Eighteen years of making Kentucky businesses visible.
Gateway Printing and Signs began as a small digital print shop on Willow Street. Today we design, produce, fabricate and install — but the operating principle has not changed: do the job properly, and the customer comes back.
Built on one press, a permit book and a lot of stubbornness.
Warren opened Gateway in 2008 with a used digital press and a belief that local businesses deserved the same quality of print and signage that national brands buy. That meant learning fabrication, learning permitting, and hiring designers who understood materials — not just software.
Eighteen years later the shop at 7 Willow St, Mt Sterling, KY 40353, United States houses a full design studio, digital and offset presses, a flatbed UV printer, a fabrication bay and our own installation crews. Everything happens in one building, which is why our timelines hold.
- Years in business
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- Projects delivered
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- Repeat client rate
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Our mission
To give every business — from a one-van contractor to a multi-site employer — access to print and signage that looks like it came from a national brand, produced by people they can call by name.
Our vision
To be the visual communications partner Kentucky businesses never have to replace — the shop that grows with them from first business card to fifth location.
Four principles we actually enforce.
Honest recommendations
We quote what the job needs, not what pads the invoice. Sometimes that means talking you out of an upgrade.
Craft over volume
Every piece gets a set of human eyes before it ships. Speed matters, but not more than getting it right.
Local accountability
We live here. If a sign fails, we are the ones on the ladder — usually the same week.
Clarity always
Plain-language quotes, realistic timelines and a single point of contact from first call to final install.
How the shop grew.
- 2008
The doors open
Gateway starts as a two-press digital print shop on Willow Street with three employees.
- 2012
Signage division launches
Adding fabrication and a licensed install crew turns Gateway into a full-service visual partner.
- 2016
Large format expansion
A flatbed UV press brings rigid substrates, wall murals and vehicle graphics in-house.
- 2020
Design studio formed
In-house designers join so clients can go from blank page to installed sign with one team.
- 2024
Fleet & multi-site programs
Dedicated programs for clients managing signage across multiple locations and vehicles.
- 2026
Eighteen years in
Over 2,400 projects delivered and a repeat client rate we are genuinely proud of.
The people who touch your project.
Warren De Laza Declines
Owner & Founder
Runs estimating and client strategy. Eighteen years of knowing which substrate survives a Kentucky winter.
Elena Marsh
Design Director
Leads the studio. Specializes in identity systems built to survive at both two inches and twenty feet.
Ray Coleman
Production Manager
Owns color, schedule and quality control across the digital, offset and flatbed floor.
Jesse Combs
Lead Installer
Licensed, insured and permit-fluent. Has hung more channel letters than anyone in the county.
Credentials that matter on a permit application.
- Licensed and insured sign installation crews
- G7-informed color management workflow
- 3M and Avery certified wrap materials
- ADA signage compliance experience
- Kentucky permitting and code familiarity
Where we show up locally.
- Sponsor of Montgomery County school athletics
- Donated signage for local nonprofit fundraisers
- Apprenticeship placements for design students
- Discounted rates for community events and churches
- Recycling program for substrate and vinyl waste
Why businesses choose Gateway.
One team, one invoice, one accountable partner — from the first sketch to the moment the sign lights up.