Made in Our Hometown: Wagner Pencil Keeps Ol

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In a world where touch screens are king, one company in Bakewell, Tennessee is keeping with the old-school tradition of putting pencil to paper. Wagner Pencil Company can create up to 200,000 pencils every day in an industry that has mostly moved overseas, but not Wagner. "It's a very very proud feeling and I know that my employees feel the same way because we are still able to make a product here," says plant manager Ray Phifer. When the spotted owl, a threatened species, took up camp in the cedar trees that pencil companies across the country used for raw material, Wagner developed a new method of manufacturing. Phifer says, "we are the only company in the US that makes their own flats. We couldn't afford to make it out of the cedar so we invented this pine about 12 years ago." The pine is cut into three different lengths before it moves on to the groover to make room for the pencil's primary product. The machine lays graphite in the grooves and the other side of the pine piece is added. After drying overnight, the pencils are cut into individual pieces, and from there the possiblities are endless with paint, even pencils with an added sweet scent, and mood-changing capabilities. After the eraser is added, and sometimes a distinctive design, these pencils are ready for promotional purposes across the country. "It's amazing to me with the way our society has gone with iPhones and iPads that we are still able to make a pencil and it's used today," says Phifer. "Our society has gotten so sophisticated." But whether you are talking about high-tech or old-school, at Wagner these pencils are a definite point of pride. By: Latricia Thomas