Paul,

Indeed, your city could never be the same. About 1/3 of those with whom I've communicated have indicated they doubt if they'll go back into business; some because they had insurance and are just going to "cash out," but others because they had none and fear they could not rebuild again from scratch.

In your case, look up! It should be a gold mine; I suspect your business will shift (at least in the early days) more toward the signage/engraving end of the business because it appears there will be millions of government $ spent just for the signage. Hearing that your equipment is still intact, you should be able to aggressively pursue that market. After business gets back to normal (3-4 years?) I suspect you'll have less competition for the awards and promotional products.

Easy for me to predict, huh? I can only know a tiny part of the stress on you and your family as you make decisions about the future.

Roy Brewer
http://www.brewersales.com
Epilog/Xenetech distributor