Interview by Sigrid Tornquist

Your website has an Engineering Data page, which provides technical information regarding load aspects. It’s unusual to see such a technical page on an awning company’s website. Why did you decide to include that page?

We included that information for architects—to try to educate them about what needs to be considered. And by educating them hopefully they’ll call us to continue the conversation, and we can ultimately do business with them.

Your website’s home page also has a pledge that your company will not misrepresent itself in anything it does. Has that promise helped build trust with your clients?

Our philosophy is to keep quality high and prices in line. Our customers trust us because of good service—even ex-employees buy awnings from us, so that’s saying something. But there are awning websites that use pictures of awnings that I know they didn’t install because I’ll recognize them as ours or another ATA member’s projects. So I decided to address our commitment to representing ourselves accurately.

Sigrid Tornquist is a freelance author and editor based in St. Paul, Minn. She is also the associate editor of InTents magazine, a publication of the Advanced Textiles Association.