Drawing With History: AOL’s This Built America Covers New Jersey’s General Pencil Co.

We received this press release at Pencils.com this morning. Have posted about this wonderful family and company in the past here. Happy to share another great “pencil success story” of one of our wood slat customers. Find some of General’s great products here on Pencils.com. Congrats Jim, Katie, Kirsten and all…

Jersey City, New Jersey (August 6, 2014) – This Built America, a new multimedia platform from AOL exploring the companies and people reimagining American manufacturing, comes to Jersey City this week to profile the General Pencil Company — a company built on family and dedication that has been going strong since Edward Weissenborn founded his second pencil endeavor in 1889.

In this episode, the fourth, fifth and sixth generations of the family discuss why keeping General Pencil in the family is the key to their business success. It hasn’t always been easy to keep the company afloat, or to turn away offers to buy General Pencil, but the Weissenborns feel a connection to their long running, made in America company.

For General Pencil Company, being chosen to represent New Jersey in This Built America is proof that founder Edward Weissenborn made the right decision banking on family business all those years ago, no matter the circumstance. “We believe in America,” says Jim Weissenborn. “We are proud of our employees and the quality products they produce.”

To view the full episode and more on General Pencil Company, visit here.

General Pencil Company joins a national movement in This Built America that is devoted to supporting American companies and American-made products. AOL is proud to support the effort along with sponsor Ford Trucks. Through the year, the editorial and video teams will explore 50 states in 50 weeks to bring 50 stories of the people who are bringing back manufacturing to America. The platform is produced in coordination with Man Made Content.

Help spread the word through your social channels by following these platforms for more episodes and updates:

Facebook: facebook.com/thisbuiltamerica
Twitter: @builtamerica
Instagram: thisbuiltamerica
Google +: builtamericaproject