--- title: "FASTSIGNS Recognizes Achievements and Honors Franchisees during 2020 International Convention in Phoenix" url: https://burnaze.com/article/47201be3-a8d9-4ce8-abba-a52d32c5d07a source: "Franchising.com" original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20200205_fastsigns_recognizes_achievements_and_honors_franc.html category: "Suppliers" industry: "Franchise Industry" segment: "Suppliers" topics: ["Development & multi-unit"] published: 2020-02-05T12:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T04:09:28.372Z image: https://imgs.franchising.com/brands/social/fastsigns.jpg --- # FASTSIGNS Recognizes Achievements and Honors Franchisees during 2020 International Convention in Phoenix **TL;DR:** FASTSIGNS recognized achievements and honored franchisees during its 2020 International Convention in Phoenix, which was attended by over 1100 people. The event celebrated a successful year for the FASTSIGNS network, with system-wide sales reaching a record $541 Million in 2019. *originally published in Franchising.com on 2020-02-05. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20200205_fastsigns_recognizes_achievements_and_honors_franc.html).* ## Story Over 1100 people attended comprised of FASTSIGNS franchisees, center team members, 175 first-time attendees, exhibitors, and corporate staff members. Attendees represented 359 center locations in nine different countries worldwide. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in general sessions, educational sessions, peer panels and roundtable discussions. Highlights from the event included hearing renowned keynote speaker, author, American businessman and motivational speaker, Chris Gardner, share his message of perseverance and personal responsibility in times of crisis. He shared themes through his own triumph over adversity while homeless on the streets of San Francisco with his young son, to his subsequent success as a stock broker, CEO, author of the best-selling autobiography, The Pursuit of Happyness and Associate Producer of the film based on the book. Additional speakers from Click2Sell and CareerPlug educated franchisees in various breakout sessions. Attendees also heard Anthony Iannarino, Founder of B2B Sales Coach & Consultancy and bestselling author, who shared insight into Level 4 Value Creation. On the final day, attendees had the opportunity to listen to other successful FASTSIGNS franchisees during the Secrets of Success Panel: Thriving in Challenging Times. “2019 was yet another impressive and record-breaking year for FASTSIGNS,” said Catherine Monson, CEO of FASTSIGNS International, Inc. “Our annual convention brings our franchise network together to recognize, honor and celebrate their many achievements, as well as to engage in educational and networking opportunities to kick off the year.” Highlights from the 2020 convention include: - 2019 system-wide sales reached a record $541 Million. - 152 FASTSIGNS/SIGNWAVE centers exceeded $1 million in annual sales, including 19 centers achieving over $2 million, four centers achieving over $3 million, three centers achieving over $4 million and one center achieving over $7 million in annual sales. - The FASTSIGNS Award, which recognizes the franchisee who best represents the FASTSIGNS name in both the business community and within the FASTSIGNS network, was awarded to Cindy and Phil Bacon, franchisees in Chattanooga, Tennessee. - The *Wide* Format & Signage/FASTSIGNS Project of the Year was presented to Rick Bult from Saratoga Springs, New York for his team’s work with Maggie McFly’s. - FASTSIGNS held the largest vendor show to date with 164 vendor booths. - GRIMCO was presented the FASTSIGNS Vendor of Year Award - 10 franchisees and their center teams were recognized for outstanding sign and graphic projects in the 2019 FASTSIGNS Customer Solutions Awards, which included grand prize winners (name from location). - At the annual Saturday, Breakfast with a Purpose, convention attendees packaged over 20,000 meals for Phoenix area hungry families through the non-profit, Feeding Children Everywhere. “This event celebrated an incredibly successful year for the FASTSIGNS network and sets the stage for an even more successful 35th anniversary year for FASTSIGNS in 2020,” Monson said. FASTSIGNS International, Inc. celebrates its 35th anniversary in business in 2020 as the leading sign and visual communications franchisor in North America, and is the worldwide franchisor of more than 700 independently owned and operated FASTSIGNS® centers in 9 countries including the United States and Puerto Rico, Canada, Chile, England, Grand Cayman, the United Arab Emirates, Malta, France and Australia (where centers operate as SIGNWAVE®). FASTSIGNS locations provide comprehensive signage and visual graphic solutions to help companies of all sizes and across all industries attract more attention, communicate their message, promote their products, help visitors find their way and extend their branding across all of their customer touch points. FASTSIGNS has been ranked the #1 franchise opportunity in its category in Entrepreneur magazine’s Franchise 500 for the past four years, a 2019 Top Franchises for Veterans by Franchise Business Review and a 2019 America’s Best Franchises to Buy list by Forbes magazine. ## Entities - Franchising.com (publication) - Franchise Industry (sector) - Multi-Unit (company) - Phoenix (location) - FASTSIGNS (company) - franchise network (topic) - systemwide sales (topic) - awards and recognition (topic) - Catherine Monson (person) - franchise convention (topic) - Grimco (company) - vendor show (topic) --- Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20200205_fastsigns_recognizes_achievements_and_honors_franc.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/47201be3-a8d9-4ce8-abba-a52d32c5d07a).