Millville by the Sea Memoirs

Marketing firm Borcz Dixon’s (Crofton, MD) principals Jay Dixon and Bruce Borcz contacted Arthur Goldberg, executive VP of Art Display Co. (Capitol Heights, MD), at the end of May 2008 with "good news" — a developer of a new, year-round planned beach town called Millville by the Sea, in Millville, DE, required sales-center and identification signs — and "bad news" — they needed it July 4.

Two weeks after Goldberg emailed a budgetary proposal, Art Display was hired. But the July 4 deadline remained firm.

When the team met on May 22 to discuss the marketing direction, Goldberg began to doubt the deadline’s validity. On May 28, the team drove to the site, where four model homes and a sales gallery were under construction in the middle of a cornfield. Final plans called for 3,500 residences, a 50,000-sq.-ft. cultural center and a medical facility. But the developers were confident they would have everything ready for the Broker's Party on July 11, “mercifully forgetting a July 4 opening that nobody would’ve attended,” Goldberg thought.

On June 9, Dixon, Borcz and Goldberg returned to Millville, where Goldberg presented designs for the sales gallery and the signs. The developers approved, “especially the part that it would be ready and installed in a month,” Goldberg said.

The following week, Goldberg and associate Diana Cheshmedjiev designed shop drawings and prepared images from Borcz Dixon for digital output. Before Goldberg left for a volunteer trip to New Orleans, construction was on schedule.

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While in New Orleans, Goldberg periodically checked on the job’s progress. When he returned on May 30, various stages of the job were semi-completed, but moving forward. The fabrication moved along in stages and the first completed pieces were delivered on July 7. For the following four days, the crew focused on finishing on time.

The project was completed July 11 at 2 p.m., and the Broker’s Party started on time. Art Display had completed the sign fabrication and installation six weeks from the first meeting.