Signing On
Icon 3D cultivates a community of support
![Icon 3D is experienced in fabricating ADA-compliant braille signage, shown here.](storyassets/oregon_sw_washington/feature_stories/S20_PO_FS2_Signing-On/S20_PO_FS2_Interior1_530x370.jpg)
Icon 3D is experienced in fabricating ADA-compliant braille signage, shown here.
![The Icon 3D team is pictured at the company’s downtown Portland office.](storyassets/oregon_sw_washington/feature_stories/S20_PO_FS2_Signing-On/S20_PO_FS2_Interior2_530x370.jpg)
The Icon 3D team is pictured at the company’s downtown Portland office.
Cory Lucas, Owner of Icon 3D in Portland, Oregon, always knew that he wanted to be an entrepreneur.
His first opportunity to become self-employed happened, coincidentally, while he was working in the employment department for the city of Hillsboro, Oregon. Part of his role was to sort through the job postings of different companies, and one day he happened upon a listing for a business that pressure washes bus stops.
“I thought I could probably buy a truck, put a water tank in it and do that.”
Lucas quit his day job and ventured down the path of entrepreneurship. For a while, he did a little bit of everything —from washing cars at a car lot to building a 13,000-square-foot barn for remote control car races. Then, while he was doing work for his church, he met an older gentleman who ran a sign-making business. The two became friends, and he offered to teach Lucas the sign-making trade.
After learning everything he could about the business, Lucas branched out on his own, gaining his own customers. He moved his fledgling sign-making company, Icon 3D, to a shop in downtown Portland, where he rented space from Flair Plastic Products, Inc. (Flair Plastics), a plastic fabrication company. That move began a close partnership with Flair Plastics that has now spanned 15 years. At one point, Lucas explains, almost all of Icon 3D’s business came from overflow business from Flair Plastics.
When Icon 3D was first starting out, the company mostly created store fixtures. Today, Icon 3D creates all types of signage for a variety of commercial and residential buildings, including apartments, hotels, hospitals and schools. The business also provides luminous emergency pathway markings and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) signage.
“Every time you go to a hotel, there’s a room 38, for instance, and the room number also needs to be written in braille—we do that,” Lucas explains.
Growth After Setbacks
The business was running smoothly until about four years ago when catastrophe struck. The building that housed Icon 3D and Flair Plastics caught fire, gutting the entire interior.
“We lost everything,” says Lucas. “And we were displaced for a year.”
The event could have spelled disaster for Icon 3D, and Lucas admits he was ready to “just go pump gas” in order to stay afloat. Instead, there was an outpouring of support from friends, family, partners and customers. One customer offered up space in their own warehouse, and Icon 3D and Flair Plastics temporarily moved their operations there while their offices were being rebuilt. Reflecting on that time, Lucas is still touched and in awe of how others rallied to support him and his business.
“They would not let us fail,” he says.
That support proved to be a turning point. After about a year of working out of the warehouse, Icon 3D and Flair Plastics were able to move back into their refurbished building. They’ve been resettled for about two years, and in that time, Icon 3D has experienced a whirlwind of growth and new opportunities. Work that was once mainly store fixtures has turned into large-scale projects for high-rise office buildings, hospitals and other commercial properties.
In early 2019, Icon 3D completed its largest project up to that point when the company provided a signage package for The Rodney, a 16-story apartment building in downtown Portland. The work included interior and exterior signs in addition to luminous emergency pathway markings and signage.
Icon 3D serves as the signage partner for Providence Health & Services hospitals in the Portland region. The firm updated the design and fabrication of the signage systems to withstand above average wear and tear, standardize text and graphic layouts and quickly respond to requests from internal stakeholders. “The health care industry is important to us, and our shop and team are configured to meet their needs and budget,” says Lucas.
Recently, Icon 3D landed its biggest project to date: Portland International Airport. The company received a contract to provide signage for the airport’s upcoming expansion, including everything from gate IDs and reader boards to room and office signs. “It’s a huge project and very exciting,” Lucas says.
Paying it Forward
If you meet Lucas in person, maybe at one of the many networking events he attends, you’ll receive his business card, which states “All your signage needs under one roof.” While Icon 3D fabricates 90% of its projects in-house, the company also has a strong network of suppliers and partners they can outsource to if needed, including Flair Plastics and Prink Technologies, a Portland-based manufacturer. It’s all part of the company’s willingness to fulfill the needs of new and existing customers.
“If a customer asks for something we can’t do in-house, we have great partners we can collaborate with. We can facilitate relationships for our customers to make sure their project gets done the way they want,” Lucas says. “We work really hard to satisfy the customer’s needs, and our relationships allow us to meet those needs.”
Another important partnership for Icon 3D is with Safe-T-Nose®, which provides photoluminescent safety products. Icon 3D installs Safe-T-Nose’s emergency pathway markings in stairwells and other areas of buildings that require safety signs and markings in the event of an evacuation.
“I really love that we will have a hand in saving lives, if there ever were a crisis,” says Lucas.
Icon 3D has come a long way from its early days of being a one-man operation. Since the fire, the staff has tripled in size and includes teams dedicated to fabrication, installation and preconstruction.
Lucas is proud of how the team works together to problem-solve and meet a wide range of customer needs while ensuring that each part of a project is completed and that the final product is delivered on time and on budget. “They take pride in the work that they do,” he says.
Lucas has his eye firmly on the future of Icon 3D and is dedicated to continual improvement. For the last few months, he’s worked with Mimi Joy, a leadership coach for small-business owners, to help Icon 3D solidify its long-term goals while staying focused on the day-to-day operations of the company.
Company culture is an important part of that work. Lucas’ vision is a culture of equity, but also a culture of fun. “Fun is a goal for me,” he says. “If it’s not fun, why do it?”
Another focus area for Icon 3D is giving back. Lucas feels so strongly about supporting his community that he has plans to create a nonprofit that will work with organizations on tight budgets—such as churches or community service groups—to meet their signage needs. This new venture is one way he believes he can pay forward the incredible support he’s received from business owners, friends and family through the years.
“I couldn’t do this by myself. Running a business, being an entrepreneur, it takes a village, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without my staff and the businesses I partner with.”
![Amanda Milford](storyassets/contributors/AmadaMilford.jpg)