SEATTLE, Oct. 30, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Utilikilts announces the Northwest Kilt Exchange program for bringing together skilled volunteers and the organizations that need their help by awarding kilts for service.
Today on its Website, www.utilikilts.com, The Utilikilts Co. will begin implementing a program that awards five to ten utilikilts a month to individuals who choose to donate their skills to one of a list of chosen organizations or charities. Megan Haas, co-founder of the Utilikilts Co. and the creator of NWK explains the program through a series of questions:
Q. How can we afford to keep making utilikilts in Seattle without raising our prices?
A. We cannot afford to keep making Utilikilts in Seattle, without raising our prices. The kilts are already very under priced for such a complex piece of sewing.
Q. How can we help customers to afford our kilts by using an alternative currency?
A. Many of our customers have skills that they offer us in exchange for a kilt. While the company was getting started this was invaluable, but it is no longer as imperative. Instead, we could somehow creatively direct these skills elsewhere.
Q. How can we benefit others on a global level while being such a young and ever-changing company?
A. We can harness the enormous support of our customer community, who have shown themselves to be a diverse group of people from around the world, many of whom share a sense of fellowship towards each other and towards us simply because they wear the garment that we produce.
Q. How does Northwest Kilt Exchange work?
A. There will be a list of companies on the Utilikilts Website. The list will include the name and description of each organization. We have asked each organization for a list of needs/skills that they can benefit from, from the mundane to the highly specialized. This is designed to be a deliberate and well intentioned program that will help these organizations in the clearest and best possible way. Once a customer sees a good fit for their skills, they will contact the Utilikilts Co. to set up a meeting. At this meeting the Volunteer coordinator will, based on the individual's skill set, design 20-30 hours of work for them. People who have special or highly trained skills may have their hours negotiated somewhat. When the work is done, they will receive a certificate for a Utilikilt.
Northwest Kilt Exchange will begin by working with six, local, partner organizations and next year will expand to other states, eventually going global, and hopefully exchanging hundreds of kilts a year for services. Our list of organizations currently includes;
Northwest Program for the Arts - www.northwestarts.org
BikeWorks - www.bikeworks.org
Global Music Project - www.globalmusicproject.org
The Center for Wooden Boats - www.cwb.org
Refugee Assistance Program -www.volunteersolutions.org/uwkc/volunteer/agency/one_179745.html
Fremont Public Association - www.fremontpublic.org
"I believe it's easy to change the world. It simply takes a small contribution from each one of us." Says Peter Fosso, founder of Global Music Project, an innovative, new, non-profit offering downloadable music from around the world, the proceeds of which go toward global causes (http://www.globalmusicproject.org). "And the Utilikilts Co. is simply working with the basic elements of business and establishing a plan that will create action immediately. The company, the customers and the non-profits can only benefit from expanding into each other's community, where they can then educate, explore shared goals and hopefully develop lasting ties."
Go directly to the link for the North West kilt Exchange on the Utilikilts Web-site http://www.utilikilts.com/frameset-nke.htm
About Utilikilts Company:
The Utilikilts Company, established April 2000, was originally founded in order to fund a global arts project involving seven double decker buses that would travel through many countries, putting on an interactive show of music, dance, video art, and drama, incorporating the local art/politics from its travels and leaving change in its wake.
The Utilikilt was one of several designs implemented by Form Follows Function, an original design company, in order to raise money for this Arts project.
In our second year of business, we were surprised to discover that the Utilikilt was becoming a growing social phenomenon, inspiring debate, consistently challenging the media, changing lives, and creating a common symbolism among its wearers. This was in part thanks to a strong, patented design, but also because of our business principles, many of which challenge widely established norms.
After 3 years of business, the Utilikilt has been chosen for exhibition at two of the world's most renowned museums; the company is currently the subject of a feature-length documentary film; and we are one of ten finalists up for the WA State, Small Business of the year award, sponsored by the BBB.
Through the support of our customer community, we are realizing that the tools to change the world and affect social change, for us, lie in attempting to redirect the corporate structure that we come up against every day as we step up to new levels in the business community. Our future plans include changing/revitalizing the manufacturing arena by implementing a new style and form of factory; continuing to research and develop original designs to forward the alchemy of science and art; and to someday reinterpret our original arts project (a.k.a., the Bus) by creating new avenues for the arts to flow into the public school system.