Bob Terry, former president and chief executive officer of Farmland Industries Inc., is the new president and owner of Star Signs LLC, Lawrence. Terry discussed his purchase Monday in the company's graphics shop at 801 E. Ninth St.

Three years after steering North America’s largest farmer-owned cooperative – at the time a $10 billion a year business – through a bankruptcy case, Bob Terry is leading a Lawrence signs shop out of one.

Terry, the former president and chief executive of Farmland Industries Inc., recently purchased the assets of Star Signs & Graphics Inc., 801 E. Ninth St.

For less than $500,000, Terry is getting a business – now renamed Star Signs LLC – that brought in $4 million last year, has 33 employees and boasts a list of clients that includes the Louisiana Superdome, International Speedway Corp. and Kansas Athletics Inc.

And with the company having filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, Terry takes over a company that no longer is more than $1.8 million in debt.

“I hope we got a good deal,” said Terry, who paid $350,000 to close the purchase May 25, and agreed to cover a handful of administrative expenses related to the bankruptcy case. “The key is to make improvements in the business so we can achieve profitability.

“We kept the existing work force and the existing book of business, and stayed in the same location. The most significant changes will be investments in equipment and vehicles that were not made prior to the bankruptcy proceedings. We’re spending money to catch up, and we hope to grow the business.”

Star Signs, at its peak, had more than 50 employees before the 9/11 terror attacks. The business soon expanded into sports marketing and other ventures, trying to diversify its base of operations to account for volatility in construction and development.

The marketing venture didn’t pan out, and internal accounting problems added to woes that left the company with mounting delinquent-tax bills and penalties to go along with dozens of unpaid vendors.

Mike Vickers, then Star Signs’ president, now is out of ownership and instead is working for Terry as his executive vice president, in charge of production.

“We’re properly financed and funded now,” Vickers said. “The sky’s the limit. He really wants to grow the company.”

Terry already has hired one employee to work in sales and marketing, and he figures to hire a couple more to work in production. Work continues in the shop on the dozens of jobs still in effect, including a deal to produce and deliver hundreds of signs – from “Pershing Place” placards to room numbers, bathroom identifiers and directional signs in the parking garage – for a new IRS complex in Kansas City, Mo.

Terry didn’t intend to get into the signs business. After spending 15 years at Farmland – including nine years as general counsel, then his final two as the co-op’s top executive – he shifted gears and worked for two years as general counsel at Kansas City Southern, a $1.66 billion railroad that now has more than 6,400 employees.

He said he liked the idea of buying Star Signs because – as a custom shop that designs and makes signs for a wide array of clients – it would require an owner willing to get involved, instead of being a passive investor.

“My business experience is a good fit for the company,” said Terry, who admits being “very familiar” with Kansas Highway 10, the route for his daily commute from Leawood. “I don’t have any sign industry experience, but I have a significant amount of general business experience.”