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About Neil Enterprises - Our Story

Welcome! Founded in 1961, Neil Enterprises is a photo novelties and photo promotional products manufacturer. We manufacture a proprietary line of easy snap-in photo novelties which can be assembled on location for instant customer gratification. Our products include do-it-yourself buttons, key tags, mugs, frames, snow globes and much more. There are numerous applications for our photo novelties so we serve the needs of many different industries: professional photographers, retailers, special event, instant printing, embroidery, craft, educational, and ad specialty. Based in the Chicagoland area, we ship our merchandise worldwide on a daily basis.

History of Neil Enterprises

Neil Enterprises, Inc. was founded by Jerry Fine in 1961 as a supplier of premium goods to large corporations. Named after his son Neil, who was three years old at the time, Jerry’s original concept was to develop creative molded products to satisfy the needs of large corporations.  Examples of the original tooling included ice cream scoops for Maytag, spatulas for Staley Syrup and whistles for Armour Hot Dogs.

Later the photo mug was developed and Neil Enterprises entered the world of photofinishing. The company started to supply photo processors with the unique concept of placing a photo between the walls of insulated drinkware and sealing the two components together. Other photo gift items such as the photo keychain and button soon followed and a complete line of photo novelties started to form. The Neil Enterprises product line now extends hundreds of unique photo items. The company services the retail market, special event photo market, sports and school photo market, amusement parks, professional photo market, and many other photo specialty markets.

Neil Fine started working in the family business upon completion of his business degree at The University of Iowa. He has helped the company grow immensely by expanding its targeted markets and is currently the president. Many of the same products which were originally used for photos are used for children’s craft projects and are distributed into educational learning catalogs. The products are also used in the personalization market, and Neil Enterprises is now a leading supplier of embroidery blanks. The Neil Enterprises Varsity Line is a well known name in the collegiate bookstore market. With many of its decorating capabilities, Neil Enterprises' emblematic products are seen on the shelves of college bookstores across the country.

With changing markets and technology, Neil Enterprises continues to add new products and decorating capabilities to keep pace with the changing landscape. Now with several third generation family members at the company, Neil Enterprises is excited about the next 50 years and is looking forward to continuing its tradition of unique products and excellent service.

Sustainability

Neil Enterprises is committed to business practices that ensure minimal impact on the environment. Several measures were taken in the construction of our new warehouse and office building to achieve this. Local materials were used when possible as well as low emitting materials including paint, flooring, adhesives, and sealants. An advanced storm water management system has been put into place including water efficient landscaping. Increased ventilation and high tech lighting systems allow for constant energy savings throughout the day and the building becomes even more energy efficient when unoccupied. We continue to implement further sustainability measures in our day to day business including a comprehensive corporate recycling program as well as introducing a broader line of eco-friendly products.

 

Working at Neil Enterprises