DawnSignPress
6130 Nancy Ridge Drive
San Diego, CA 92121-3223
TTY/V: 619/625-0600
FAX: 619/625-2336
E-MAIL: [email protected]
DawnSignPress: A $1,000 Investment
Joe Dannis co-founded and is currently president of DawnSignPress, a leading publisher and distributor of sign language and deaf culture related materials, located in San Diego. DSP recently moved into its own building that it purchased earlier this year.
“All my life I wanted to run a business,” Joe explains, “When I graduated from Gallaudet University, my dad gave me $1,000 as a gift with which I thought hard as to how I could invest this unexpected money. That is when I decided to go into business. I put all that money into my business and kept re-investing to watch my business grow.”
Then, with his usual sense of humor, he adds that he ate lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches during that time! “I started this business in 1979 in my one-bedroom apartment by selling deaf-related t-shirts and memorabilia.”
Successful businesses often go through constant changes and different directions as it tries to find the right marketing niche. DSP was no exception. Dannis explains “Ben Bahan and I started this business as a small operation named Sign-Up, distributing educational materials, books, deaf artwork, and communication devices in Berkeley, California. The business began to grow rapidly as we worked with scholars in the field of deafness to produce several new sign language instructional materials. In 1983, we opened a new division called DawnSignPress and gradually phased out the Sign-Up bookstore. In 1991 we moved to San Diego, and have remained.” Dannis first met his partner, Ben Bahan, while they were enrolled at Gallaudet University.
What Is DSP Today?
“DawnSignPress is a specialty publisher for instructional sign language and educational Deaf studies materials for children and adults, deaf and hearing. Highly recognized across the U.S. and Canada for unique and innovative products, DawnSignPress is the leader in publishing sign language and deaf culture related materials,” Dannis declares.
And recognition has come to DSP and Joe Dannis. In June, the U.S. Small Business Administration selected fifty recipients of their ‘Small Business of the Year’ Awards. DawnSignPress was among the winners of the Award which is based on criteria including ‘company growth, innovativeness, response to adversity, and community contributions’.
“Business has not been easy,” Dannis was quoted in an article regarding the SBA Award, “The deaf culture market is only about a million people in the United States… And competition with larger publishers is fierce… I almost gave up a hundred times, You need to be stubborn and persistent. I waited 10 years before I published my first quiet best-seller.”
The best-seller was ‘Signing Naturally’. Their move to San Diego enabled them to strengthen ties with researchers at the Salk Institute.
DawnSignPress’ product range covers high quality literature by or about deaf culture including fairy tale videos for children, the ASL Literature series which celebrates the literary traditions of the deaf community. Their focus is worldwide – they even printed a book ‘Buddhas in Disguise: Deaf People of Nepal’.
About Joe Dannis, son of deaf parents, has been married to Tina Jo Breindel for seven years and they have a five-month old son, Jed who is also Deaf. “On my spare time I walk my two dogs, bowl, play golf and work in my yard. When I have a few days to vacation, I usually go to San Felipe, Baja and enjoy the relaxed life of the Mexican culture, ride my ATV, eat fish tacos and take siestas.”
He considers himself a Reform Jew. Although he did not have his bar mitzvah, he says he had his confirmation.
Future Goals?
Dannis would like to produce three to five videos a year and publish five to ten books a year. His dream? “To travel more often!”
