Businesses are often created by those who see a need that is not being fulfilled. Barbara Brennan realized that many basic services were not available to the severely developmentally disabled when her son Joe was born with hydrocephalus in 1962. She responded to the needs of her son and other children with disabilities by creating a day program in a church basement. This program blossomed into a year-round school for the disabled in Virginia, which still exists today. Then Barbara Brennan turned her attention to developmentally disabled adults, who at the time were often not included in the work place.
Stride began in Albuquerque, NM as a non-profit organization that provided jobs to the handicapped by assembling and boxing pens and permanent markers. Though the products were originally not of the highest quality, their true value came from the experience that they provided its disabled employees. The Stride mission is its most important guiding light: to provide a task, a skill, and a place where a person can succeed.
Knowing that they could do bigger and better things by becoming a business rather than a non-profit receiving government funds, Barbara Brennan and her husband purchased the company on November 1, 1988. Tragically, Barbara’s husband passed away just two months after the acquisition. While the company wasn’t intended to be a woman-owned business, it became one as Barbara persevered, determined to continue the mission. As a business, Stride made modest sales in its early days, enough to sustain their office and mission. Their largest customer, at about 97% of sales, was the federal government. Barbara realized that if they didn’t diversify their customer base, the business would be in trouble.
Around this time, the first rollerball pens were introduced to consumers by the Schneider Corporation in Tennenbronn, Germany and became a popular item in the United States. Seeing an opportunity, Barbara Brennan reached out to Schneider and learned that they too had many handicapped and special needs employees.
The two companies formed a strong and long-lasting business relationship. Currently, Stride manufactures about 15% of Schneider’s product line at their Reno facility and assembles them in their home office in Albuquerque. The rest of the Schneider product line is imported for exclusive distribution by Stride. This was the first of many product line enhancements and collaborations with other office supply companies made by Stride, and a major component of their success.
“Stride’s ability to adapt to changes in the market while at the same time maintain a high-quality product offering has been the key to our long term partnership and success thereof,” adds Anthony Billinger, Director of Corporate Supplier Diversity at OfficeMax.
In 1993, a representative from Boise Cascade called Stride and wanted to include their products as part of a project that would become the Opportunity Office Products catalog. This innovative idea gathered office products manufactured and sold by diverse businesses and placed them in a single catalog, which was presented to businesses looking to increase their diversity spend. In a single year, Stride’s sales experienced a dramatic increase, with over 90% attributed to the Boise Cascade Opportunity Office catalog.
The relationship between Stride and Boise Cascade remained strong over the years and allowed Stride to consistently increase its sales.
When OfficeMax and Boise Cascade merged in 2003, the relationship continued to grow and prosper. “We open our doors every day because of OfficeMax,” says Kerry Bertram, daughter of Barbara Brennan and the current CEO of Stride. “And that’s incredibly important to our dedicated employees, many of whom say they would come here and work for free.”
OfficeMax is equally pleased with its business relationship with Stride.“At OfficeMax, we greatly admire and respect the work that Barbara Brennan and her family does with people with disabilities. It is gratifying to know that the partnership between OfficeMax and Stride helps provide these types of opportunities while at the same time, making good business sense,” adds Anthony Billinger.
Not only has OfficeMax included Stride products in its catalogs and on its store shelves, but they also recognized the high quality of the products and spread the word to its clients.
“OfficeMax has opened up many doors for Stride. We often hear that customers love our products and recognize the importance of diversity,” says Kerry Bertram. At OfficeMax, the feeling is mutual. Stride has been producing writing instruments for over 30 years, and nearly 20 of those years have been spent doing business with the OfficeMax family. These days, Stride boasts sales in the millions and offers product lines that go beyond pens. Stride distributes the popular QuikFit binder product line and is developing a new line of binders made from 100% post-consumer milk jug waste. Stride’s new line of Milk Jug binders will appear in the upcoming 2012 OfficeMax Maxi catalog.
Manufacturing more products here in the United States continues the Stride mission by creating more jobs for the developmentally disabled employees. And, of course, that means more diverse products for OfficeMax to offer its customers through its stores and catalogs.
