PPB December 2015

INNOVATE

10 •

PPB

• DECEMBER 2015

INNOVATE

PROFILE

HIGH MARKS

DIXON TICONDEROGA’S PENCIL SALES LOOK SHARP, EVEN IN TODAY’S DIGITALLY

CONNECTED WORLD

BY JULIE RICHIE

N THE TV TRIVIA SHOW “Jeopardy!,” you might expect this question: It’s one of America’s

oldest companies that manufactures pencils, crayons and art supplies and traces its roots back to

the very foundation of the United States.

If you answered, “What is the Dixon Ticonderoga Company?” you’d be correct.

Manufacturer and entrepreneur Joseph Dixon founded the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company in

Salem, Massachusetts in 1827. He is credited with producing the first pencil made in the U.S. in 1829

and developing pencil automation. In 1982, the Joseph Dixon Crucible Company merged with the

Bryn Mawr Corporation, a Pennsylvania transportation and real estate company with operations dat-

ing back to 1795. The resulting entity became the Dixon Ticonderoga Company, named after Joseph

Dixon and the company’s oldest brand-name pencil, the Ticonderoga.

With a world that has moved into such a technological state, one might think that pencils are

waning in popularity. But nothing could be further from the truth.

“Pencils are timeless. They are uncomplicated. They don’t require electricity. Once you erase a mis-

take, it’s gone,” says Timothy Gomez, the Lake Mary, Florida-based company’s CEO and vice chair-

man of the board. “Despite rumors to the contrary, tablets have not negatively affected our pencil

sales. In fact, we read in a Chicago newspaper that students take notes on their phones and then tran-

scribe them in pencil for studying. That, in a nutshell, is why pencils continue to rule in the writing

instrument world.”

Gomez says Dixon Ticonderoga pencils lead the industry due to the company’s quality controls

and demand for perfection in both manufacturing and customer delivery. “We have quite a large pro-

motional products channel,” Gomez says. “And we work hard to be top of mind with distributors

worldwide by having a strong presence at industry shows, building personal relationships and using

clever outreach strategies to remind them as much as possible of the quality of our products and our

quick response time.”

The company’s Macon, Georgia location handles promotional production and Gomez generously

praises his employees. “I love how responsive they are, and how passionate they are about serving our

Timothy Gomez, CEO and vice chairman, showcases the company’s most famous product, the No. 2 pencil.