Man Donates Entire Company To Ohio Schools

BEREA, OH - Doug Kawiecki has never been one to follow the road most traveled. He abandoned the comforts of corporate life to strike out on his own with a franchise sign making business. He left his franchise to found his own, independent sign-making company. And now he's leaving that nearly 24-year-old company to the Berea City Schools.

ACM Signs & Graphics, Kawiecki's company, is being donated wholly to the district. It will become part of a new entrepreneur program at the Berea City Schools in the 2017-2018 school year.

The donation helps to fulfill the unique vision of Superintendent Michael Sheppard. In surveying school districts across the nation, Sheppard saw a growing trend in innovative entrepreneur programs that teach students how to operate a profitable business. Sheppard wanted to create such a program for his students.

Enter Kawiecki.

The two men had multiple conversations about entrepreneurship and business. They also talked about how neat it would be for the district to provide students with real-life work experience, to give them actual insight into running a company, maintaining profitability, acquiring materials, etc.. Kawiecki, whose wife works as a math teacher in the district, was intrigued.

"Sheppard asked what my plans for the future are," Kawiecki told Patch. "I said I’m not going to do this forever."

As he contemplated the future, he also reflected on his craft. Sign making is a puzzle, he said. It starts with a request from a customer. They want a sign created or replicated. With the customer's vision in-hand, your puzzle process begins. You have to take the request and figure out the best way to meet their needs and how you can do it with good, quality material, and at a reasonable price.

"I thought it would be a great vehicle to carry the entrepreneurship concept," Kawiecki said.

So he decided to do something off-the-beaten path and donate his entire company to the school district. ACM Signs & Graphics will now be run through the school district, and will be run by students and teachers at Berea-Midpark High School.

Kawiecki will stay-on as a consultant, helping the art department understand the process of sign making and the mechanics of operating a small business.

"Berea already has their amazing art program and visual arts department that is just unbelievable," Kawiecki said. "They have an incredible air brush program. I will just be assisting those teachers in the craft of sign making and small business know-how."

The business model for the company won't change. Real customers will still request real signs and pay with real money. The stakes will be real.

“The aim of education is to not only help our students be successful within school, but to ensure that students succeed beyond school. This unique program will greatly enhance our learning opportunities for students,” Sheppard said in a statement.

For Kawiecki, it's also an opportunity to give back to the community that helped mold him. He graduated from Berea High School in 1980. It's the same school where he met his wife, became high school sweethearts, and learned how to live happily ever after.

It's also the same town he's called home for the past three and a half years, after moving home from Strongsville.

"We love Berea. We love the houses. We walk through the center of town," Kawiecki said.

Photo from Google Earth