charming downtown, surrounded by cafés and bike riders, with a waterfront view. Its primary facility is the former office of the law firm that represented Exxon in the Valdez oil spill case, on Main Street in Port Washington, New York, which is nestled on the bay that F. Scott Fitzgerald fictionalized in The Great Gatsby. It’s the kind of place where you walk to work. And many of the employees – twothirds of them on the spectrum and others neurodivergent – often do. That’s intentional. CEO Patrick Bardsley didn’t want to cast his team out of sight. “For too long, these people really were segregated and pushed to the fringes of our communities,” says Bardsley, who discovered his calling while working as a special needs camp counselor and later went on to earn a master’s in special education. “We want our employees to be part of the community,” Bardsley says. “They need to be able to support the businesses that support us back. We focus a lot on the social benefit – ‘isn’t this nice, we’ve got people working.’ But the economic benefit is, if anything, more impressive. You are simultaneously diminishing the Social Security needs for someone, creating a taxpayer and feeding back into the system that supports them. They’re spending their money back in the community.” Inside the building, things are buzzing. Presses hum, and shirts are folded, sorted, boxed and taped for shipping. Merch is everywhere – trophies from past jobs well done. There are photos, awards and signs all over the walls. Some celebrate team members with culture-building shout-outs, others tout high sustainability standards. You can smell the ink and hear the camaraderie. Since 2011, Spectrum has grown from a converted backyard barn with two autistic teen employees and one heat press into a multimillion-dollar business with 80 employees spread over two locations, plus plans for a franchise model that would soon create outposts in Florida, New Jersey and maybe even Southern California. The company brought in $6.8 million in promotional products revenue in 2024, up more than 40% over the previous three years. It ranks No. 70 on the 2025 PPAI 100, its first-ever appearance on the annual measure of industry leadership. Through PPAI 100, it earns High Marks in two categories: Industry Faith – based on its credit rating – and, naturally, Employee Happiness. Not a Charity – A Challenger The work is as pristine as any other decoration shop I’ve visited, not in spite of its employees but because of them. Foot-shaped outlines dot the floor, reminding workers where to stand. Once they’re in place, the tasks become second nature. Bardsley’s special education background informs how the company trains each employee, tailoring the teaching to their unique needs. The Nicholas Center, an affiliated nonprofit helping autistic adults learn critical life skills, provides supervisors. They seem to mostly chat amongst themselves off to the side of the production floor, ready to step in with help or direction if needed. Shirts are stacked and folded with pleasing symmetry. Direct-to-garment, screen print and embroidery jobs move in rhythm. Clients range from local high schools to the big New York sports teams. There’s no outbound sales effort; all orders come by word of mouth or through effective marketing that shares the organization’s oneof-a-kind story. They don’t turn down clients. New business creates the opportunity to hire Must Read | Distributors “We want our employees to be part of the community, they need to be able to support the businesses that support us back. – CEO PATRICK BARDSLEY Patrick Bardsley 56 • JUNE 2025 • PPAI
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