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With the new year approaching, it’s a good time to think about your resolutions – not just personally, but also for your business. Of course, we business owners all want to increase sales next year, but there are other resolutions you can make that will help improve your business and your profits. Here are a few ideas to consider.

Chances are you’ve heard about the “supply chain crisis” that is being driven by the backup of more than 100 giant container ships off the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. While we believe it’s well-worth the time to read this insightful article from Yahoo Finance to better understand how this situation is affecting our economy with shortages, delays, and ultimately, inflation, we’ve synthesized the article into easily-digestible information bites.

Here are some key points from the article:

You have a vacation or a business trip coming up and it’s time to pack. Try these tips to make packing more efficient:

1. Roll, don’t fold, your clothes – it’s the best way to prevent creases and make the most of space in your suitcase.
2. Pack by outfit and group them on your bed first. This will help avoid forgetting an item.
3. Choose travel-friendly fabrics.
4. Place heavy items at the base
    of your suitcase.
5. Avoid over or under packing.

Halloween is the second largest commercial holiday in the United States, behind Christmas. Consumers spent over $8.8 billion on Halloween in 2020, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) with an average of $92 per person. Here are ten more fun facts about Halloween that you might not know from GoodHousekeeping.com and History.com:

It’s always a good practice to show customers you appreciate them throughout the year, but the Holidays are a great time to make them feel extra special. Here are 10 ways to show your customers you appreciate them this holiday season.

Kids aren’t the only ones who need to be organized to be successful at school -- parents need to be organized too. These easy organization hacks started at the beginning of the school year are sure to reduce back to school stress for the entire family!*

1.     Before you run out to purchase new school supplies for your child, do a quick search of your home for unused supplies from last year.

2.     Use a Homework Caddy or bin for school supplies that can remain on a table or shelf so it’s easy to find and clean up. Use containers for supplies like crayons, pens, pencils, erasers, paper clips, etc., include paper, scissors, glue sticks, highlighters, etc.

After a long year of social distancing and working from home, people are happy to get outside and enjoy the outdoors this summer. Soaking up the sunshine and fishing near a beautiful pond, river or beach is a great way to enjoy nature. But did you know that there are many health benefits to fishing? Here are a few reasons to break out the fishing rod and cast a line this summer, even if you’re a newbie!

With COVID restrictions on outdoor gatherings being lifted, people are happy to be able to move ahead with fun celebration events like weddings, showers, graduations, reunions, engagement and anniversary parties, and more. Giving a favor (or small gift) as a way of saying thank you to guests is a common tradition.

The tradition of distributing wedding favors, is hundreds of years old. It is believed that the first wedding favor, common amongst European aristocrats, was known as a bonbonniere. A bonbonniere is a small trinket box that was made of crystal, porcelain, and/or precious stones. The contents of these precious boxes were generally sugar cubes or delicate confections, which symbolize wealth and royalty.

Nowadays, small gift items like candy, ceramic, glass or metal items, candles, soaps, and more are met with the challenge of having to be protected against damage and scratches. The solution? Alpha Rho’s rigid plastic boxes and containers come in various shapes and are perfect for containing most items in our sturdy high-quality polystyrene plastic.

Polystyrene plastic pellets utilized by Alpha Rho. Photo: John Savone

Now that the second quarter of 2021 is already underway, the trend is clear: the prices in the resin market are increasing, and if the gap between supply and demand doesn’t shrink, it will continue to go northwards throughout 2021.

Week after week, we see a steady climb in the prices led by supply shortages amid increased demand. Some buyers have become creative amid this crisis by being more liberal with their requirements, expanding their regular technical specifications and product packaging requirements.

On Earth Day and every day, Alpha Rho is proud to practice sustainable measures to minimize our footprint and contribute responsibly to the environment and to our community. Whether it’s through recycling of our waste or utilizing “green power,” we’re doing our part to make a difference. How did we become one of the “greenest” plastic box manufacturing companies in New England? Here are 7 ways: