A greeting card from
Paperworks Studio contains a whole lot more than a holiday hello or pleasant salutation, and what bearers of these cards may never know--unless they read this story!--is the greater good message that comes with the unusual paper products made by this Traverse City operation.
This is a deservedly feel-good story that takes the business side of greeting cards--a $7.5-billion-a-year industry--and melds it with social mission to be good to people, to the earth and the community.
The people part of Paperworks comes in the artists and employees, mentally- or physically-challenged adults who create the cards with their own hands as they learn skills that can help them move into other jobs and more independence. They work hard, exercising both their physical and creative abilities, and are involved in every part of the process, as you can see
here.
The earth and community part of Paperworks goes to the materials used to make the cards. Unwanted blue jeans become, what else, blue jean cards. Old flowers go into the paper of a greeting card instead of a garbage can. Discarded sweaters, coffee beans, beer products, all do the same, taking on a new life instead of becoming waste. Paperworks artists also make customized or themed cards from other materials.
"There's a very strong environmental aspect to them," says Brian Lewis, director of sales and business development at Paperworks Studio. "These are cards nobody else makes. They're made one at a time by people who put so much love into each of these cards … It's a great teaching opportunity on so many levels."
For 18 years, back when Traverse City special education teacher Tim Coffee decided to broaden the life and work skills of students by teaching them to make paper from pulp, card art and artists has changed and grown. Three years ago after many personal success stories, Paperworks was acquired by
Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan, and turned into a full-scale mission-based social enterprise.
Goodwill Industries has "put in a foundation for it to grow on a local and national and level," says Lewis, adding that the studio operates out of a high school and a newer, larger facility on Aero Park Drive that was the Goodwill of Northern Michigan's headquarters building. Coffee lives in Tennessee and comes back every summer to see how his idea continues to grow.
The larger facility is what took Paperworks production into figures that don't seem possible for 150 employees, who come from many different cities. By the end of this year, Lewis says, Paperworks will turn out 60,000 cards, just for the coming holiday. It's a doubled its output each of the last two years and is on pace to do the same this year.
The numbers are pretty astounding considering the labor is almost all people, not machine driven. There is the pulp machine to break down the blue jeans and flowers and other objects and materials, but forming it all into cards, drying them, cutting them, painting them, dying them, stamping them and everything else it takes for each card is almost entirely done by hand. Each card, all of them textured, is unique.
"At least 20 pairs of hands touch a card through the production process," Lewis says. "As we say there's a lot of love, impact and inspiration that goes into our cards."
For such production numbers the production facilities are pretty modest equipment-wise--though to keep up with expected to growth the hope is to purchase another machine to beat the materials into pulp.
"You have to understand our goal is to employ people and to teach them life and work skills that do prepare them to get more independence in life," Lewis says. "It isn't our goal to see what machines we can get in here to make the process go faster. So we don't have a lot of equipment. That goes back to the love, passion and inspiration … You can say pride too. They build their self esteem by working here. They're part of a team."
Paperworks cards are sold online, in specialty stores and gift shops and other businesses in and around Traverse City, including all three locations of Horizon Books. Some of Paperworks best customers are companies, the small ones like hair salons and yoga studios, and Fortune 500 firms and institutions such as banks and
Michigan State University.
"In Michigan at this point there isn't a place we aren't selling to geographically," Lewis says.
Paperworks Studio has a loyal hometown following in Traverse City and its fans across the state are growing.
"We've had great support here in Traverse City for a long time," Lewis says. "The exciting part is with Facebook, our relationship with Lee jeans,
BaaBaaZuu, we are reaching whole new markets."
Lee Jeans donates jeans for the cards. Other jeans are donated by Goodwill after they go unsold in stores. And BaaBaaZuu, a Michigan-based maker of recycled wool accessories, donated its unused scraps for Paperworks cardigan cards. Donated daisies, roses and such come from Meijer stores and go into flower cards, and coffee grounds make the the latte, cappuccino, mocha and dark roast coffee cards. Baird and Yoplait are also partners with Paperworks. Several companies give Paperworks their unneeded paper.
"We're building our store market," Lewis says. "If the stores want to be a supporter of ours we'd love for them to call."
A significant market is made up of people wanting their purchases to reflect a social conscience.
"Our cards are also known by and good for people who understand environmental and social causes," Lewis says. "If you want to buy a card for $1.99 from Hallmark, that's ok. Or you can pay a little more for our card and help change someone's life by purchasing that card, a card that has taught someone to go to another job, to self reliance."
Kim North Shine is a freelance writer based in Michigan.
All photos by Brian Confer.