PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – The work of one local printer is having an impact on the lives of children across the globe. Minuteman Press Providence-Warwick is making a difference through its print work for Edesia (www.edesiaglobal.org), a local non-profit organization dedicated to treating and preventing childhood malnutrition globally.
In its Providence factory, Edesia produces a line of nutrient-rich peanut pastes, including Plumpy’nut®, which is utilized by organizations like the World Food Programme and UNICEF to fight malnutrition in developing countries. The pastes, known as Ready-to-Use Foods (RUFs), do not require refrigeration and have a shelf life of two years.
In addition to four-color brochures, business cards, and stickers, Minuteman Press Providence-Warwick prints technical inserts for Edesia – which explain in French, English and Spanish the nutritional value, proper use, and storage requirements – one of which is included inside every box containing the RUF products.
“We are proud to work with women-owned Minuteman Press Providence-Warwick and appreciate their commitment to producing affordable, yet high-quality materials for Edesia,” says Navyn Salem, founder and Executive Director of Edesia. “They help us spread much-needed awareness about our company, and also of the serious problem we are working with others to address.”
Before starting up the factory in Rhode Island, Salem—from Barrington, RI and a mother of four daughters—worked in her father’s native Tanzania to build a similar factory and business, which is now self-sufficient. This experience is what encouraged her to open a factory in her home state of Rhode Island. Edesia now employs 37 people.
“In the printing industry, we sometimes forget that what we do can reach so many people and truly help in making a difference,” said Valerie Chanoux, co-owner of Minuteman Press Providence-Warwick. “Working with Edesia has opened our eyes to what happens beyond the printing that we provide.”
Among much positive notoriety, Edesia was featured in the “Making a Difference” segment on September 1, 2011 on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams and highlighted by President Clinton at the Clinton Global Initiative America.
About Minuteman Press Providence-Warwick
Owned by Karen Fraielli and Valerie Chanoux, Minuteman Press specializes in business communications printing, document management technology, and consumer print production. The Providence location of Minuteman Press opened on Westminster Street in 1987 then moved to the corner of Orange and Pine Streets in 2005. Fraielli and Chanoux have been owners since 2002. The Warwick location on Jefferson Boulevard opened in 1993 and the women purchased this location of the business in 1999.
The company is a member of the Women’s Resource Network (WRNRI).
Minuteman Press is rated the number one printing franchise in the printing industry by Entrepreneur Magazine (January, 2011) and has received this designation for the last nine years in a row.
For more information, visit online at:
www.warwick.minutemanpress.com
www.providence.minutemanpress.com
Join the company on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MinutemanpressProvidence
Or email:
warwick@minutemanpress.com
mmpprov@minutemanpress.com
