History

In the late 1980s, Murry Pitts, now President and CEO, Carded Graphics, was looking for a new challenge. He had been working for United States Lines, a container shipping company, running its European export division for seven years, becoming Division Manager in 1987. He was considering the possible purchase of a folding carton plant when one day in 1989 he walked into a supermarket and saw rows and rows of packaging and said..."I can sell these". And so his journey into the folding carton industry began.

In November 1989 he purchased Pell Paper Box in Elizabeth City, N.C. The company had been operating in the same 25,000 square foot building since 1926. Pitts grabbed the reins and slowly began to grow the business. Even after careful evaluation of the current business, then operating with obsolete machinery, and with the advice of a folding carton industry consultant who suggested he would be better off selling the machinery and closing Pell's doors, Pitts determined, decided he was not to give up.

In 2005 he was given a golden opportunity so he seized the moment and hasn't looked back since. Pell had been purchasing its sheeted boxboard from the largest independent sheeting operation in the U.S., Manchester Industries (MI) in Richmond, Va. MI also owned a folding carton plant, Carded Graphics, which was originally founded for one captive customer (in the razor blade business).

In 2006 Pitts merged the operations of Pell Paper with newly acquired Carded Graphics, and as part of his growth strategy moved the company to Virginia. When he purchased Carded Graphics the plant employed 31.  Today Carded Graphics' corporate offices and production facility are located in a 120,000 square foot plant in central Virginia and is twice as large as it was in 2008. There are sales offices located in Virginia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, and Florida. Over the past three years Pitts has spent $10 million in innovative equipment, technology and physical plant improvements.

With over 100 years in operation, strong leadership, innovative technology and an experienced customer oriented team, Carded Graphics is well positioned to continue the tradition of growth well into the next century.