Company: Reagan Advertising

Markets: Utah, Central Texas, Nevada

Headquarters: 1775 North Warm Springs Road, Salt Lake City, UT  84116

Phone: 801-521-1775

Reagan Outdoor has been a leader in the outdoor industry for over 50 years.  The company was started in 1965 by William Reagan.  The company is privately held and has a billboard plant with approximately 4,000 faces in Utah, Texas and Nevada. Reagan’s Chairman William Reagan just finished a term as Chair of the Board of Directors of the OAAA and was recognized for his industry contributions this last spring with the OAAA’s The Miles Standish Award from OAAA, the industry’s highest award.

Three of Reagan’s children are active in the business: Dewey is President of the Rocky Mountain Region, Frances is Managing Director of Sales and Real Estate and President of Las Vegas; and Billy is President of Texas and New Mexico.  Insider touched base with William Reagan earlier this week to get an update on what’s new at the company.

Bill you’ve got quite a story.

I started in the out of home in 1963. I got a job working for someone in the sign business.  He had me doing lots of things, maintenance, then leasing and then selling.  I earned enough money in my first three months out of high school to pay cash for new cadillac, but I didn’t.  In the Fall of 1963 I went to Case Western Reserve as a Pre Med Student on a Football Scholarship. After my first year I dropped out and went to  worked for the the Harry H Packer outdoor advertising company selling and leasing.  They had plants in Cleveland, Toledo,Cincinnati and Utah.   On January 1, 1965 Foster and Kleiser bought Packer and after two month I was laid off because they thought I was too young.  I went to Utah to join my family as my father had been transferred their from Ohio.  In 1965 I started my own sign company out of the basement of the house.  4’ by 12’ signs to start.  I was also working at Galaxy Outdoor Advertising but they fired me when they learned I had my own sign business. I built and operated a bulletin, an 8-sheet plant and a 30-sheet plant while I finished undergraduate and Law School and practiced law for 7 years. I bought Galaxy for $7 million in 1981 borrowing all the money at 21% and subsequently raised in 1987 a $100 million to purchase the Rollins company which had plants in Philadelphia, Delaware, DC and Texas.  I spun off the other assets in 1991 and kept the Austin plant free and clear of debt.

In 2016 Reagan sold signs in Idaho and Montana to Yesco.  What was the rationale?

We bought Simmons Outdoor. Montana was acquired in the process.  We didn’t have a critical mass.  There were only 62 faces. It was a good fit for Yesco because they have a sign business in Montana.

Who’s digital billboards do you use and what have you learned about digital?

We use two vendors due to the market conditions.  You should choose a sign vendor based on local weather conditions.  All the vendors are good but certain signs perform better in certain climates.

We have found that the digital market is thin.  If you get too many digital billboard pricing erodes.  When we install new digital billboards we get 75% new revenues from advertisers and 25% cannibalization of existing revenues…Digital buys are generally shorter.  It might be a case that there’s no production costs.

Is Landmark active in your markets?

Not too much.  They’re fine.  I’m positive on Landmark.  We haven’t had any unsatisfactory dealings. They can help you sometimes when you need to deal with difficult landlords.  They won’t be too aggressive in shortening lease terms on assets that they own because they need a long term income stream for their REIT.

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