Chris Belnap, Cambridge Pacific
Cambridge, NY
Chris Belnap stands behind his team in the company’s partially constructed building addition. Left to right: Chris, Sherry Davidson, Stephen Vermilyea, Frank Pino, and Victoria Rasanen.
Sometime in the early 1970s, Lymen White started Cambridge Pacific Seed Packet Company in a barn on a hill. Now owned by Chris Belnap and occupying more than 20,000 square feet, with a 3,000 square foot addition currently under construction, the production facility has the high-tech capability of turning out well over a million packets a day. The management team prides itself on responding to each customer’s particular needs and producing high-quality packets, pockets, and labels for guitar strings, bubble bath, and other products. The company’s primary niche, however, is creating beautifully printed seed packets, often making use of the company’s own image library.
Chris Belnap bought the seed packet company in 1995, merging it with the printing company he had been operating for about five years. “Cambridge Pacific was a customer of mine, and when it came on the market I entered the bidding,” he recalls. He remembers moving the company into a 50-year-old coop and converting it into a manufacturing space. “We spent hours and hours with industrial diamond floor grinders,” he laughs.
“I’m happy now that it found me,” says Belnap about the packet business he operates with his loyal and talented team. A Computer Science and Mathematics major with an MBA from Dartmouth, this was not exactly the life he envisioned. But, as it worked out, it was his computer science background that allowed him to write the system that manages the printing and packaging operation, and to meet the ongoing technological demands of modern production.
Every year, the Cambridge Pacific staff sends out a personalized Thank You Book to customers. Don, from the graphics department, illustrates the book with detailed color drawings, such as this one, that depict charming local sights and goings on at customer facilities.
The new building will increase production and storage space. Concern for the environmental footprint is evident inside and out and includes efforts to reduce water runoff, cut waste, decrease electrical usage, and use environmentally friendly inks.
“What really sets this company apart are the loyal folks who work here,” Belnap emphasizes. The company employs about 40 people in total. Every day the three plant managers, plus members of the shipping, graphics, and office departments meet briefly to discuss the challenges and safety issues that arise. Decisions are made jointly, safety and environmental sustainability being primary concerns. Creative problem solving is a continual part of the process, and cooperation makes it all possible.
“Many of the people who work here have 10 to 20 years under their belt,” says Belnap, “at times three generations from one family. A couple of our employees have met here and married!”
Chris Belnap’s client trips give him opportunities to visit national and state parks, and to engage in photography, a personal passion. He took this photo in Utah.
Belnap makes a point of getting to know his customers personally. “I’ll typically get in the car on Friday after work and take a week to visit as many as I can,” he says of his periodic outings, which he describes as interesting, fun, and “kind of a benefit.” Many of the customers Cambridge Pacific serves are small businesses that may need just 20,000 packets a year. The company does not generally seek out huge corporate customers. The personal connections, both in the plant and out on the road, are what keeps the business “chugging along,” as Chris puts it, in a way that works well for everyone involved.
Running a company like this is satisfying in many ways, Belnap explains. He enjoys, among other things, the daily problem solving and variety of skills required, the gratification that comes from knowing that people come to work every day and do the very best they can, and the continual opportunities that new technologies offer. But the big reason he finds this life choice rewarding is simply stated: “I like what I’m doing and I like the folks I’m doing it with.”