By: Deborah Johnson Wood
Grand Rapids-based Promotional Impact takes its promotional impact seriously. The company creates high-end, one-of-a-kind promotional products from eco-friendly materials and scrap goods generated by clients.
That approach has helped the company capture, and create, a growing market for eco-conscious corporations who want eco-friendly gifts for clients and employees, and that has helped the company generate two new jobs since January and three more by year’s end.
Of this year’s 30 percent sales growth, 40 percent is directly attributable to the 'green' solutions and the company’s commitment to the triple bottom line.
“We took 150 pounds of blueprints and made them into notebooks for Rockford Construction, and the edges are slightly curled because the blueprints were rolled,” says Karen Scarpino, owner. “We included a page about Rockford’s commitment to the environment. It’s that kind of thinking that’s putting us ahead of the competition.”
As much as possible, Scarpino uses local manufacturers, assemblers and printers. For a special project created for Haworth, local woodworkers made boxes out of logs dredged up from Lake Michigan. Local metalworkers created laser cut metal parts for the boxes, local finishers did the finish work on the wood and the boxes were packaged locally.
“Sustainability is so important to our clients it has to be important to us,” Scarpino adds. “The story goes beyond what goes into the piece by making sure that as much as possible is locally sourced and the money goes back into our community. It’s really important to our clients.”
Source: Karen Scarpino, Promotional Impact; Christine Hoek, Articulate Communications, LLC
Related Articles
Grand Rapids promotions company innovates first-ever earth-friendly logo products
Deborah Johnson Wood is the development news editor for Rapid Growth Media. She can be contacted at [email protected].
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.