When Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th President of the United States, All American Writing Instruments (PPAI 113946, Silver) will be supplying pens handed out during his inauguration.
The Linden, New Jersey-based company has been providing the government with writing instruments for years, including for the 2020 census and the gift shop at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center.
“It’s good to see people who should be buying American buying American,” says Colleen Shea, vice president of sales at All American Writing Instruments.
Colleen Shea
VP of Sales, All American Writing Instruments
Her family business is poised to capitalize on the renewed push for domestic manufacturing as part of Trump’s trade policy. The president-elect has vowed to place 25% tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, as well as an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports, which would be added to any Chinese tariffs already in place from his first presidential term and maintained during the Biden administration.
- During the campaign trail, he even mentioned across-the-board tariffs of 10% to 20% on all imports.
Regardless of whether the threats come to fruition, Shea predicts a rise in “Made in USA” sentiment among the promotional products industry and beyond. “We saw during the pandemic that something like this does put in the mind of a distributor that maybe they need to diversify and include a U.S. option in their portfolio of suppliers,” she says.
“When things like tariffs happen or when a port gets shut down, it would be good for distributors to have an established relationship with a USA-made company that they know has filled orders and that they feel comfortable doing business with.”
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Colleen and her two brothers – Matt Shea, vice president of engineering, and Greg Shea, operations manager – take great pride in their family’s legacy of American manufacturing. So much so that the fourth generation of Sheas sacrificed their respective career paths to keep the company in its homeland and steer it into the 21st century.
American Ride
The family business – initially named Radiant Pen – started back in 1928 when their great-grandfather John Shea made fountain pen tips in a New York City factory. His son Warren, who served in the Army Air Corps during World War II, followed in his footsteps by opening plastic pen manufacturer Rotary Pen in 1955. Warren recognized that the ballpoint pen would be the wave of the future, so he opened an injection molding business specifically to house the ballpoint writing cartridge.
Over the next 50 years, Warren and his son, Hap, produced over 1 billion pens for the federal government, the surgical field and the branded merchandise industry. All production remained stateside, located in four facilities in Kenilworth, New Jersey.
Although Hap’s children had spent their summers working at the company, they had no intention of joining the family business. Matt worked as an attorney for a Boston law firm, Greg became a counter-terrorism analyst and Colleen moved to France to be a professional tap dancer.
But when their grandfather was looking to sell Rotary Pen in the early 2000s, and the only interested buyer wanted to offshore the company, the siblings banded together and stepped up to the plate. “We really felt strongly about keeping the family business in the U.S.,” Shea says. “So much manufacturing has moved offshore, and we just didn’t want to be another one of those companies. We need manufacturing in this country.”
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Over the past 20 years, with the Shea siblings at the helm, the firm has gone completely vertical. In addition to injection molding its own plastic, the company now assembles, decorates and prints pens and even makes its own writing cartridges. In 2011, the business was acquired by Rotuba – a third-generation compounder and extruder – and renamed Pen Company of America.
Upon meeting the Sheas, Adam Bell, CEO of Rotuba, was immediately impressed by how knowledgeable and hands-on the family was. “There’s probably very few of those people left in the industry that can talk the talk and walk the walk,” Bell says. “The Shea family brings the experience of how to make quality writing instruments.”
Adam Bell
CEO, Rotuba
In 2021, Shea received a call from a distributor that Garland Writing Instruments – a 93-year-old promo supplier that specialized in “Made-in-USA” products – wasn’t going to survive the pandemic. “What my family did in plastic, Garland did in metal,” she says. “We didn’t want the brand to die.”
So, Pen Company of America, which now sits in a 100,000-square-foot facility and has close to 100 employees, acquired Garland, transferring its equipment and inventory in Rhode Island to its new home in New Jersey. As a result of its expanded product line, Pen Company of America created All American Writing Instruments and officially entered the promo industry.
Shea considers The PPAI Expo 2023 as the supplier’s coming out party for the promo industry.
“You can see the light bulb go off when distributors realize we’re the people that have been making these products this whole time,” she says. “When a distributor asks us a question, we have first-hand, in-depth knowledge of how this all works. It’s unique in this space that the people they interact with daily are that knowledgeable about the subject matter.”
Courtesy Of The Red, White And Blue
Anticipating greater demand for American-made products under the second Trump administration, Bell hopes for growth in the 20%-30% range across all brands in 2025.
To facilitate that growth, All American Writing Instruments will have two booths at The PPAI Expo 2025, showcasing a variety of new products, including the Pokka brand that it’s bringing from retail to promo.
- Marketed as compact, lightweight, affordable and waterproof, Pokka pens can come with accessories like a lanyard and a metal clip for attaching to your clothes.
The supplier will also debut PenScents, a new line of scented pens. Designed with a patented grip and infused scents, such as coffee, chocolate and lavender, the pens give users a multi-sensory writing experience.
“The launch of PenScents is going to be a really big part of our growth as we move into next year,” says Ian Brudenell, national sales manager at All American Writing Instruments. “Scent is proven to be one of these things that trigger memories, so as a messaging vehicle in the promotional space, we’re looking to pair the scent with marketing opportunities.”
Rotuba, a custom compounder of cellulosics, manufactures Auracell – a wood-based polymer that can absorb a fragrance and allow it to migrate through powder embedded into plastic.
“We can deliver a powerful scent that’s true to form – no other plastic in the industry can do that,” Bell says. “We’re the No. 1 scent technology in toys and we’re bringing that technology to the promo industry.”
To promote the new products and drive brand awareness, All American Writing Instruments has recently expanded its sales force with the addition of multi-line reps throughout North America. The firm has curated a roster of 13 teams renowned for their deep industry knowledge, extensive network and stellar track record of driving sales growth.
Ian Brudenell
National Sales Manager, All American Writing Instruments
“The multi-line rep network that we’ve created is getting our feet on the street everywhere,” Brudenell says. “With all the multi-line reps we’ve brought in, what we’re doing with new products and how we’re innovating for the future, we’re positioned really well.
“Ever since the election, I’ve seen an uptick in people reaching out to us. The conversations about tariffs have been a really great talking point for us. It’s a good time to be a USA-made manufacturer.”
