about Us

In January of 2000 Shawn Monahan began his business, Critical Signs and Graphics, primarily lettering race cars and occasionally working on commercial vehicles. Shawn's first year of business thrived from word of mouth referrals only! As a result, the following year Shawn developed an amazing amount of business from the quickly spreading news of his excellent quality and service.

For the first three years, Shawn operated Critical Signs from his home garage. Quickly business began to boom, and Shawn could no longer accommodate the demand from home, so he opened his first commercial location in September of 2003 on Boston Post Road in Waterford.

To keep up with the growing business, Shawn’s brother James (better known as Diego), joined forces with Shawn and Critical Signs. They decided to add screen printing and embroidery to their list of services, thus changing their name to Critical Signs, Graphics, Screen Printing and Embroidery, LLC.

The property in Waterford sold, and Critical Signs was forced to make a move. Born and raised in Waterford, Shawn and Diego sought to keep the business in their home town but were unable to find adequate space to fill their customers’ orders.

As such, they chose to relocate and expand to a 1000 square-foot showroom with a 2000 square-foot workshop on Long Hill Road in Groton. Business continued to grow, and eventually the opportunity arose to move back to Waterford. They grabbed it – an 8000 square-foot industrial space on Route 85 – and it’s now their current home!

Shawn and Diego thrive on quality and service, which led to their slogan "Your Image is Our Business."  Together, Shawn and Diego continue to successfully operate what is now known as Critical Signs, Screenprinting and Embroidery, LLC.

Although race cars now only make up about 10% of their total business, they still enjoy helping racers.

Shawn and Diego have been racing for many years, most recently at the Waterford Speedbowl. Together they have won over 25 main events and have received awards for pit crew of the year, most popular driver, most improved driver, and rookie of the year. Both Shawn and Diego race a Modified at the Waterford Speedbowl but due to business demands, are running limited racing schedules at this time.

Thank you for visiting www.critical-signs.com. We look forward to working with you very soon!

Sincerely,

Shawn & Diego Monahan