Hired Hand Signs Wins Manufacturing Leadership Award
Craft and Community
On Sept. 25, Hired Hand Signs of Turners Falls received an award for Outstanding Leadership Skills in the Manufacturing Industry at the ninth annual Manufacturing Awards Ceremony, presented by the Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus.
Over the last decade, Jess Marsh Wissemann has built her sign shop and her career from the ground up. Her unique, hand-painted signs can now be found adorning independent businesses in the Pioneer Valley and across New England.
This award is part of the Massachusetts Manufacturing Mash-Up, and the ceremony, held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, was hosted by the Massachusetts Legislative Manufacturing Caucus and other key partners. State Sen. Jo Comerford and state Rep. Natalie Blais nominated Hired Hand Signs for this award.
Marsh Wissemann started painting signs when she couldn’t find anyone to create quality signage for her family’s farmstand. She has always been ambitious, so she picked up a paintbrush and did the work herself.
Jess Marsh Wissemann
“As a signmaker, I’m passionate about elevating our region’s streetscapes with beautiful storefronts. Having my work recognized with this manufacturing award was an incredible surprise.”
Working as a traditional sign painter, she is on a mission to bring artistry and craftsmanship back to the sign industry. She noted that vinyl and digitally printed signs, while cheap and efficient to produce, don’t have the longevity and inherent character of hand-crafted signs. And, unfortunately, they cannot be restored when they start to peel and fade — they are destined for landfills. Marsh Wissemann provides an alternative for businesses wishing to distinguish themselves with signage that is produced the traditional way, with time-honored techniques and materials.
She also believes that streetscapes are defined by the character of their signage, and that protecting and reviving historic signs and hand-crafting new signage with care and craftsmanship for brick-and-mortar businesses is vital to maintain a thriving community. Through her robust social-media presence and appearances on television, she documents her process and her adventures in sign saving and sign making, with the aim of preserving the legacy of hand-painted signage and inspiring people to care about the places they live.
“As a signmaker, I’m passionate about elevating our region’s streetscapes with beautiful storefronts. Having my work recognized with this manufacturing award was an incredible surprise,” said Marsh Wissemann, who also co-created Mike’s Maze at Warner Farm in Sunderland with her husband and farm owner, Mike Wisseman. “I’m honored and humbled. It is immensely gratifying to know that my effort is making a positive impact on my community.”
Comerford said she was pleased to recognize Marsh Wisseman’s art and the value it brings to independent businesses across Western Mass. “Jess is an example to us all for her work to inspire people to invest deeply into the places they live. She is more than deserving of this Outstanding Leadership Skills in Manufacturing award.”
Blais added that the award “recognizes Jess as a visionary placemaker whose hand-painted signs are helping to define our downtowns.”
