SKILCRAFT U.S. GOVERNMENT PEN
50 Years 
1968-2018
In 1968, an American classic was born: the SKILCRAFT® U.S. Government Pen. For 50 years, the pen has been a workhorse for the federal government and U.S. military. This iconic product, adored by generations of government employees and their families, is more than just a pen; it’s a symbol of the strength of American manufacturing and the limitless capabilities of people who are blind.
The story of the pen began in 1965 when the General Services Administration (GSA) wrote a 16-page federal specifications document for a retractable ballpoint pen with a replaceable ink cartridge. After receiving a shipment of 13 million defective ballpoint pens from the original supplier in 1967, then-GSA Commissioner Heinz Abersfeller sought a new supplier and offered NIB the opportunity to produce the pens. On April 20, 1968, the SKILCRAFT U.S. Government Pen was added to the federal procurement list, making it available to federal purchasers through the AbilityOne® Program.
Pen production provided employment for 133 employees who were blind working at four NIB associated nonprofit agencies across the country: Industries of the Blind in Greensboro, NC; Alphapointe in Kansas City, MO; Industries for the Blind in Milwaukee, WI; and Arizona Industries for the Blind in Phoenix, AZ (later transferred to the Lighthouse for the Blind in St. Louis, MO).
SKILCRAFT U.S. Government Pens are produced and tested according to specifications outlined in a 16-page document written by GSA in 1965. Among dozens of other performance requirements, the pen must be capable of writing continuously for one mile in temperatures ranging from 40 degrees below zero to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Its original design has changed little over the decades. Click here for an infographic highlighting some of the pen's specifications.
The quality of the government pen shifted perceptions about the capabilities of people who are blind and NIB and its associated agencies. The project paved the way for the introduction of dozens of new SKILCRAFT products in the following decades, creating hundreds of new jobs for people who are blind. Today, more than 5,000 quality SKILCRAFT products are available to government customers through the AbilityOne® Program.
More than 100 people who are blind manufacture nearly 8 million SKILCRAFT U.S. Government Pens each year. Pen production sustains meaningful employment for individuals like Susan Kasten, who assembles pens at Industries for the Blind in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Lynn Larsen, a machine operator at Industries of the Blind, Greensboro, has been making the SKILCRAFT U.S. Government Pen for nearly 40 years. For Larsen, it’s more than a job: “I think about all the soldiers who use them and what they are doing in service to our country. It makes me feel honored and proud to make these pens.”
Purchase SKILCRAFT U.S. Government Pens through the AbilityOne Program
Purchase SKILCRAFT U.S. Government pens directly through nonprofit organizations that manufacture the pen
In the late 1960s, four employees produced 20,000 pens daily with this retractable pen assembly machine.
Final inspection and packaging of ball point pens are performed on an assembly line.
About 40 employees who are blind produce 80,000 pens daily in this typical work area in the 1960s.
NIB’s testing center in St. Louis, MO, in the 1970s.
Employees assembling pens at Industries of the Blind Greensboro in the 1990s.
Employees assembling pens at Industries of the Blind Greensboro today.
Associated Press, April 28, 2018
WTOP.com, April 23, 2018
Opportunity magazine, April 2018
PR Newswire, April 24, 2018
Stars and Stripes, April 27, 2018
Supply Chimp Blog
Media Inquires: Contact Mike Johnson, NIB Communications Director, at mgjohnson@nib.org or 703-310-0568
Since 1938, National Industries for the Blind (NIB) has focused on enhancing the opportunities for economic and personal independence of people who are blind, primarily through creating, sustaining and improving employment. NIB and its network of associated nonprofit agencies are the nation’s largest employer of people who are blind through the manufacture and provision of SKILCRAFT® and other products and services of the AbilityOne® Program. For more information about NIB, visit NIB.org.
