During Holidays, Ribbon-Maker from Berwick Gets Wrapped Up
The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 4, 2000

by Dan Lewerenz, Associated Press

It's a long way from here to the North Pole, but it would be hard to imagine Christmas without Berwick. From Salinas, Calif., to Salina, Kan., to Salem, Mass., shoppers this holiday season will deck their halls and wrap their gifts with ribbon made by Berwick Industries L.L.C.

"There are so many different types and colors of ribbon," said Lois Futoma, who has worked at Berwick Industries for 20 years. "Look at all of this - every day is a holiday."

Berwick Industries, the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of decorative ribbons and bows, has been making ribbons here since 1945. Originally a family-owned business, Berwick was bought in 1993 by CSS Industries, Inc., a publicly held consumer-products company in Philadelphia.

The printed ribbons and shiny bows sold at retail stores nationwide begin as millions of pea-sized polypropylene pellets, which are melted and dyed to create the desired color. The mixture then is cooled and pressed into a sheet 16 inches wide, then rolled onto giant spools. Those spools are loaded onto splitting machines, which cut the ribbon to a desired width - narrow for crimped ribbons and streamers, wider for printed ribbons and bows - then roll it onto smaller spools for sale or further processing. Excess ribbon is group up into pellets, and process begins anew.

There are printed ribbons featuring everything from corporate names to cartoon characters. There are colored ribbons hot-stamped with shiny metallic designs. There are reds and greens and whites for Christmas, hearts for Valentine's Day, shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day, pastels for Easter, and red-white-and-blue streamers for patriotic holidays.

"We've got something pretty much all year round," said Nancy Schott, Berwick's vice president of human resources. "But we really go into high gear for Christmas production."

Berwick employs about 700 workers year-round, but nearly doubles that during peak production.

Dave Lockard, who operates one of Berwick's many splitting and crimping machines, typifies the company's workforce. Lockard's sister worked at the plant, and talked him into taking a job with Berwick 26 years ago when he graduated from high school. He has been there ever since.

"If you look at the jobs in the area, this has good pay, good benefits, and it's here to stay," Lockard said. His brothers tried years ago to convince him to take a job at the American Car & Foundry plant, but the foundry closed its doors and Berwick is still going.

"Berwick Industries has been here longer than I have - 50-some years," Lockard said. "That's a lot of ribbon."