Thank you for visiting
The Brace Enterprise Online!

For all who work and deal with me, Ruth Brace, you know I am dedicated to service, quality and excellence in our business of signs, lettering and other such services. You’ve even called me the one-stop sticker lady! 

I am a small, woman owned business and a GSA small purchase supplier. Our business has a good deal of myself and a touch of class which echoes our name throughout the chains of command within the Coast Guard. We started working with the Coast Guard about 1990 listening to your problems, requests, hardships, and success stories.

Not only did I hear your problems and meet many of you to see your problems, but I worked with you to find solutions for most of them. I then slowly geared myself and business to serve these problems and needs. You asked us to incorporate all shipping charges into our prices. All prices are FOB destination within the continental United States. Minimal charges are added to any small out of continental U.S. orders and overnight rush orders.

Our USA made materials are premium-quality, high-performance 2-mil cast vinyl's, far superior to "government-grades" that were stored, stockpiled, and often outdated materials from warehouses only a few years ago. By the time the lettering and shields made their way to the boats the adhesive lost it’s stick, the transfer tape was melded into the vinyl and unable to be removed, and rubber rollers and "edge-sealer" with a 5-page MSDS was being sold to you as a bonus product to make it stick on your boats.

We have only the highest quality materials from the best manufacturers. There’s no excuse to put your hard labor into a product that isn’t worth your time, which is why we put our money into quality materials. The longer these vinyl's sit around the harder they become to work with. I order materials daily to insure they are the highest of quality. Your order is cut, masked and shipped normally in the same day you order. 

The Coast Guard Shield requires 13 stripes. I was shown Coast Guard shields you had been supplied with that had anywhere from 7 to 17 red and white stripes and they faded out in 2 or 3 months to plain white vinyl in the hot Florida sun. The colors weren't even the same from one batch to the next. The prices you were charged for these poor-quality materials were more than double the cost of what we charged you. You even had to pay about four times what it should have cost for shipping.

You wanted help with this so we began to supply you with the correct Coast Guard shield to scale with the correct colors and stripes. Our screen printed shields are made from the same high quality vinyl and instead of printer inks we use only the highest quality fade-resistant vinyl inks. The shields are scaled to the required sizes. If you could calculate the man hours spent replacing the old shields every three months, our shields pay for themselves a hundred times over.

There are some suppliers providing vessels with incorrect products. The Blueprints and Commandant required specifications are what our products are made by. We are right down to the book with our fonts, typefaces and colors. We provide some of the shipyards with all of the materials from the get go. Some other factories use other sources. These sources know nothing of these specifications. They just cut out letters and stick them on.

Our products, materials and specifications are consistent. Try getting the other companies to replace a single letter. They do not even remember what font they used for your boat. If you buy from us, no matter what you order, everything is consistent down to crossing the "T's" and dotting the "i".

You do not need to order a whole new legend and cut it up to repair damaged letters. If you damage a single character or a few of them just order what you need to fix it. If you damage the "GU" in U.S. COAST GUARD in a rescue, simply order a new "GU" for $5 and have it on in about 3 to 4 days. Accidents happen so I have no minimum order.

We supply you with instructional guidelines, and materials to help install your lettering - at no extra cost. These instructional sheets can be sent to you, downloaded or printed right here online. Just follow the navigation bar on the right under Installation. I have created the instructions to aide you with the installation of our products to make your job easier and the lettering application struggle free.

We have expanded our business with you throughout the years to better suit your ever growing needs. We make call sign boards and all ribbon boards which are awarded to your vessels, logos to decorate your flag boxes and Brow Dodgers; station and trailblazer signs for your unit. We specialize in superstructure lettering, legends, stickers and panels you require such as "Ammunition Far Side", "Pyrotechnics", "Battledress Arrows", "Fire Station Panels", Photo Luminescent rolls & panels, WTD, QAWTD, QAWTES panels and vent lettering and much more.

I know the vinyl industry products, pricing, and problems. There are competitors out there selling cheap materials, charging for shipping, having long delivery times, backorders, broken promises and are in it just to make a buck. This is not our way. We demand the best materials, try to solve your problems, and help you in every way. I will not deal with any of these lesser than best quality materials, they do not meet my standards. There’s no excuse to put your hard labor into a product that isn’t worth your time. Should you encounter any problems, I am here and will work to solve it with you. Some people actually want us to make them cheap signs. We must refer them to someone else as we only do the absolute best we can with the best materials.

We have recently raised our prices. Costs of materials have gone up as well as shipping.  Our prices are still unbeatable because your high volume orders give us discounts from our suppliers. You have shared your satisfaction in working with us. We appreciate your trust and enjoy working with all of you. You are always polite and courteous. Know we are doing our best to be there for you when you need us as we know you are on the front line for us.