Testimonials - Forecastle

With a slogan that proclaims it to be the best in “Music, Art, and Activism,” the Forecastle Festival is an annual gathering of musicians, artists, and environmentalists.  Each year, it takes place at the Louisville Waterfront, where it attracts around 25,000 visitors for the headlining artists and events.  Voluforms has provided print resources for the festival for the past several years, earning the raving review from festival founder, JK McKnight, seen below.

“Voluforms has been a great partner for our festival, handling all our merchandise and printing needs the past few years. Their expertise and knowledge makes our lives easier every day. We highly recommend them to anyone needing a professional print partner!” 

-JK McKnight, Forecastle Festival Founder

For more on what resources Voluforms has to offer your event, visit our website or call us at 800-736-1326 today!

Caught in the Middle

After the storms and tornadoes just a couple weeks back, Voluforms is still hearing stories from those caught in the middle.  Our employees have been sharing their experiences with us too.  Chris Maheney, Voluform’s VP of Technology, tells his story here:

“I heard the night before that my hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky might get some of the worst weather it had seen in years. I did not expect to see much bad weather in Henryville and was wondering how bad it would be in Bowling Green, Kentucky. It turns out Henryville would be in the spotlight instead.

After clearing out a closet under the stairwell (not that it would have helped from a direct hit from this size tornado), I walked toward the kitchen to look out to the woods behind the house. The lights flickered and went out as I saw what I now know was one of the smaller tornadoes tearing up trees behind my house. The tops of all the trees in my front yard snapped off at the same time, and I could hear one of them crash against my house. Baseball size hail followed and broke rear windows on the house. I tried to send messages as long as it was possible, but phone service in the area did not last long.

After the storm passed, I was picking up some debris outside when my neighbor returned and told me he had just tried driving around and that it looked like a war zone outside our little neighborhood. (I live only about a half mile from the school and the rest of the area, which was devastated by the larger tornado.) He told me it appeared homes were thrown over the roads both ways, so you could not get out of the area. He also saw people with blood on their faces wandering aimlessly, not knowing where to go for help.

Later that evening I found a way to get to Louisville to get word to family and friends that at least I was okay.”

What an incredible story, Chris! Thanks for sharing with us. Feel free to share your own stories from the Southern Indiana tornadoes here in the comments section or on our Facebook page.

United Efforts

Last October, we featured the son of our warehouse manager, Tim Smith, and his friends, who started A2Z Metal Recycling. Read more about their efforts in our post here. 

Now, the boys are back again to help out with tornado cleanup efforts in Southern Indiana.

A2Z boys and their families spent their Sunday in tornado ravaged Marysville helping one of the town’s residents clean up piles of metal from her house and garage. They loaded up two trailer loads and one truck load of recycling. They were able to recycle over 2700 pounds of metal and donate 100% of the money made from the haul back to her, which was a total of $830.00. Great work A2Z. Thanks for your efforts!

A United Chairperson

Voluforms is excited to announce that our company owner and CEO will be the Regional Chair for Metro United Way.  As their Website states, Metro United Way is a “Diverse groups of leaders and volunteer experts study local needs, resources, and trends. Priorities are then set for funding agencies, based on our four visions of success in making our community the most vital, caring community in America: helping kids succeed, building strong families, promoting health and independence, and strengthening neighborhoods.”

Mike Stewart, CEO of Voluforms and Regional Chair of Metro United Way
speaking at the annual kickoff breakfast.

Most recently, the United Way has been instrumental in coordinating volunteer efforts in the tornado cleanup.  As their mission statement points out, their goal is to “improve lives and our community by engaging people to give, advocate and volunteer.”

Here at Voluforms, we are proud of our CEO and his efforts as Regional Chair for Metro United Way.  For more information on Metro United Way, visit their Website.  For more about Voluforms and Mike Stewart, visit our Website and like us on Facebook.

Our CEO In the News

Voluforms is proud to say that our very own Mike Stewart has been featured in a local newspaper article!  The story spotlights Mike's photography exhibit on display at the Louisville Science Center.  Here's a quote from the article:

"...through spring, Stewart’s work is being celebrated with a gallery at the Louisville Science Center. The gallery, a part of the science center’s exhibit called “GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked the World,” features 35 photos from Stewart’s career. They tie in to “All Access,” an IMAX film being shown as a part of the exhibit."

Read the rest of the article on the News and Tribune's website! And don't forget to check out Voluforms' website and Facebook page.

Giving Back - Employee Spotlight

Our employee spotlight for the month is Tim Smith.  Tim, along with our warehouse employees, created Godswill, a group that collects items to donate to local organizations.  They have done a great job putting this together and with the help of our employees are making an impact in our community.  In a thank you note to Voluforms employees, Tim says,

“We have finished delivering all of our gifts and everyone we donated to was very excited and thankful. We did things a little different this year instead of just buying mass quantities of goods and toys we actually sat down with each organization and got list from them on what they were in the most need of.

Haven House had 11 children this year, ages range from 1-17, each child or parent made a list of clothing/shoes/jackets of what they needed and a special item/toy.  So for each one we were able to get at least two of the clothing type items and their special item, along with each child receiving gloves, hat, toothbrush, combs and goodies/candy.  

Noah's Ark asked that we supply filled stockings for each child.  There were 6 children there, ages 6-16, so each stocking was filled with socks, gloves, toothbrush, comb, coupons for free food, candy, watches and a few other items. The NCOC (North Clark Outreach Center) asked if we could supply them with bathroom type items, like soap, shampoo, lotion, shaving cream, razors, deodorant, combs, toothbrushes, etc. We also supplied the Haven House with those same kinds of items, and all were very thankful. We did a great job and got folks things they needed and could really use.  

This is the 11th year for Godswill and I can't believe how far we’ve come since the first year, I hope to continue doing this for many more years. 

My mother got me started doing this kind of work in our basement at home during Christmas when I was around 13 or 14. We would make up fruit bags to donate to folks that she knew could use some help.  It wasn't much but she said that they would appreciate it and they did. 

Ever since then it's been something I’ve strived to do and do bigger every year, and with everyone’s help it has gotten there and now I get to get my children involved and teach them what this is all about.  They went out with us and helped pick out things for each child and place and helped deliver it.  So hopefully one day they will continue this in their own way.

So again, thank you everyone very much and have a very Merry Christmas!!!”

Thanks for all your hard work, Tim, and for making a difference with Godswill and Voluforms in our community!

All Access

Voluforms is proud to say that our very own President and CEO is celebrating the opening of an exhibit of his concert photography. An announcement from the Louisville Science Center says this about Mike:

“C. Michael Stewart is a professional photographer with years of experience specializing in concert and special event photography.  His newest exhibit will be on display at the Louisville Science Center through April 22 during the run of the new exhibit, GUITAR: The Instrument That Rocked the World, and the IMAX film ALL ACCESS: Front Row. Backstage. LIVE!

Stewart’s photography covers more than 150 events each year, including major music festivals and Midwest concerts.  He contributes to local and national media along with artist websites.  His work can be found in “Hittin” The Note Magazine, The Examiner.com and The News and Tribune.  He also works as a staff photographer with Horseshoe Casino, the Forecastle Festival, and the Louisville Bats AAA Baseball Club.

For more information on C. Michael Stewart and his work, please visit http://www.cmichaelsphotos.com/.”

What an exciting way to learn more about our President and CEO! Congratulations Mike!

Our Angels

Voluforms had some special angels of employees this year shopping for the Angel Tree! Check out the photos from our day at the mall!

CEO Mike Stewart (far right) with fellow Rotarians

Our angels donating their time to help shop at the Salvation Army Angel Tree

A to Z

Tim Smith, Manager of the Voluforms Warehouse, thought it would be a good idea for his son to earn some spending money, as well as learn some civic responsibility at the same time. So, he helped his son Austin, and two of his buddies start A2Z Metal Recycling.

Between homework and ball practice, the boys collect and recycle scrap metal. Since the middle of September 2010, their efforts have kept over 31,332 pounds of junk metal out of the landfills!

But the enterprising young men didn’t stop there. They’ve taken it upon themselves to donate a portion of their proceeds to those less fortunate. To date, Austin, Zachary and Andrew have donated $1,284.25 of their earnings to local charities such as Blessings in a Backpack, Shop with a Cop and local food pantries. They are also establishing their own scholarship for a graduating senior of their local high school.



Left to right:  Andrew Meyer, Zach Whitten and Austin Smith



The boys of A2Z, along with other business' in their local community, put together 500 back packs filled with supplies for the back to school giveaway. A2Z was in charge of packs of paper and pencil boxes for each back pack.

Voluforms salutes the entrepreneurial spirit and large hearts of these three young men!

Partners In Philanthropy

The most generous companies in the Greater Louisville area are being recognized by Business First magazine through the Partners in Philanthropy Awards.  Guess who has been nominated as a finalist? That’s right, Voluforms!  We are in the Top 10 of the Medium-sized Company division.

This past week, we had the privilege of attending the awards luncheon, where the winners of each category were recognized. Voluforms was awarded a trophy and recognition for our placement in the top 10 Medium division.

Voluforms at Business First’s Partners in Philanthropy Awards
From L to R:  Sarah Conrey – Manager Customer Service, Mike Stewart – President and CEO, Susan Voyles Garr – Vice President Sales, and Wendy Eckert – COO

To read more about the Partners In Philanthropy Awards visit Business First and to see the results, click here. As always, check out our Website and Facebook for more updates and information on our company!

Out & About

This summer, Voluforms took some time out of the office to help out the Kentuckiana community. Check out these exciting events we’ve attended and sponsored!

Clark Memorial Hospital Foundation Golf Outing – June 13, 2011


We enjoyed a day at the golf course with employees of Clark Memorial Hospital as the Corporate Sponsor of their event in June.

Children’s Peace Center at Our Lady of Peace “Toyota 100 Cars for Good” Program
Celebration Event - August 11, 2011



Voluforms aided in the efforts of The Children’s Peace Center at Our Lady of Peace to win a Toyota van. The contest was entitled 100 Cars For Good and winners were chosen through Facebook and online votes. The Children’s Peace Center rallied enough votes to win a new Toyota minivan and Voluforms was there all along the way. We even helped celebrate!

(L to R: Mike Stewart - President and CEO Voluforms, Kristin Willard - Sales/Service Representative Voluforms, Wendy Eckert - COO Voluforms, and David Laird - President and CEO Jewish Hospital &
St. Mary's Healthcare)