‘Stay-at-Home Economy’ Fueling Terre Haute Startup
The e-commerce boom and popularity of companies like Birchbox are driving growth for a Terre Haute-based manufacturer. BoxUp Chief Executive Officer Curt Stephens says the "stay-at-home economy" offers unlimited potential for the year-old business with a growing staff of nine. The Subscription Trade Association estimates the industry’s current value at $5 billion. BoxUp offers custom boxes and designs in quantities from 12 to 5,000 to customers including Hoosier subscription box providers DAPR Club, Shred Box Monthly and Everyday Sanctuary.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Stephens says the Wabash Valley has provided a number of benefits to the startup. "There is a strong history of paper converting and printing here in Terre Haute and we certainly feel like we’ve benefited a great deal from having the kinds of employees available to us who really have an understanding of our industry and they come to us with a lot of great skills sets as a result of that," he said. Stephens adds the logistics and delivery side of his business is also boosted by the region’s road and rail access.
Growth, Stephens says, has been been measured so far each month "at an almost exponential rate" and the company expects to continue scaling up its work force to meet future demand. Output at BoxUp has also jumped within its first year. "From a capacity standpoint, in the first year, we’ve already quadrupled our ability to manufacture the boxes, and now we’ve got to bring the employee numbers right along with it so we can keep pace with all these orders that we’re receiving."
BoxUp launched last year in Brooklyn at the first sellers’ conference for the online marketplace Etsy and earlier this year, it participated in the Congress-sponsored Internet of Things Showcase in Washington D.C.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, BoxUp CEO Curt Stephens says the Wabash Valley has provided a number of benefits to the startup.