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MANCHESTER, NH – Beeze Tees is one of four finalists in Inc. Magazines’ ” Small Business, Big Impact” contest. Owner Tim Pipp is in the running to win a Mercedes Benz Sprinter van to assist with his business, which not only includes locations in Keene and Manchester, but expanded during the early days of COVID-19 to making facemasks.
Related Story ⇒ Beeze Tees
You can read more about how Tim found a way to keep things going while helping the community meet a basic need below, but first, make sure you follow this link and vote for Beeze Tees. Contest runs through Oct 23 and you can vote daily.
COVID-19 changed everything
In early March, as the country’s economy was shutting down due to COVID-19, Beeze Tees Screen Printing flagship store in Keene, like many small businesses, was desperately trying to find a way to generate revenue to keep the business afloat.
Weeks earlier, Beeze Tees had opened its second retail store in Manchester, employing a total staff of 17. Beeze Tees owner Tim Pipp wished to operate business as usual, but was forced to reevaluate his business strategy when events began to get canceled and customers began canceling orders as a result of the pandemic. Business soon plummeted. Demonstrating the resilience of the American small business owner, Tim decided to leverage his unused T-shirt material, as well as a growing national demand, to start manufacturing facemasks.
When government officials announced that facemasks helped in combating the contagion, Beeze Tees launched thetshirtmask.com. The masks they began manufacturing were created on their preexisting equipment and embroidery machines. In a few short weeks after the site was launched, Beeze Tees sold over 5,000 facemasks. Philanthropically, the masks were sold at cost, and Beeze Tees also served as a donation site for citizens to donate money for masks for front line and essential workers. As a result, Beeze Tees donated over 1,000 facemasks to individuals who were otherwise unable to obtain one.
In August, Pipp entered Inc. Magazine’s “Small Business, Big Impact” contest sponsored by Mercedes-Benz. The contest focuses on small businesses that pivoted their business strategies during the pandemic while also supporting their respective communities. Pipp soon learned that Beeze Tees had been selected as one of four finalists in line for the contest’s grand prize, a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter Van.
In order to win the grand prize, the four finalist companies each created a video highlighting how they pivoted their business despite the restrictions surrounding COVID-19. The contest’s winner will be determined by a public vote from October 6 to October 23.
Beeze Tees NEEDS YOUR HELP. If they win, the grand prize will have an immediate and significant impact. It will allow Pipp and his staff to deliver to their new store in Manchester with a company vehicle, rather than using Pipp’s personal vehicle.
