May Open House at TS Designs
Every month, TS Designs hosts an Open House. It’s one of the ways we backup our claim of being a transparent business. We open our doors and say, “Yes! Come in! Spend the afternoon with us and see what’s behind the scenes!”
Our next Open House is scheduled for Friday, May 10th. As always, it will be from 2pm to 5pm. Wear comfortable shoes that are appropriate for the outdoors.
Not only will you be walking around our Production Area (where we print the t-shirts), but we’re also going to take you out to the garden.
**Remember that it’s still a little soggy from all the recent rain. So, good sturdy shoes that aren’t afraid of a little mud are the best bet for footwear. **
And don’t forget to bring $5 in case you want to grab a tee from our Extras Bins.
Email jen@tsdesigns.com to confirm your attendance.
We can’t wait to see you!
TS Designs in the Huffington Post
It’s pretty exciting. Getting an email from the President of the company that he recently did an interview with The Huffington Post. The publication has an impressive reach to the online community – and the more people who hear about how TS Designs is impacting the sustainable apparel market, the better our chance to keep having the opportunity to do what we all love – offering people sustainable t-shirts and Eco-friendly printing options.
Comments on online articles are often a lively place. It’s a great place for continued discussion and debates to develop, or…as in the case with this article written by Kim Bhason: name calling, mud slinging and much-to-much use of symbols like !!!! and $$$$. Kidding aside, it’s really interesting to see such a wide range of feedback from readers.
These are just two comments that were grabbed early after the article was posted. At the time of this blog post, there were 490+ comments. Just taking a few minutes to read through them gives us the confirmation that there’s still a lot of education that needs to happen, so that consumers can understand the real cost of apparel and how important it is to support sustainable initiatives within the industry.
And that’s what we’ll keep doing, because we feel that it is an important message.
Limited Edition Carolina or Bust Tees
click to zoom
Congrats to Meghan and Duncan at High Street Design! They are the winners of our first design contest of 2013.
For a month only, you can order this awesome limited edition graphic.
Here’s what you need to know:
- These shirts are from our Cotton of the Carolinas line – made entirely, dirt-to-shirt, right here in North Carolina and impacting over 500 jobs along the way.
- The fabric is ringspun and printed with REHANCE – it’s soft, durable and has a no-feel print.
- We’re taking orders until the end of May and then will produce the shirts to order. You’ll receive yours by the end of June.
- Sizes available are Adult S – XXL and Ladies S – XL.
Bringing It Home – Hemp Documentary Screening
The filmmakers of Bringing It Home are excited to announce their North Carolina premiere and audience engagement campaign fundraiser with The Abundance Foundation.
Bringing It Home is a documentary tells the story of hemp’s past, present and future through interviews with hemp business leaders and entrepreneurs from all over the globe, historical images and media clips, and footage filmed in the U.K, Spain, Washington D.C., California and North Carolina. The documentary aims to magnify dialogue about hemp in order to facilitate America’s transition to a more informed, sustainable, and healthy future. You can learn more on the main website.
At TS Designs, we see how bringing industrial hemp back to the States would improve our economy. Hemp is easy to grow and it has so many uses, can be made into so many different useful products – and that means new jobs! And, to address the marijuana discussion, industrial hemp is not the same plant. In fact, it cross pollinates with marijuana and makes it less powerful. It’s time to realize industrial hemp and marijuana are not the same thing, so they shouldn’t be regulated in the same way.
We encourage you to attend the Bringing It Home screening to learn more!
When: Friday May 17th, 7:00 -10:00 p.m. (Rate Date: May 18th)
Where: Piedmont Biofuels, 220 Lorax Lane, Pittsboro, NC
Advance tickets are $15 and $20 at door day of event. But why wait? Go ahead and buy them now on the Bringing It Home website! Plan to bring your lawn chairs (or blankets) and your eco-friendly, reusable water bottle! There will be refreshments and live music too! Invite you friends and make it a night out!
The Logistics of Cotton of the Carolinas
We absolutely love hearing from groups who want to use TS Designs and the Cotton of the Carolinas project within an educational setting.
It happened again just recently. Jennifer H. from Caldwell Community College (Watauga Campus) in Boone, NC reached out to let us know that her team had chosen to research our company and present our process in their Logistics Class. As you can see, they highlighted some important facts from our Cotton of the Carolinas project.
Collaboration of Farmers and Manufacturers
When the Cotton of the Carolinas concept was introduced, industry professionals scoffed at the idea that farmers and manufacturers would actually make a concerted effort to work together to create a final product. Industry standard is that cotton is grown somewhere; and manufactures get their goods from that “somewhere.” It’s never as real as buying from the cotton farmer in the next county within the same state. And that is what Cotton of the Carolinas wanted to be – REAL.
Dirt to Shirt
We say made in America with pride. But it goes even beyond that. It starts by being grown in America – American soil and American farmers growing both conventional and organic cotton. And Cotton of the Carolinas gets even a little more detailed than that! We use NC dirt on NC farms to grow our cotton. We really like calling Carolina home – and we want to do all that we can to support our local area! So, we keep our cotton and make sure that our neighbors, who also happen to be textile experts, are the ones who benefit from what’s been grown. It’s really a great way to support local business!
Low Transportation Footprint
Because we keep all the activity right here in our country and within our state, we can keep our transportation footprint lower than the industry standard. All the stages that make up a supply chain could require thousands and thousands of miles of traveling. Just think about it – importing cotton from India or Egypt so that a tee can be made in the USA already puts a lot of miles on the final product. The Cotton of the Carolinas project keeps everything within about 700 miles. We’re doing everything we can to make sustainable choices.
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We send our thanks to Jennifer H. and her Team for highlighting our work here at TS Designs!
Fracking North Carolina
Image Source: http://on.fb.me/12BrfT5 | Say no to fracking in NC on Facebook
Fracking is a hot topic these days. You hear it just about everywhere. And it’s being highlighted in North Carolina as Lee County has been zeroed-on as a prime location for fracking.
What is fracking?
Basic definition: it’s a technique used to release petroleum (i.e. natural gas) from underground.
The process of fracking creates some serious consequences for the environment, and there’s a lot of concern from the community about what the long term affects are going to be.
For example: hydraulic fracturing creates millions of gallons of toxic waste water.
Long after the economic boost, what bruises with the environment be nursing?
WUNC is hosting a new series entitled: Fracking North Carolina.
You can read the first story written by Richard Ziglar here.
There is also a vocal online community on Facebook: Say no to fracking in NC
Share your thoughts on fracking in our comments section.
TS Designs is Hiring!
Job Opening: Sales and Account Management
About TS Designs
TS Designs is a wholesale custom t-shirt printing operation that operates on a sustainable triple bottom line. We pride ourselves in offering a variety of environmentally friendly, socially responsible apparel options, including our flagship line Cotton of the Carolinas – a product made entirely, dirt-to-shirt, in North Carolina.
Who We’re Looking For
We’re looking for a motivated individual to work as a member of our sales and account management team. A qualified candidate should:
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Be very personable – you will be working directly with customers on a daily basis.
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Be comfortable with general computer use – you must be able to type.
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Be very organized and able to manage subtle details of multiple orders. You will be selling a custom product so attention to detail is paramount!
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Possess exceptional communication skills – your phone calls and emails may be the first, or even only, impression a customer may have of TSD before they receive their order.
Preference will be given to those with previous business-to-business sales or account management experience, but most importantly we’re looking for a sharp, quick-learning individual who works well with people.
Job Activities
The job activities will include:
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Working with customers to find the right product to meet their needs
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Quoting orders based on a multitude of variables
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Order “gatekeeping” to ensure certain limitations and policies are not violated
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Handing off approved orders and appropriate information to the art and logistic departments
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Occasional out-of-state travel to visit high-profile customers or attend trade shows (likely fewer than 5 times per year)
More About the Day-to-Day and Compensation
You will work in tandem with our current sales rep. As a unit, it will be up to the two of you to share the sales workload based on each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
To begin, you will be paid on an hourly basis. After you have achieved a working understanding of the sales and account management process and are ready to handle orders on your own, you will be provided a commission based on total monthly sales that is shared equally between the two of you. This commission will be added on top of your hourly pay.
Why You Should Work Here
So why should you want to work for TS Designs? We offer a variety of benefits, including:
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401k retirement account
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Health insurance (50% employer paid for)
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Paid time off
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An organic garden and chickens that produce fresh produce and eggs for employees
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A relaxed dress code and friendly atmosphere
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All the t-shirts you can wear!
YOUSA Promotes “Dirt to Shirt”
We can’t help but feel a little giddy when someone gets excited about our Cotton of the Carolinas project, which brings consumers a “Dirt to Shirt” tee made completely in North Carolina. We love it when our Private Label clients choose to help us support over 500 US jobs all within 600 miles.
So you can just imagine our delight when Tyler Stone of YOUSA decided to share the dirt to shirt journey on video! He coordinated with each member in the Cotton of the Carolinas supply chain in order to record footage at each stage in the game and literally – from dawn to dusk – followed the journey our apparel travels before it’s ready for you to wear.
This was recorded on March 13th, 2013.
Tyler is based in Charleston, South Carolina and is sharing this video with everyone at Charleston Fashion Week. It’s an exciting chapter in the Cotton of the Carolinas story. Take a look at the video and tell us what you think! Isn’t time for the USA to start bringing back our jobs and utilizing the resources we have?
We encourage you to follow Tyler’s continued adventure at the YOUSA Facebook Page.
Follow Your Fabric (YOUSA at Charleston Fashion Week) from YOUSA on Vimeo.
Do you know your farmer?
Our friends at Organic Valley recently had us print a t-shirt that simply asked, “Who’s your farmer?” We cannot tell you how extremely popular those tees were – that statement, of course, is based on the feedback we received online. And it makes us wonder, how many people can actually say, “Yea. I know my farmer!”
We’re proud to be among those who can.
You may already know that TS Designs supports a company garden. The company prepares the ground and gets the seeds and/or plants, and each employee pitches in to make sure that it flourishes. We call it the Garden of Eat’n, since each team member also gets to enjoy the harvest. And believe us, we pig out on some fresh produce when it’s time.
This year, we’ve partnered with a local farmer and have committed to using his plants in order to streamline the process. (It takes a lot of time and effort to grow plants from seeds – and as much as we like to cultivate our garden, we need to make sure we’re keeping up with our printing schedule too!) Chris Murray from Sunset Farms in Snow Camp, NC has agreed to help us along in the process of growing great food!
We visited the farm this morning to pick up our first batch of baby plants. And to be honest, we couldn’t be more thrilled with quality of the plants. And let’s not start on how eagerly we anticipate these lovely plants growing into mature, fruit-bearing, ready-to-be-harvested plants! It’s also nice to know that these plants were grown a little ways down the street, in the same county. We were able shake our farmer’s hand and thank him for working the ground and providing us with healthy, flourishing plants.
Can you say that?
If not, we would encourage you to check out your local farmer’s market this season. That’s going to be one of the best options you’ll have when it comes to seeing your local farmers face to face and thanking them for the time and effort they invest in making sure that we have great local food to eat!
Gearing up for the Spring Garden at TS Designs
It’s that time of year. Can’t you feel it?
The weather is getting a little warmer and the ground is spongy with the recent rain. We’ve been anticipating this time of year since December, when Eric and Erin designed the layout of our company garden. It’s time to prep the ground and get the Spring Garden implemented.
Last week, Tom (our CEO) and Kevin (our Elon student intern) moved our hens and one happy rooster to their summer home. The chickens worked all winter in our garden cultivating great soil, while at the same time giving us fantastic eggs. Now they have access to some great grass that has grown up from where they were in past summers.
On the calendar this weekend – tilling. Literally, it’s on the shared company calendar.
Offering a company garden gives the TS Designs team a unique shared experience (everyone pitches in), while providing the valuable benefit of free, garden-fresh produce all season long. Last year, the garden produced more than the team was able to consume and the over-abundance was shared with a local food bank.
Imagine that – fresh produce donated to the local food bank.
There’s a lot of value in a garden – and many benefit from the choice that TS Designs has made as a company.
Cotton of the Carolinas is a collaboration of farmers and manufacturers across the state dedicated to growing, making, and selling its t-shirts in the Southeast.