Company:  Roland Digital Media

Markets: Tennessee

Headquarters: 2300 W. Jackson St, Cookeville, TN  38501

Phone: 931-528-8100

Roland Digital Media operates a a plant of over 350 digital, trivision and static billboard faces in Middle Tennessee.  In addition the company has a brand consulting and website design business (you can tell because the company’s website is well-organized, simple to navigate and easy on the eyes).  Roland Digital Media is an operator associate in the IBOUSA.  Dave Roland is the company’s founder.  Roland Media uses a bright red logo and Roland is fond of saying “a sign without red is dead”.

What’s new since we talked last?

We not only had covid.  We had a tornado.  I didn’t get to spend a lot of time running the business last year.  But I got some really good people and by the grace of God we just finished out best year ever.  It wasn’t a great increase but profits were good.

You just added a new digital in Lenoir City.

We’re got a new location coming out of the Smokey Mountains in Lenoir City.  Horizon built the structure.  It has a 50 foot V.  You can read it from all four directions.  We’re providing advertising for the downtown area.  It’s a win-win-win.  We’ve agreed to finish it out in natural stone.   We just turned it on about 10 days ago.  We had to purchase the lot.  It was a remnant.  Because we’re helping with the city they gave us a variance.  Traffic is tremendous.  they just built a new bridge about the Tennessee river 1/2 mile away.    A big thank you to Horizon for doing a great job in construction.  The sign has a 50 foot V.  Instead of big I-beam spreaders it has three torsion bars.  It went together in a snap.

Dave, how did you get into the out of home business?

After failing in my first job out of college as an engineer, I asked God for something creative and that I could make a living at.  Not long after that, a lady asked me to make a sign for her.  We installed our first sandblasted wood sign on January 1, 1984.  I did not even know what sign paint was. In October of that year, we went full time in the commercial and electric sign business.  At that time, I had never even  been in a sign shop, but desire, enthusiasm and long hours will make up for a lot of mistakes.  We saved our money, lived on a shoestring, and put $80,000 in the bank. In April 1987, we constructed 3 double-faced, monopole boards.  In October of that same year, we borrowed our first $100,000 the day after the stock market fell 500 points. We, like others thought the world was ending, however 30 months later, we paid it off.