Package Crafters

Sometimes job hunts can yield the most unexpected fruits. With an MBA degree fresh in hand, Gary Brewer turned his job hunt into the creation of a company—one that has continued to grow since its founding in 2003.

“I started Package Crafters because I couldn’t find a job,” says Brewer. “It’s a true statement.”

Package Crafters launched with six employees, including Brewer’s father as CFO. It was a launch that Brewer made after not being able to find the type of job he was looking for upon earning his MBA from Wake Forest University.

Brewer started his professional career as an engineer, holding degrees in chemical engineering and pulp and paper science technology. He was in the paper manufacturing business when he decided to return to North Carolina to get an MBA, convinced he would need an advanced degree to get ahead.

It was then that the president of a major independent corrugated manufacturer in North Carolina got wind of his plans—in no small part because his father was their CFO. The president asked Brewer to come visit him. The president told him that Brewer knew his raw material like no one else, and not only did he want to hire him, but he wanted to pay for his schooling.

It was a deal, and Brewer was now in the corrugated manufacturing business. After five years, he received his MBA and there was no longer a job available at that company, so he was out on his own. After some job searching, Brewer decided to start his own company. He approached the banks with a business plan. When they approved it, he sold everything he owned—despite being freshly married—and moved back in with his parents at age 34.

“We had no customers, just the knowledge and a team,” says Brewer. “My father was a key person with his financial expertise. I also had an operations gentleman, a sales manager, and a plant manager. I was smart enough to know that this was bigger than I am and that I could not do it alone. Had one of those people said they were not interested, I wouldn’t have done it and would have kept looking for a job.”

The first few years were tough financially, as everyone worked hard to build the business and their reputation.

“We hit the ground running here in North Carolina,” Brewer says. “My father and I were literally taking turns mowing the grass, making deliveries, and cleaning the bathrooms. I worked for a couple of years without any compensation. Then the snowball started rolling, gaining momentum. We started getting customers and growing, and then it took on a life of its own.”

Now, Package Crafters has just under 45 employees in two plants located in two different states. They’ve built a reputation with their customers and grown their business to offer all the products and services that one might expect from a box business. Some of their work includes such things as rotary die cutting, flatbed die cutting, inline gluing, specialty folding and gluing, stitching, litho laminating, large-format printing and slotting, engineered foam fabrication, and vacuum and thermos forming. They also offer such services as receiving, cataloging, and securing a product; assembling, bar-coding, tagging, sorting, labeling, and packing a customer product; and preparing and shipping the product to the custom-er distribution facility or directly to the customer.

They specialize in designing and fulfilling “club” and “pallet” pack designs. Brewer says if the customer gets them the product, they package it and deliver it to the customer so everything is together, saving them labor at the customer end.

A Conservative Approach

Brewer has grown the business with an emphasis on simple, basic business practices. He continually reinvests the profits of the company back into the company. However, he is conservative in that approach. He doesn’t buy a machine and hope to find business for it—he builds the business first and then buys the machine. He also tries to avoid debt at all costs.

“What I say to people is: Show up to work on time, don’t lie to me, don’t steal from me, and if you make a mistake, let’s talk about it and prevent it from reoccurring,” Brewer says. “It’s amazing what simple business principles will get you in life. Do what you say you’re going to do. Provide a quality product. Be genuine and be grounded.”

These are the principles he tries to communicate to his employees, inspiring them to create a company culture where customer orders are high-quality and delivered on time. He says he strives to be consistent and to never overpromise, whether he is reacting to a customer situation or an employee one.

“I’m a conservative guy by nature; I’m level-headed, not full of politics,” Brewer says. “I’m a put-your-head-down-and-get-it-done kind of person, and that’s what I try to portray to everyone who works for me.”

Even though he had never sold a box in his life before he started Package Crafters, Brewer says he now sells 50 percent of the company’s annual sales. He meets personally with customers to tell them just how Package Crafters can meet their needs with its trademark hustle and to educate them on what they can do.

“In our industry, we pretty much buy the same materials from the same players,” says Brewer. “We pretty much have the same equipment, though there is a little better technology in some places. It simply comes down to hustle. What got me on the map in my local market was, I was able to offer improved delivery schedules and a shortened lead time. We like being agile. Also, the last thing we try to do is to say no—it’s all about the customer.”

When he’s meeting with customers, Brewer finds a way to make Package Crafters stand out in the market—and some of that comes from his engineering background and his intimate knowledge of paper products and how they work. He brings in new designs and slowly proves himself over time, earning the respect and trust of customers.

It’s amazing what simple business principles will get you in life. Do what you say you’re going to do. Provide a quality product. Be genuine and be grounded. – Gary Brewer, Package Crafters

“When I’m in front of a customer, I refer to what my competitors offer as chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry are fine, but I can provide you with Rocky Road, and it can perform equally or better. I use my intimate knowledge of paper grades and flutes. I’ve had great success with that instead of just being a ‘me, too’ business.”

Poised for Growth

Last year, Package Crafters acquired Creative Packaging in Savannah, Ga., in the first of what Brewer hopes will be several geographic expansions. The purchase sprang out of a casual conversation with the former owner. He went to visit the facility and found a great group of people, something he says he could foster and grow into something similar to Package Crafters. It will remain a separate company, one located 300 miles from his home base, with synergies being created when it comes to accounting and business systems.

It is the type of expansion Brewer plans to do more of in the next five years. He says he hopes to acquire one to two other facilities, none in his cur-rent market, but all expanding his reach to other areas.

“What I see currently in my peer group is a lot of gentlemen and ladies who started facilities in the ’70s, and that group is wanting to retire,” says Brewer. “They have no family to pass it on to, so the timing is good for me to grow.”

Value in AICC

As a box professional, Brewer says AICC has been absolutely wonderful. The meetings, he says, pay for themselves with the information he gets from them. Just over two years ago, he joined a CEO group that he says has been invaluable in getting feedback and talking about the business.

“We get together with a group of key people that either own their own plant or are the senior person at that plant,” Brewer says. “We don’t compete against each other—we’re out of each other’s markets. We get together to talk about the and struggles of a small business, whether they be family, operational, or financial. It’s great to have peers at that level that you can have very candid conversations with.”

From paper engineering to box manufacturing, Brewer has built a career around simple business principles that have proven successful for him. He takes an active role in his business—showing up every day and even making deliveries.

“I have a close pulse to the market,” Brewer says

Taryn Pyle is director of training, education, and professional development at AICC.