Latinos Mean Business: Out of the box — CompanyBox delivers with style

Over the last decade, companies have come to view packaging their products differently. What was once a brown cardboard box that served merely as a shipping vessel has evolved into a way to promote a brand.

Louie DeJesus and his son, Kyle, started CompanyBox to fill the needs of companies that see shipping as one more important way to reach their customers.

"We employ the best technology in the world" says DeJesus.

CompanyBox started in 2014 and was soon serving 150 brands. Today, CompanyBox operates from 150,000 square feet of space and has 60 employees. The company serves 50,000 brands. CompanyBox is the first printer in the world to have two in-house HP C500 PageWide presses. Over the last seven years, CompanyBox has had an annual growth rate of 47% per year.

Tell me about your entrepreneurial roots?

My father came from Puerto Rico and went to Geneva, Ohio to work on the railroad. My parents had an entrepreneurial spirit. My father ran moonshine because you’ve got to find a way to support six children. We opened our home to workers who came from Puerto Rico to work at the nurseries. In the early 1960s we probably had 10 to 15 people who would live in our home. Part of our job as little kids was to get up at 5 a.m. and make sandwiches in an assembly line for their lunches. We would do the same for dinner. We were very poor like any first generation family, but we never felt that we were poor.

What obstacles have you encountered?

There have not been many barriers in business. The one barrier I had was that I was 6 when we came from Puerto Rico so the English language was not there at all. I was probably the first Hispanic to go to Geneva Elementary. I flunked my first year, and that was quite a beat up. When that happens to a person, you can take it the good way to strengthen yourself or take it the bad way and cocoon it and make your situation worse. I took it as a rallying point because I wanted to win. I knew education was a way to better myself. I went to Edinboro College on a track scholarship and majored in accounting. I was hired at Key Bank in their management training program. I got to do and learn at the highest level. It was a really good experience. A lot of entrepreneurs lack accounting. They are good at working really hard, but if you don't have an accounting background that can be hard. At end of the day, you have got to be able to pay the bills.

How did you get into packaging?

I joined Stone Container and succeeded at selling. I always put the customer first. That led me to start a packaging company in 1991 with my wife, Jeanette, called Third Dimension, which manufactured custom corrugated packaging. That company did well. We bought a Quizno's, a gas station and a breakfast restaurant. Over time, most of my family came to Charlotte. We decided to move to Charlotte and open CompanyBox. We sold Third Dimension to Green Bay Packaging in 2020.

Tell me about CompanyBox.

Our son, Kyle, is our president, and my daughter, Nara, is in marketing. My daughter, Rhea Green, is on our board and she is in commercial real estate with Trinity Partners. We have some really large customers that have come on board with us. We employ the best technology in the world. We are one of the only companies in the world with a HP PageWide C500 digital press. We take sheets of corrugated cardboard and make a full color box that looks like a magazine, and we can do that without the six to seven weeks lead time that litho-lamination requires. Some of our clients include Home Depot, Lowe's, Anthropology, and other high-end brands and designers. We are also a trade supplier and that's about 40% of our business. We help other suppliers that produce corrugated packaging in our area to have our toolbox in their toolbox so they can get special needs filled. Our minimum is one box and we have no maximum. We run multiple truck loads at a time.

What's next for your business?

Covid created a big wave of ecommerce growth. It has shrunk quite a bit and all of the supply chain issues have hurt smaller companies. We have 30,000 customers and some are struggling to get product to use our boxes. We are creating a more efficient way to help customers ship a textile or a non-breakable item and reduce costs. In September we are launching a 100% paper-based padded mailer with no plastic in it. It's completely customizable with four color printing. This is an enormous win if it's suitable to ship your product. In January, we have more equipment coming. We purchased a German rotary die cutter that prints inside and outside and cuts at the same time.

How has Bank of America helped you build your business?

Bank of America has been instrumental in introducing us to other Hispanic businesses to partner within Charlotte. One of those groups is Charlotte Bilingual Preschool, who we collaborated with to donate take-home desks for all their students during Covid. Our relationship with BofA is still relatively new, so I’m confident that with their help, CompanyBox can continue to expand our network of Hispanic and Latino businesses across Charlotte.

Of what are you most proud about your business?

I’m proud of the fact that we were able to put together a great team. Everyone likes working here and the fact that my son and daughter work alongside me makes me proud. My granddaughter, Lulu, started a little business. She said, ‘I’m not the boss, but I’m the leader.’ She's only 8 but she understands. That's how we try to run our company. There's not a hierarchy.

Is there much Hispanic representation in your industry?

At CompanyBox, 50% of our employees are Hispanic. On the managerial side we have many women, including our controller and our head of customer service. A lot of Hispanic people run a lot of our equipment because they are hard-working people. We reward hard work on the floor and many Hispanics have become part of upper management. Language can hamper Hispanics, so they have to get a grasp of the language to advance.