Lockridge, John W

Hard work and determination paid off for John W Lockridge.

During these challenging days it is good to be reminded that days like these come and go. American grit provides those who use it to remain winners despite the seeming odds.

Sometimes greatness is created from the most humble beginnings. That is how John "Bill" Lockridge got started. As a newlywed Bill Lockridge worked hard daily at the local grocery as a "bagger". To supplement his meager pay he relied on his artistic abilities to scrap together some extra income. Having purchased a sign lettering book, Bill set upon learning a new trade. Lettering signs is a far different animal than drawing pictures in art class. Although the hand, eye coordination has to be there, letters are made of measurements and angles. One has to study the stroke and serif construction carefully for each font.

After work at the grocery, this ambitious entrepreneur would carry 4'x8' plywood sheets up to his rented upstairs apartment. Here he crafted his first signs. That was the beginning of Lockridge Signs. Once things seemed to be going well, Bill quit his grocery job and set out to be a full-time sign writer. He failed and found himself back at the grocery to make ends meet. Bill once again painted at night without allowing a challenge or setback to slow him. His perseverance earned him once again leaving the grocery and succeeding at his full-time sign work.

Bill Lockridge later started a billboard company with a real-estate partner. They called the new company JEL-LO. The first part was for his partner's last name and the LO stood for Lockridge. Bill created about 300 faces leveraging everything he owned with a local bank. As with many partnerships, he sadly realized that he was doing most of the heavy lifting and they needed to part ways. They sold their company to a retired 3M National Sales Manager named Tom Rainey who changed the name to PERMA.

The first billboard we pulled up to was a large setback 20 x80'. (My family today is sick everytime we pass that billboard today as I always bring up the story. As a kid, I was thinking any job that paid you to drive through a cornfield was "OK" in my book. After knocking down rows of corn we parked and unloaded a swing stage. This is a rope block and tackle connected by a ladder and a board between to stand on. A window washer-type setup is what it was. I could not have been more excited to be part of this work day. I was sharply let down after we finished setting up and Bill ordered me to the truck to sit while he went up and painted. After pleading my case, explaining I couldn't possibly be paid to sit all day. he explained my parents would kill him if he let me go up. After more pleading, he permitted me to go up and only sit. After grabbing a paint roller while he was busy and starting to roll the background, nothing was said and I was "in"!

Bill would teach me chalk lines, scales, mixing paint, and how to tie off the ropes. It panicked me to see that the manila rope is only wound around the stirrup holding the swing stage and not tied.
I smile when thinking about painting for Whiteco in the subzero weather. We painted year-round and when you feel your day is tough in the office or a sales day. try painting in subzero on the “shady side" of the billboard. Some of you know just what I am talking about!
Setting up the swing stage is an interesting ordeal. In the winter one must lose your coat and cover-alls to fit in-between the faces of the billboard. You have to climb up through between the 2"x6"s. dodging nails, and wasps in the summer. At the top. you have the width of the wooden pole as a hole to pull yourself through. Sometimes this meant you lost more than your coat and let all your breath out just to squeeze through.

Bill explained to me the first time he painted a setback billboard. He didn't know about a swing stage and only knew to rent heavy scaffold towers. After building a tower, he would letter and paint, then tear down the tower to replace it further down the sign. Sometimes when I feel my day is tough at my desk. I remember Bill Lockridge loading the pieces of scaffolding into his truck at night only to find the sun had thawed the ground and his truck was hopelessly stuck. Walking acres away at night Bill found the farmer and coaxed him to bring a tractor to pull his truck out. Then he proceeded on the two-hour drive home.

My mother would drive me to Bill s house every morning arriving at 4 a.m. We would drive two and a half hours usually and paint all day. Our days would end. arriving home at ten or eleven. Bill would wish me a good night and say I will see you tomorrow at four a.m. Our schedule was daily like that for the whole summer. You will learn ever) word to every Elvis song riding with Bill that many hours. Bill loved Elvis and was never afraid of heights. He claimed from his time as an Airborne Ranger that it cured him of fear. This photo shown is of Bill doing a handstand on a swing stage.

Bill was anxious to start another billboard company without a partner. The payments for lettering Whiteco billboards helped fund some of his neu structures. We still drive past the house that Bill started in. He would paint billboards in pieces on the wall of his two-car garage. Not even rain stopped Bill. I remember him taking panels down and using a car wash bay to letter them. He would say. ’’Let s get this painted. Cochise." The other phrase that I didn't like was. "You'll figure it out Hoss." That was short for stop complaining and work around your problem.
Bill designed his own steel structures and we dug the holes by hand. We called them "graves". Six feet long, six feet deep, and three feet wide. One day when I started digging in a snow storm I hit water about a fool down in a marsh. Giving up. I called Bill on a pay phone only to be instructed to buy some hip waders at Kmart. I did and the hole got dug with posthole diggers hammering the diggers in with a sledgehammer through the water.

Bill never saw failure as an option.
One structure we built was in a junkyard. This 14 x48' was about forty feet to the top. We used an extension ladder to reach where the panels were to be nailed on. It worked on the one side but the other side had junk cars where our ladder needed to be. As it was dusk. Bill showed up agitated. He wondered why the other side was not paneled. When I pointed to the junk cars. Bill glared at me. gruffly grabbed the rope, and pulled the panel up from the other side. He then put a nail and hammer in his palm, swung out across the panel, and nailed it up by himself. He completed each of the other panels as well. My coworker and I were speechless and knew our excuse had not held.
One day Bill was excited he made contact with Leo Burnett. We had a meeting in Chicago to discuss their new Marlboro Cowboy Billboard program. I drove to Chicago with Bill in my old Ford Maverick. Instead of a suit. Bill wore a fancy Hawaii white shirt he was proud of from his trip to the islands. Bill came out of the meeting with the most locations awarded to any company in the United States. Having a knack for finding great billboard locations we soon had all the locations installed.

Bill constructed many great billboard locations in Indiana. He had another partnership on some billboards and helped start L & W Outdoor in Indianapolis. Later he sold his part in that company.
After many years in Indiana. Bill Lockridge sold his locations to the same buyer who bought his previous company. JEL-LO. He moved to Florida.
After staying a year with the new owner. I started my ow n company but was later called by Bill to join him in the South to develop locations in Alabama and Georgia. Bill had a deal with Headrick Outdoor in Mississippi. Richard Headrick desired to expand their markets. The abilities and work ethic of Bill Lockridge got a number of us in his organization motivated to outsell any competitor we encountered.
Anyone who has known Bill will know he doesn’t miss any good locations. He has leased billboard spots all over the nation developing over 2.500 locations and has gone from a man painting
signs in an upstairs apartment to being a true legend in the outdoor advertising industry.
Just like most outdoor companies. Bill has brought his son and daughter into the business. In 2006 Bill and his son. Tony completed an incredible project in Oregon. In less than 8 months, the company leased, permitted, and erected over 117 new billboard structures. At age 60. in the middle of winter. Bill took off the suit, donned his Carhart one piece, got up at 4 a.m. each day, and ensured every sign pole was in the ground in time. This had a tremendous impact on the young individuals that participated in the project. His influence is ongoing and continues to impact those around him. He is currently pursuing new locations across the U.S. and is always looking to help outdoor operators expand.
I am forever grateful for the skills he has given me that provide my family with a wonderful life.
Bill probably chuckles when he hears people complain about how the American dream seems to be lost in this economy. He built his companies during the recession of the Eighties.

Bill knows what we all should remember: Outdoor is the most cost-effective media available. When economic times are tough, those who want to put in the lime and pay their dues should sell more space than ever.

The difference between those who achieve and those who don't are the ones who find reasons why they can't succeed when Bill Lockridge knows obstacles are for the other guy.