COMPANY'S ON THE MOVE S2K GRAPHICS IS DOUBLING CAPACITY IN SWITCH TO CHATSWORTH.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Staff Writer

CHATSWORTH - Five years ago the $1.2 million deal caused an uproar at the Valley Economic Development Center and eventually cost the president his job. But the money, from a Japanese national, was put to good use by Dan C. Pulos.

Today he's got a successful graphics company and that Japanese investor got a visa.

Pulos is president of S2K Graphics, a play on its former name Signs 2000, and by month's end will have completed moving his 55 employees from Canoga Park to a 30,000-square-foot facility in Chatsworth. The move will double his capacity.

``That's 40 more jobs than we had five years ago and a tenfold increase in space,'' Pulos said Tuesday.

The company makes a wide range of signs and point-of-purchase materials for a variety of companies, including McDonald's Corp. and Kinkos.

When it came time for a move, Pulos did not want to go far.

``Our employees are dispersed all around the Canoga Park (area) and quite frankly we just didn't want to disrupt that. And the San Fernando Valley is pretty rich with our target businesses so there really was no need to look outside the area,'' he said.

Pulos received a finance degree from California State University, Northridge, and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, working as a chief financial officer before starting the printing company.

``I decided to look at entrepreneurial enterprises, found the sign business and took the plunge,'' he said.

Pulos, and that Japanese investor, both profited from an immigration- through-investment regulation of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service. It grants visas to foreign nationals who meet stringent eligibility requirements.

That investor had hired an attorney who contacted the VEDC about placing the money with one of its clients. Pulos' Signs 2000 was selected but some of the business assistance agency's board members were upset about a $5,700 fee paid to John Rooney, then president of the VEDC.

He resigned before an independent audit ordered by then-Mayor Richard Riordan found that Rooney did nothing wrong.

Rooney, now a turnaround consultant and chief executive officer of Mailmark LLC, a market company, said it was just a good deal for all parties.

``I think this shows that Signs 2000 has been very successful, and a big part of that reason is they had $1.2 million in venture capital,'' he said.

Bruce Ackerman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, which shares a building with the VEDC, notes that the dispute ended up a success story.

``It would not have happened had it not been for their (VEDC) involvement,'' he said.

And there are still a lot of people interested in starting their own business.

``VEDC is still putting on 'Starting Your Own Business' classes like there is no tomorrow, so the entrepreneurial spirit is as strong as it's ever been,'' he said.

Gregory J. Wilcox, [phone]

greg.wilcox(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Dan C. Pulos, president of S2K Graphics in Canoga Park, is moving his 55 employees into a 30,000-square-foot facility in Chatsworth that will have twice the capacity.

(2 -- color) Dan C. Pulos, president of S2K Graphics, center, discusses a sign Tuesday with shipping supervisor Robert Sanchez.

(3) Jason Gutierrez works on signs for McDonald's Corp. on Tuesday in the finishing plant of S2K Graphics in Canoga Park.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer