Category Archives: Priority Envelope News

The pandemic presented all businesses with unprecedented challenges and most saw a reduction in their business and a significant percentage of employees working remotely. So, how did your company stay productive and move forward during this very challenging period in the history of our country?

At Priority Envelope, we were fortunate to be considered an “essential business” which allowed us to maintain full staffing. Here are some of the ways we worked to continue moving our company forward the past few months:

• Focus on customers– we made sure to keep in touch with our customers so we could be there to serve their needs. We wanted to make sure we did not cross that fine line between persistence and nuisance, so we remained aware not to over-communicate.
• Education & Development– this period was a good time for a refresh on education and development to ensure we maintain our industry leading standards; an investment in the team.
• Maintenance on Machines– at Priority, we have State of the Art equipment, and we want to make sure we keep it dialed in to specs to produce the best results for our customers.
• Internal and external communication– when the pace of business slows, it is a good time to meet with team members and plan for how to grow post Covid 19. Also, it is also a good time to communicate with customers via social media and let them know that you are poised and ready to assist should they need you.
• Prepare for the future– while there is nothing you can do about the past, the future is well within your control. Coming out of Covid 19, how will you grow, what are the goals, who are the targets, what is strategy and approach?

Those that used this time wisely, should be braced for growth coming out of Covid 19.

Did you know that paper recovery rates in North America continue to be among the highest in the world? Last year the recovery rate was 65.8% in the US-that’s nearly two times what it was in 1990!

Two Sides North America, an independent, nonprofit organization created to promote the sustainability of print and paper, recently released a fact sheet outlining key facts and figures about the environmental sustainability of the North American pulp and paper industry. The information was compiled from over twenty different reports, studies, and sources.

Below are some of the highlights of the fact sheet:
-Forest area is stable to growing in North America.
-Nearly half of the globally certified forests are located in North America.
-The pulp and paper industry is one of the lowest emitters of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions as compared to other major industrial manufacturing industries.
-The North American pulp and paper sector is heavily regulated.

Click here to download and read the entire Fact Sheet.

To reiterate, paper recovery rates in North America continue to be among the highest in the world. At 66% – 70% recovery rate, in the U.S. and Canada respectively, the amount of paper being recycled continues to increase. These rates are significantly higher than other materials and products such as glass, plastic, metals, and electronics.

Priority Envelope recognizes and appreciates the renewable nature of paper and aims to continue to increase the recovery rate of paper in the years to come. #pushtheenvelope #reducereuserecycle

Steve Jobs once said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”

This belief holds true today more than ever-did you know that up to 87.7% of America’s workforce is not able to contribute to their full potential because they don’t have passion for their work? The team at Deloitte Insights notes that less than 12.3 percent of America’s workforce possesses the attributes of worker passion. This “passion gap” is important because passionate workers are committed to continually achieving higher levels of performance

To learn more about what the Deloitte team discovered click here .

And to learn more about what makes Priority Envelope an employer of choice take it directly from our employees’ mouths here.

We love what we do at Priority Envelope, and it’s this passion that has allowed us to grow since 1996. If you’re interested in being part of a team that promotes and encourages your dreams then consider making Priority Envelope your home away from home.

Through the new “Grow More” Program, PCMC (Paper Converting Machine Company/W+D (Winkler+Dünnebier) brings Lean Tools, Process Knowledge, and Leadership to work in partnership with Priority Envelope’s customers to move forward on the continuous improvement journey.

During the week of April 29th, PCMC/W+D facilitated a set-up reduction event on a 627 envelope machine(pictured below) at the Priority Envelope facility located in Nevada, IA. The team, made up of PCMC/W+D and Priority Envelope team members, generated over 170 ideas on how to improve the change-over (changing the machine from one envelope format to another) of the 627 envelope machine. Attending W+D team members were Florian Grosch (service technician) and Tobias Lochner (L3 Leader); PCMC attending member was Craig Compton.

Results: 58% reduction in change-over time!

“W+D/PCMC arrived in Nevada Iowa to take a look at the current state of our set-up process on the 627 RC, they helped us see things differently by using several Lean tools and getting our team engaged with continuous improvement methods. Helping us establish a new Target Condition we were asked several times ‘What if’, what obstacles do you think are preventing us from reaching the target? What is our next step and what have we learned? We learned so much from this week event that that the Kaizen project will never stop at Priority Envelope. This event brought our team closer together in the pursuit of improvement.” – Randy Lewis, Operations Manager

Winston Churchill once said; ‘To improve is to Change and to be perfect; change often.’ Changing the way we do business at Priority Envelope is an everyday practice. Thanks to W+D/PCMC we here at Priority Envelope are all re-energized and excited to continue with our journey ‘To be our customers’ best supplier’.”

Left to Right: Andrew Sullivan, Larry Peter, Tobias Lochner, Florian Grosch, Cory Willson, Jill Meier, Richard Paris, Tim Shickell, Tom Young, Mark Block, Joe Young, Natasha Sawyer, Nichole Dvorak, Paul Hallberg & Craig Compton. Not pictured: Randy Lewis & Kevin Gerlach.

Interfaith Outreach is a human service nonprofit serving struggling families and individuals in the Twin Cities, specifically the Plymouth, MN area. Since 1979, Interfaith Outreach has been engaging cross-sector community partnerships in delivering family support, food, affordable housing, education and youth, employment, and transportation services that open doors to new and hopeful futures.

Interfaith Outreach rallies resources and ignites the community to ensure all families live their best lives, all children succeed, and the entire region prospers. This was something that everyone at Priority Envelope could stand behind, especially as it was serving individuals in the community where we work.

Nearly half of those who go to Interfaith Outreach for the first time need food. Hunger is all around us. The primary cause of hunger in our resource-abundant community is not a lack of food. Instead, it is a lack of access to food due to poverty. Poverty in the Twin Cities suburbs has grown three times faster than poverty in Minneapolis and St. Paul over the past 10 years. 14% of people in the Interfaith Outreach service area live in poverty.

So in efforts to combat this, Priority Envelope held a food drive last month, and raised over $1000 in monetary donations and 273 pounds of food. Throughout the drive the team at Priority Envelope were engaged and motivated to help others in the community, but they also got a glimpse into some of the other ways in which they can stay connected to the community-building work that happens every day at Interfaith Outreach.

A community becoming the best version of itself is an aware community, one that is positioned for collaborative action, and we here at Priority Envelope are proud to contribute to and work with the team at Interfaith Outreach in support of the community as a whole.

Interfaith Outreach Food Shelf team members Patrick and Debby accept Priority Envelope’s monetary donations raised during their March 2019 Food Drive.

To learn more about how you can get involved with Interfaith Outreach, click here.

#Studentdebt is a major issue affecting individuals in today’s workforce, so to combat this Priority Envelope has partnered with Chicago-based Peanut Butter, which runs a platform to help companies create, manage, and track the impact of loan repayment plans. Priority Envelope is excited to offer its employees assistance with their student loan repayments. We are proud to #pushtheenvelope with innovation- on the production floor and with the benefits provided to our employees! #benefits #studentloans

Visit Peanut Butter’s Website to learn more about how they work to alleviate Student Loan debt.

Invented by George Renninger, a candy maker at the Wunderle Candy Company of Philadelphia in the 1880s, Candy Corn was originally called “butter cream candies” and “chicken feed” since back then, corn was commonly used as food for livestock. Would you believe that they even had a rooster on the candy boxes?!

The classic candy, which is now synonymous with Halloween, is one that everyone here at Priority Envelope made sure to enjoy today. Even with all of the candy, fun, and games of the holiday we still managed to have a productive and successful day.

From our family to yours- we wish you a happy and safe Halloween! #trickortreat #wednesdaywisdom #pushtheenvelope #happyhalloween2018 #candy

Priority Envelope takes pride in promoting a better understanding of the sustainability and versatility of paper and encourages employees to embrace this vision. As a team we all collaborate to make that vision a reality every day.

It has been said that two is better than one, and we agree! Today join us in celebrating “Collaboration” as the theme for International Print Day 2018! #IPD18 #printwith #pushtheenvelope #goteam #printing #envelopes #paperfacts #reduce #reuse #recycle

The Printing Industry Midwest (PIM) is the trade association representing the graphic arts and communication companies in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Membership resources and benefits are designed to add value to companies that provide print, graphic communication services, market or manufacture supplies for the printing industry.

PIM’s mission is to be the leading resource to enhance the strength and profitability of the printing, graphic communications and related industries through advocacy, education, safety and environmental information. Every year they put together Annual Golf Tournaments, which Priority Envelope proudly gets involved with.

This year the 62nd Annual Minnesota Golf Outing was held a the Bunker Hills Golf Club in Coon Rapids, MN, and a few members of the Priority Envelope team were able to attend. Getting involved within our community and supporting other printers are certainly not handicaps we have here. Go team and thanks to all of those at PIM for putting together such a great event! #priorities #pushtheenvelope #holeinone

Priority Envelope provides innovative, top quality, affordable print services in areas such as envelope printing, window envelopes, custom envelope products, and a variety of promotional envelope applications.

Each year Priority Envelope performs several TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) Kaizen events within its’ production area. Kaizen events are part of Priority Envelope’s commitment to total quality management, allowing us to produce quality product for our customers.

Just recently our Kaizen team spent 3 weeks making the “Aqua” line new again. The employees involved with this project were solely dedicated to completing the renovation. Thank you to all of those involved in this continuous improvement process- your efforts are truly what allows us to be our customer’s best supplier!

To read the full Press Release for this Kaizen event see below:

Kaizen Press Release