What's in a Name? The Story Behind Team SPS

Naturally, many people wonder why we chose the name Sigma?  Some associate it with the latest cultural term which refers to a confident, but not cocky, leader.  While we appreciate the association, that was not the reason Sigma was in our name. 

The next natural question is whether it comes from an association with a Greek fraternity.   While our founder, Joe Farre, was a member of a fraternity during his college years, this is not where the reference to Sigma came from.

The name Sigma was a direct reference to the Engineering Company that our Founder, Joe Farre, started in 2006.  The name of that company was Sigma Engineering Solutions, and the reference to Sigma in the SPS name came from that association.  It was an effort to remain consistent with the branding of the companies that were owned by Joe Farre.

The term Sigma originates from the Greek alphabet.  Some people associate the Greek symbol in our branding as an “E,” but in fact, what you see in our branding is the capital version of the Greek letter “S,” which is named Sigma.

Further, the Greek letter “S,” or the sigma symbol is used in mathematics to represent the “Sum” or total of a group of numbers or functions.  So when Joe Farre decided to start his engineering company, he recognized that the spelling and pronunciation of his last name Farre, pronounced FAR-A, was difficult.  He understood that using his last name as part of his company name would likely cause confusion in branding of the company.  So, he was looking for title or phrase that was easy to pronounce, and was also easy to spell and type out.  In this case, the term Sigma is spelled just like it sounds, and the Greek symbol is easily recognizable, and also available as a font in most word processing software.  This made the symbol attractive.  Further, the mathematical term “sigma,” or “Sum” or “total” were a play on words when used with the rest of the Engineering Company’s name “Engineering Solutions.”  So, in short, Joe was trying to brand his engineering company as a “Total” engineering solution company.  This has worked well in the engineering company’s history for 20 years now, and was a natural tie to the SPS racing brands.

That history ultimately carried over into the racing operation, making Sigma a natural choice when Sigma Performance Services- now known as Team SPS was established. The “Performance Services” part of the name is simply to imply that the company does more than just racing, as we have been heavily involved in the design, fabrication and implementation of racing chassis and competition components for our own internal use.  SPS is much more than just a racing team, and we are very proud of the engineering, innovation, and leadership in the racing and performance industry that our company and team members have been involved in throughout the years.  Therefore, we find the name Sigma Performance Services quite fitting for our people, culture and mission.

Cheers from all of us at SPS!