Blog Post 3 - Employee Environment

Employee Environment

Welcome back to my blog section.  Thank you for following this blog series and supporting my Kickstarter project.  I plan to discuss the employee environment that will be created within US Designs to include standard benefit packages, training, and reward systems. 

The standard employee benefit package that US Designs plans to offer will be health, vision, and dental insurance.  The goal is to offer these benefits within the first quarter.  While this might be difficult to do, within a small company with less than 50 employees, I plan to overcome this obstacle by hiring a payroll service company.  By using this service to oversee my payroll, I will be able to offer group insurance plans to all of my workers.  Additional insurance coverage like life insurance will follow.

Training and furthering one’s knowledge has always been important to me and I want to offer this opportunity to my staff.  Starting with one-on-one training programs that will allow unskilled workers to enter the shop and begin adding important skills to their toolbox.  Time will be invested every week allowing these unskilled workers to fine tune their skill set under the supervision of other workers.  Mentoring and journeyman training programs will be implemented within the first six to twelve months.  During that time, I plan to implement a tuition reimbursement program that will allow employees the opportunity to further their education.

I came up with a rough idea with a point reward system many years ago.  It is a system I plan to implement within the first year of operation.  The idea came from the acknowledgement that companies only awarded negative points to an individual for negative actions such as tardiness, absenteeism, or other mistakes the employee might have made.  While this will be half of the system I plan to implement, the other half will be a reward system for employees. 

Positive points will be earned by my employees for positive contributions to the company.  Such as, working overtime, contributing ideas, cost-saving measures, and any other positive actions to help benefit US Designs as a whole.  A quarterly review will be done of an individual’s points at which time bonuses and pay raises will be based on these actions.  This program while still in an early state will allow an individual to correct negative actions with positive points as well will allow ambitious individuals the opportunity to shine within the company. 

While some of these programs might seem far-reaching, these are the obstacles I plan to devote time to for my employees.  While my customers are valuable to US Designs, my employees are the backbone to the success of US Designs.  These programs and more are what I plan to offer my employees.  This is the work environment you are supporting through Kickstarter.  It is important to me that you know that you are supporting a great overall company with your pledge to my Kickstarter project.  As always, click this link to support the Kickstarter project and to all of those who have already pledged I thank you for your contribution.  I hope you will continue to follow my future blogs.

Blog Post 2 - Standards of Manufacturing

Standards of Manufacturing

The foundation of US Designs is the US Designs standards of manufacturing.  The primary mission of US Designs is to help support local and national economies in creating jobs.  This begins with the US Designs standards of manufacturing.   Each manufacturing process that is used is carefully looked over to ensure only American options are used.  These standards help ensure American jobs are supported and created furthering America’s economic recovery. 

The first step in this process is choosing American raw materials.  These raw materials include glass, wood, metals and any other materials used in creating a product.  All of these materials must be from American origins found within the United States.  This first set of challenges often requires many phone calls to be made and requires many certifications to be reviewed before making a decision on a specific supplier.  Various types of materials are available to create the look of our product.  However a certain type of that material will often have to be used to maintain the American standard.   An example of this is the aluminum used in our current product lines.   Aluminum 5052 would have worked, however we had to choose Aluminum 6061 to meet the American standards.  In creating any product an overall modern look is the primary goal while maintaining these standards.

The tools and machinery used to create our product must also meet these American standards.  Shops chosen to produce components for US Designs not only adhere to these standards but also must meet the high quality standards maintained by US Designs.   This helps keep work within the United States supporting local jobs while still creating a high-end, one-of-a-kind product.  Every step in the manufacturing process is carefully looked into including any finishing work that needs to be done to ensure the best shops are used that meet our standards and are also like-minded.

When assembling and packaging any US Designs product the labor is performed by American workers.  Employees of US Designs will be helped by your purchases and pledges to Kickstarter but also have other benefits through US Designs.  These will be mentioned in future blogs.  My company plans to take care of the employees that are part of its team.  

Even small details like shipping companies must adhere to these standards.  This might seem a bit obsessive at times to maintain such a patriotic stance with a company.  I believe this is a real solution to support.  By helping to support and create American jobs, we each can help each other recover from this economic crisis.  The benefits translate to a new internal flow of American dollars within the American economy.  This flow of money is a great way to help the local and national economy recover.  

Fellow Kickstarters and visitors, I hope you can understand why these standards are so important and will help support my Kickstarter project if even in a small way.  While the project may have only a few product lines, I do plan to expand rapidly in the future following a successfully funded Kickstarter project.  

Every new product line will meet and exceed these standards of manufacturing.  This is the foundation upon which US Designs is created.  It is time our fellow Americans for us to begin supporting American companies.  I thank you for your time and support.  I hope you plan to read my future blogs.

Kickstarter Project : Link

US Designs Press Release Video

Blog Post 1 - Intro

 Blog Post 1 - Intro

Welcome to my first blog post.  My name is Chris Benner.  I am the artist, designer, and president behind US Designs.  I am glad to have the opportunity to show you my latest product lines on Kickstarter.   More importantly, I am pleased to show you my vision of my company for the future. 

Over the next 30 days, I plan to release a new blog every few days that will allow you the opportunity to know about the company you are supporting.  I will go over different sections of the company, my plans, and the expectations I am setting before myself in regards to this business.  Many of these promises made in these blogs might seem over-reaching at times; however these blogs will be etched in stone for the company I plan to create with your support to my Kickstarter project.  This is the dream of the company I plan to create if given the opportunity.

The first series of blog posts will cover the standards of manufacturing used to create all US Designs products, the employee environment that will be created at US Designs, and the diverse staff I plan to hire.   The next series will cover the environmental impact of buying US-made products versus buying foreign-made products and the benefit of maintaining the flow of money within the United States.  The final series of blogs will cover future products and plans for US Designs, community outreach and support programs, and charitable contribution programs.

I invite you to follow my blog posts and walk with me on this journey of watching a dream dear to my heart come true.  I especially thank all of you who have supported me in getting me to this point and that have already made financial contributions to my Kickstarter project.  

Those of you interested in supporting the Kickstarter project, follow this link.   Additional content can be found on the web site.  Any further questions you may have in regards to the Kickstarter project or my company may be asked via email through the web site.  Thank you for your time and support.