The new coronavirus has changed life for all of us. Local businesses have taken a huge economic hit, but communities are finding creative ways to support the establishments they know and love.
In an effort to help local businesses in our communities stay connected and succeed, Patch will be shining a light on some of them through a series of Q&A articles during this time.
Plum Grove Inc. in Hoffman Estates is one of the businesses in town facing struggles during the coronavirus. You can lend your support by reading more about the company, below, and by contacting them here.
Tell us about your business and its history in your town.
Plum Grove empowers businesses to connect with the world, tell their story, build their brands and promote growth through custom printing and marketing solutions. With over 1 million ways to market businesses, Plum Grove’s diverse product array includes printed items, promotional products, trade show booths, mailing services, web-to-print websites and marketing consulting.
With nearly 40 years of history and experience and an average employee tenure of more than 15 years, Plum Grove prides itself on both its powerful force of seasoned experts and the strong family values that are the foundation of its culture. We are located in the Chicago area, in Hoffman Estates, IL, and support businesses nationwide.
The company has been honored for Business Excellence and earned the Illinois Governor’s Pollution Prevention Award, recognizing innovation in environmental protection with green-friendly, sustainable manufacturing practices.
How has the new coronavirus impacted your business and its employees?
Plum Grove’s trade show and promotional product divisions were impacted as early as February by the cancellation of conferences, events and travel. In an effort to keep our production team working, we shifted the focus to creating new safety signs and hand-washing posters for our own shop. We positioned hand sanitizing stations throughout the print shop, and we all felt a little safer.
In an additional effort to keep the team healthy, our office staff was mobilized to work remotely. Our production team transitioned from a single day shift into three different shifts with no overlap. Projects that used to move through the shop during the day now move throughout the shop around the clock.
We run the printing presses overnight so projects are ready for digital printing, bindery and mailing at the start of the first shift. Then, the second shift takes projects to the finish line with assembly, packaging and shipping services. We spread out the workload over 24 hours to reduce our exposure and stop the spread of the coronavirus.
How can local customers support you now and in the future?
If you are a business owner, marketer or advertiser, now is a great time for strategic planning. We encourage you to take advantage of our expert knowledge at Plum Grove with a free marketing consultation. You get our best ideas – absolutely free.
It is also a critical time to prepare for going back to the workplace with new hand-washing signage, social distancing floor graphics, hand sanitizing stations, and other hygiene products that help keep us all safer. Plum Grove offers steep discounts for new clients and nonprofits.
Do you have any words of encouragement for your community?
We will beat this together!
Are you offering any special services, promotions or hours during this time?
We are currently offering free, printable coronavirus posters for businesses, and free 6-foot outdoor banners for restaurants.
Our new line of coronavirus signs were developed for workplaces to promote safety protocols and comply with new COVID-19 legislation. As a part of this initiative, Plum Grove made all of its coronavirus sign and COVID-19 poster art files free to download for print and distribution.
From “Social Distancing” signage to “Wash Your Hands” graphics, coronavirus signs remind people to follow the recommendations from leading health organizations and help to stop the spread of coronavirus. Signs also promote new “Take-Out Only” or “Free Delivery” services, as businesses quickly work to adapt to rapidly changing guidelines.
There are so many businesses that had to adapt to the changing situation overnight. When you watch the news, you can see companies from drive-thru testing facilities to grocery stores and restaurants with make-shift signs written on crumpled paper and drawn with a marker. They don’t have the support materials they need, and that is what inspired Plum Grove to develop a line of COVID-19 signage that could be downloaded and printed from home, or ordered from us to be custom-made and delivered very quickly.
Do you own a local business in need of a feature on Patch? Fill out the questions in this form for consideration. Or, check out Patch’s full list of resources for small businesses during the coronavirus crisis.
Thank you, and stay safe!
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This article originally appeared on the Barrington Patch