Sub-Total: $0.00
Palm Beach airport flying high with signage windfall to Trump all others
22 July 2026
Whatever your opinion on the recent decision by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to rename Palm Beach International Airport after President Trump, one company which is unlikely to be r5aising any objection is the Palm Beach County Graphics Division, the airport’s in-plant signage producer. The Palm Beach County Department of Airports has provisionally budgeted USD$5.5m to make the name change, with half of that coming from the State budget.
Plant Manager John D.L. Johnson realised the scope of the work after walking through the airport on his way home from an In-plant Printing and Mailing Association 2026 conference with Assistant Manager Carlos Duenas, commenting: “We counted dozens of signs just walking from our gate to baggage claim, so there will be hundreds of signs to replace both inside and outside wall, as well as window graphics, A-frames, traffic signs, and more.”
The airport has already placed orders for more than 200 signs, keeping the in-plant’s 65” Roland TrueVIS VG-640 printer/cutter and GBC Spire III laminator suitably busy. The vinyl adhesive material is typically mounted to coroplast, foamcore, and aluminium, before being turned over to airport staff for installation.
The largest and most visible sign the in-plant has printed so far was the overhead highway sign (pictured here) welcoming people to the airport. It comprised seven 4ft. wide panels, each 12ft. high and with a total width of 28ft.
To instal the sign, the airport maintenance crew removed the seven panels from the existing overhead sign structure, flipped each panel over, and cleaned the bare aluminium side, applying the new graphics there to save money. The new background was produced on 3M reflective material that had been flood-printed dark blue. The white lettering was cut separately from vinyl on the Roland cutter and then applied across the assembled panels. Wherever the lettering crossed a seam, the vinyl was carefully trimmed so the panels could be separated for installation. Once the graphics were complete, the maintenance crew riveted them onto the overhead sign structure.
With more than a little controversy around the decision to change the name of the airport, Johnson adds: “This particular sign has appeared in multiple national news reports, which has actually been pretty exciting for our team. It was even on the front page of the Palm Beach Post newspaper and social media has been blowing up with that.”
Johnson views this signage project as part of the in-plant’s contribution to the Palm Beach community, similar to other projects the in-plant has had a hand in, such as mailing face masks during COVID and printing medical labels for the fire department.
With a small team of just 11 employees, Johnson concludes: “What we what do, essentially contributes to our community. So when this whole project came up, we just said ‘we’re here and we’re ready.”
