will be imperative. Thanks to a well-planned manufacturing process and meticulous quality checks, Pella Engraving Company was able to deliver this gigantic order on a tight timeline to a happy end customer.

The variety in this job could have been daunting. Tags ranged in size from one-half-inch square to 20 by 24 inches. Some tags needed only one corner modified, others two—and not necessarily the same corners on each tag. “We only missed one radius corner on one tag,” said PEC Co-Owner Jeff Vroom. “We were very happy with that, and so was the construction company installing the tags on the ship.”

For signage on a battleship, the Metalphoto process is the only option because it uses Phototransfer technology to permanently embed dye into the pores of the aluminum. These tags will stand up to salt water spray and UV rays and will resist abrasion.

To reach this high standard, Pella Engraving invested significant time in planning how the order would be handled. “Organization was crucial to getting all 9,000 pieces manufactured, quality-checked, and shipped in time,” said Jarid Purvis, an artist and etcher for PEC. Jarid built a spreadsheet that divided the tags into small, medium, and large size groupings. Different part numbers indicated the final installation location on the ship: electrical, hull, pipe, or mechanical.

Tags ranged in size from one-half-inch square to 20 by 24 inches, with a variety of corner modifications.

After the tags were cut, they were arranged on tables that had been taped off into sections. After they came back from shearing and corner modification, PEC Co-Owner Cory Vande Kieft checked each tag for accuracy. On tags that needed it, adhesive backing was hand-applied.

“We’re always happy to invest the time needed to make it right for each customer, even if that means adapting or adding to our processes,” said Cory. “With our newly upgraded Metalphoto production area and equipment, we’re now able to offer even more capacity.”

To partner with Pella Engraving Company on your next Metalphoto ID or serial tag project, contact us today!

When most people visit a college campus, they don’t realize how much they rely on the many signs and plaques that guide them and keep them informed. Central College in Pella, Iowa, has turned to Pella Engraving Company many times for high-quality signs and plaques. Below are just some of these projects:

Soccer and baseball stadium donor nameplates

These Metalphoto^® donor nameplates were installed with rivets by Pella Engraving Company. In addition to the plates in the soccer stadium pictured here, PEC also did plates for Central’s baseball stadium—over a hundred for each stadium. The Metalphoto process embeds the dye permanently into the pores of the aluminum, helping the plates endure longer in an outdoor stadium environment.

Stadium donor nameplates

Central Dutch soccer donors sign

To thank their donors, Central asked PEC to create this customizable zinc sign. The foundation of the sign is one 23” x 35” piece of zinc—the visible silver portions are the natural color of the metal, while the rest is painted. As more donors contribute, PEC will engrave nameplates that can be mounted on top of the remaining silver rectangles. The pillars to display the sign were specially made by Pella Engraving.

Soccer donors sign

Douwstra Auditorium sign

At 6” tall, the letters in this sign create a striking impression. The ¼” thick acrylic letters were cut out on PEC’s laser engraver, then painted. Because Central wanted the paint to match the color of the lighting fixture mounted on wall above, Pella Engraving reached out to the lighting company to obtain a sample. For this job, PEC mounted the letters to the wall with adhesive. If a customer wants to mount cutout letters themselves, PEC can create a printed paper template for $15 to show where the studs should go, ensuring the proper spacing between letters.

Douwstra Auditorium sign

Bronze memorial plaque

This memorial plaque for Dr. Maxine Huffman was created with bronze casting, so the raised areas have a natural, classic bronze coloring. The plaque size is 16” x 24”.

Memorial plaque

Heritage Plaza dedication plaques

Because these plaques were to be mounted on concrete, PEC created specially made square stakes welded onto metal plates. Holes could then be drilled into the plates and concrete for screws. The plaques are bronze castings.

Dedication plaques

Heritage Plaza cutout sign

This sign created for the Heritage Plaza is more complicated than it first seems—to create a shadow effect, PEC cut out two sets of aluminum letters on the plasma cutter. The top set was left silver, while the bottom set was painted black. The letters were mounted with drilled and tapped studs.

Heritage Plaza cutout sign

You can view more photos of Pella Engraving plaques and signs at Central College on our Facebook page.

Etched rosettes are one possibility. These engraved floral shapes can disguise the screws while adding a vintage decorative flourish. A pleasing addition, particularly on minimalist plaques with not much other artwork or text, rosettes are also economical—Pella Engraving will etch rosettes around screw holes for no additional charge. The holes and screws themselves are only $5 more per plaque.

When a customer chooses to add rosettes to a plaque, Pella Engraving puts the rosettes on the artwork design that is submitted to the etching machine (see right). The rosettes are etched onto the plaque in the same way and at the same time as the other artwork and border, so they are the same height and match the appearance of the rest of the plaque.

Rosettes are available on zinc, magnesium, and Metalphoto plaques. The size of the rosette is determined based on the size of the plaque.

Installation tip: Rosettes and holes for screws are the kind of detail the Pella Engraving takes pride in offering to our customers. On most plaques, Pella Engraving strongly recommends customers allow us to drill the holes for them. Because we drill the holes right after the plaque is etched, before any of the other finishing work is done, we avoid drilling through the primer, texture, clear coat, or paint. Customers who choose to drill their own holes risk chipping or flaking off the finish. In addition, drilling after the finish is applied opens the plaque up to moisture around the screw holes, which leads to increased wear around the holes and voids our three-year warranty.

These tags are able to withstand even the harshest environments, as Brittany Landry of Advanced Graphic Engraving LLC testified: “We’ve ordered approximately 4,700 Metalphoto^® ID tags to be used in a marine environment. The tags are very durable, and their quality has met our every expectation.”

Another benefit is increased efficiency and accuracy for businesses. When long-standing customer Vermeer Manufacturing needed a better equipment ID tag to improve productivity, Vermeer Distribution Development Manager Chad Vander Wilt called Jeff Vroom, PEC co-owner. “We no longer have to keystroke in equipment IDs because PEC is able to print the tags with barcodes and a unique 17-digit VIN,” said Chad. “These ID tags reduce our in-house labor by nearly 80 percent and lower our ID tag inventory. They also provide greater accuracy than the previous tags. We tried scratching it off with a key, and we couldn’t do it. We are pleased with the durability.”