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Augusta Training Shop: Snowflakes
Alisia Holsey, Augusta University

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Kelsey Lathrop, Augusta University
Dantavious Whitaker, Augusta University
Simon Medcalfe, Augusta University

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“Live Life According To Our Gifts Rather Than Our Limitations”
[Augusta Training Shop Booklet]

The Augusta Training Shop (ATS) was a non-profit organization that provided jobs
for individuals with disabilities. In 2012 the workers started producing craft snowflakes
made from reed (see exhibit 1). The snowflakes were sold online, in the shop, and at
trade shows. The Executive Director, Audrey Murell, was attending a trade show in
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Atlanta in the spring of 2014 and was asked if she could give a 50% discount to a
wholesaler. Despite having produced and sold snowflakes for a couple of years, Audrey
realized she did not know how much it cost her to make them. She didn’t know what
to reply.

Exhibit 1: Images of craft snowflakes

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Augusta 7.5 Adrian 9.3 Foundry 20.7

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Copyright © 2017 by the Case Research Journal and by Alisia Holsey, Kelsey Lathrop, Dantavious
Whitaker and Simon Medcalfe. This case study was prepared as the basis for classroom discussion
rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. The
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authors wish to thank Brent Beal, John Lawrence, and three anonymous CRJ reviewers for their
valuable comments and helpful suggestions on how to make this a more effective case. Funding
for this research was provided by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Summer
Scholars Program and the James M. Hull College of Business at Augusta University. Earlier versions
of the case were presented at the newcomer (embryo) workshop at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the
North American Case Research Association in Orlando, FL and the 2016 Annual Meeting of the
North American Case Research Association in Las Vegas, NV.

Augusta Training Shop: Snowflakes 1

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 THE AUGUSTA TRAINING SHOP

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From an early age, Audrey Murell knew she had a heart for people with disabilities.

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While earning her degree in sociology from Augusta State University she followed her
heart and interned at the ATS. After graduating Audrey worked part time for the ATS
and then applied for the vacant position of executive director. Out of five candidates
for the position Audrey was chosen. Immediately, Audrey found there were many
challenges, “I couldn’t even cash my first pay check,” she recalled. Since then, Audrey

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had developed many activities to support the non-profit, including the Derby Day
fundraiser which raised over $52,000 in 2013. This catered, ticketed event, held on the
same date as the Kentucky Derby, included a silent auction. Audrey also secured
funding from United Way of $72,000 in 2013.

Exhibit 2: Augusta Training Shop Mission and Goals

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Augusta Training Shop Mission
To advocate and provide services and support to individuals with disabilities and
their families/providers that enhance their quality of life and to help them
discover and move toward their own desirable personal futures while providing
needed help in ways that protect and promote valued experiences for them now.

Augusta Training Shop Goals

1. To ensure that persons with disabilities are treated with dignity and respect.
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2. To fully empower persons with disabilities to determine their own fate with
minimal restrictions.
3. To ensure that persons with disabilities have opportunities and the needed
support for: community presence and participation, gaining competencies and
skills, enjoying respect and dignity through valued roles, and having and
making choices.
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4. To connect persons with disabilities and their families with other available
needed resources in the community.
5. To support persons with disabilities and their families/providers in advocating
for their rights.
6. To use all resources available to influence and educate other people in the
community in having positive attitudes and relationships with people with
disabilities.
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The ATS started in 1947 as a way to provide care for children with disabilities.
Over the years the training shop evolved from a daycare center to a full workshop.
Historically, the ATS had offered furniture repair and restoration, chair weaving, and
polishing of metals to the local community. Workers at the training shop were called
“special artisans” and were like a family, looking forward to coming to work every day
because it gave them a sense of purpose. As a non-profit executive, Audrey focused on
creating products that told a story with meaning, in keeping with the mission and vision
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of the ATS (see exhibit 2). ATS started producing woven snowflakes in 2012 when
Audrey thought of creating snowflakes using chair seat weaving material. In an
interview with Garden & Gun magazine Audrey stated “These are true representations
of snowflakes in the natural world, not one is the same and never will be.” She did not
want to mass produce the product, because it would detract from the uniqueness of
the snowflakes. By 2013 snowflakes came in over 60 shapes and sizes. The growing

2 Case Research Journal  Volume 37  Issue 3  Summer 2017

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 demand for snowflakes led Audrey to turn what she had planned as a seasonal

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fundraiser into a long-term product and to expand production, although this did create
a storage problem, since most sales occurred in the last three months of the year while

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production took place all year. Sales of 671 snowflakes generated almost $25,000 in
revenue in 2013. Total ATS revenue from all sales, grants and fundraising was $275,147
in 2013, and expenses totaled $266,372 (see exhibit 3).

Exhibit 3: Statement of Functional Expenses, Year ended 2013

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Expense 2013 Total ($)
Management and supervisory salaries 106,079
Wages for hourly paid employees 49,000
Benefits paid to salaried employees 10,160
Payroll taxes (7.65% of wages) 11,798
CPA fees 7,293
Office expenses (e.g. computers, printers and paper) 6,301

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Utilities (electricity, gas, etc.) 11,692
Building and grounds maintenance 5,979
Travel 2,081
Insurance 8,794
Grant program expenses 7,773
Telephone 1,678
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Printing and publications 242
Depreciation on buildings and equipment 11,955
Program supplies 16,221
Other expenses 9,324
Total 266,372
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Augusta, Georgia had the second most non-profits per capita in the nation. Besides
ATS, there were several other nonprofits in the area that provided training to people
with disabilities. The most significant of these was Lynndale Inc., which was founded
in 1952 as a private non-profit that provided rehabilitation services for people with
disabilities. Work at Lynndale consisted of furniture restoration, packaging, and
institutional rental for various events. Lynndale served to train their employees to work
in other businesses in the community. ATS, on the other hand, provided long-term
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employment to its employees. One worker had been an employee of ATS for 30 years.
Sales of snowflakes was undertaken in part to further differentiate ATS from Lynndale.

DETERMINING COSTS AND MAKING A DECISION

Upon returning to Augusta from the Atlanta trade show, Audrey set up a 7-day trial to
determine her costs. Audrey used three snowflakes in the trial, the Augusta 7.5, Adrian
9.3, and Foundry 20.7 (the snowflakes shown in Exhibit 1). These snowflakes were
chosen because they were the most popular accounting for over 75% of sales. The
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numbers after the snowflake’s name indicate the size of the snowflake (7/9/20 inches)
and the number of rows of reeds (5/3/7).
Two people were involved in the process of making a snowflake: a cutter and an
artisan. A cutter took a 1 lb. coil of reed and cut it into strips of the appropriate length
and quantity. One “bundle” of reed contained all the reed necessary to make one
snowflake. One Augusta 7.5 required twenty 7 inch strips of reed, one Adrian 9.3

Augusta Training Shop: Snowflakes 3

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 required a bundle of twelve 9 inch strips, and one Foundry 20.7 required a bundle of

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twenty-eight 20 inch strips. Cutters produced 49 Augusta 7.5 bundles, 134 Adrian 9.3
bundles and 23 Foundry 20.7 bundles. Each artisan then took a bundle and weaved a

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snowflake (unused bundles were added to inventory).
During the 7-day trial, artisans produced a total of 38 Augusta 7.5 snowflakes, 54
Adrian 9.3 snowflakes, and 21 Foundry 20.7 snowflakes. Other material costs are shown
in exhibits 4 through 6. The Augusta 7.5 had a retail price of $15, the Adrian 9.3 sold
for $12, and the Foundry 20.7 sold for $75. Each snowflake sold with three cards: a

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postcard, price tag, and employee biography of the artisan who made that specific
snowflake.

Exhibit 4: Employee Wages Rates and Hours Worked

Employee Wage Rate Hours Hours Hours
($/hour) Worked Worked Worked
Augusta 7.5 Adrian 9.3 Foundry 20.7

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Cutter 1 $1.49 2.5 6.0 4.0
Cutter 2 $1.69 8.0 7.5 4.0
Artisan 1 $3.49 3.0 7.0 6.0
Artisan 2 $5.15 9.0 8.0 8.0
Artisan 3 $5.05 9.0 7.5 8.0
Artisan 4 $4.30 4.0 0.0 0.0
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Exhibit 5: Cost of Materials
Quantity Cost
ATS Postcard 2500 $87.36
ATS Price Tag 1000 $37.50
Employee Bio 500 $33.90
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Glue - Per Bottle 1 $4.50

Reed -1 lb. Coil 1 $8.50

Exhibit 6: Material Used In Total Production

Augusta 7.5 Adrian 9.3 Foundry 20.7
Total Production 38.0 54.0 21.0
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Glue used for all

1.0 1.0 3.1
snowflakes (# of bottles)
Reed used for all
14.0 32.0 125.0
snowflakes (ounces)

Audrey now had all the information to calculate the cost of these snowflakes. Once
she calculated these costs, she would be in a position to respond to the wholesaler who
had asked for a 50% discount off the retail price. Audrey already offered a 30%
discount on orders over $200. She hoped that the price-cost relationship was going
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to allow her to continue using snowflakes as a major fundraiser for her business.

4 Case Research Journal  Volume 37  Issue 3  Summer 2017

This document is authorized for educator review use only by Joan Kingsly, Other (University not listed) until Oct 2021. Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
Permissions@hbsp.harvard.edu or 617.783.7860