CISTERCIAN MONKS RUN THRIVING INK BUSINESS

[Anonymous]

http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/46141107.html
From ink cartridges to dog biscuits, monks run thriving business
An
ancient order that broke off from the Benedictines, they were the
builders of the Middle Ages, harnessing water power for milling and
metalwork – industries that sustained the monks’ simple lives of prayer
and contemplation.If they’d only known Father Bernard McCoy, those
businesses might still be humming today.McCoy, 42, is the marketing
genius behind LaserMonks Inc., the multimillion-dollar Internet
business that supports a small community of Cistercian monks on 500
rolling acres in western Wisconsin.There, at the Abbey of Our Lady of
Spring Bank, the six monks spend their days in ora et labora, or prayer
and work.They pay the bills and support their charitable endeavors by
selling (with the help of some equally enterprising women) printer inks
and toners, and now a host of other specialty products from around the
world.”We’re modern monks following an ancient tradition,” said McCoy,
who holds a number of titles at the monastery, including prior, and
chief executive officer of LaserMonks.McCoy started the company in 2001
to generate income for the monastery, which had moved from Oconomowoc
in the 1980s and had recently completed construction of a new
17,000-square-foot abbey.

The monks had tried or rejected a
variety of other ventures over the years, including growing shiitake
mushrooms, real estate development – one project got them sued – and
developing a luxury golf course, before striking what has amounted to
black gold.McCoy was in the midst of the golf course deal, he says,
when, his printer ran out of toner. He started poking around for a
replacement and divine inspiration struck.”I thought, gosh, if I can
save this kind of money for the monastery, what could I do for other
nonprofits?”Help with marketing Sales were slow initially, until Sarah
Caniglia and Cindy Griffith stumbled onto the monks’ Web site. The
women, who lived in Colorado at the time, had experience in the ink and
toner business and approached the monks about collaborating.

Their
firm, now called Monk Helper Marketing, has been running the business
ever since, from the ground floor of a three-story building on the
monastery grounds where they live with their five dogs and two
cats.Today, they manage a database of about 70,000 customers and sell a
lot more than ink and toner. Products touted on their various Web sites
include fair trade coffee, gourmet dog biscuits, decadent chocolates
and an array of boutique products made by monasteries around the
world.”We knew once we were out here that we’d never go back,” said
Caniglia, who is drawn by the spiritual atmosphere of the monastery and
the company’s emphasis on charitable giving.

LaserMonks is
projecting sales of up to $3.5 million this year. Of that, 10% goes to
run the abbey, which gives $100,000 to $125,000 a year to charities
around the world, according to McCoy.The monks receive no personal
income, says McCoy, who touts himself as the lowest-paid CEO in
America.”I ask for a raise every year, and every year they double it.
But two times zero is still zero.”Very little of the work is actually
done by the Sparta monks. The ink and toner cartridges are filled
elsewhere and drop-shipped to customers from warehouses across the
country. They bake the Benevolent Biscuits dog treats the company
sells; they’re taste-tested by the monastery’s resident Doberman
pinscher, Ludwig.McCoy travels the country talking up the LaserMonks
story to business groups; his simple white and black robes have gotten
him through more than one door that might otherwise have been
closed.But the bulk of the work of LaserMonks is done by Caniglia,
Griffith and their employee, Victoria Bench.”We run the operations,”
says Caniglia, “so they can be monks, pray and be contemplative.”

The
monks’ day begins at 4:15 a.m., when they gather in the chapel to pray
in the spare and haunting Gregorian chant passed down through the
monasteries of Europe for centuries. They’ll return again and again,
spending in all about five hours a day in formal prayers. In the
intervening hours, they take their meals and carry on the work of the
monastery – cooking, cleaning, maintaining the grounds, spiritual
counseling – all in an atmosphere of silence.

In what remains of
the day, the monks pursue their own interests, some of which are
decidedly modern. Father Robert Keffer paints in a studio on the
grounds; Brother David Klecker enjoys photography and video production;
his day in the life of the monastery can be seen on YouTube. And
Brother Stephen Treat writes a blog. They ride the abbey’s Peruvian
Paso horses. McCoy used to fly the abbey’s plane, but he no longer has
time, so they’re selling it. And in the kloisterkeller – a divine rec
room – they watch movies and play pool.”It’s all ordered to allow for a
life of otium sanctum, holy leisure,” said McCoy, who joined the
monastery at the age of 22. “Time to reflect on the good, the true, the
beautiful.”

The success of LaserMonks has afforded a level of
comfort, even luxury, some might see as inconsistent with monastic
ideals.It’s not, said McCoy, who notes that Cistercian monks take a vow
of stability, a lifetime commitment to their monastic community, but
not a vow of poverty.”Because we have a vow of stability, we have
property, tools, equipment, a library. Does it mean we live
ostentatiously? No. Are we comfortable? Yes,” he said.”We’re not
drinking out of Baccarat crystal every day – unless somebody donates
it.”We have what we need and not more.”

[Author]

May 29, 2009 at 12:31 PM