Monks turn office products into $4.5M business

SPARTA, Wis. -- That'll be $117.95 for laser printer toner, $9.95 for free trade organic hot cocoa and $16.95 for fruit tarts.

The prayer for peace in your home? No charge.

LaserMonks Inc. sells everything from office and school supplies to gifts such as gourmet mustards and CDs of Gregorian chants. And the six monks of the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank always make sure to pray for you, too.

Don't let the size of the order fool you. Last year they sold $4.5 million worth of products and they're on target to hit that again this year. You wouldn't guess a multimillion-dollar business is housed on a quiet 600 acres in west-central Wisconsin. But that's the monk way. The sales are needed, they say, so they can survive and continue their religious works.

Plenty of religious orders are embracing new technologies and trends — like monks in Oregon who store and ship wines for wineries, and others who make goat's milk hand creams and soaps to pay for their ministries.

Many still cling to the usual — such as making fruitcakes and caramels — but their wares are getting more exposure thanks to inclusion on LaserMonks' websites, which sell items made by religious orders.

Father Bernard McCoy, 41, superior of the abbey about 180 miles northwest of Milwaukee — or "poster monk" as he likes to joke — is chief executive of LaserMonks. The business started small in autumn 2002, when his printer ran out of toner as he and the order were trying to think of new ways to make money. It dawned on him that if he bought in bulk, he could save and pass that along to others — and make some money for the order, too.

That first year they did $2,000 in sales, and the next year $150,000. Now, they offer 43,000 products to people and groups like schools and churches.

The abbey is nonprofit and LaserMonks is for-profit, with all net proceeds going to charitable works like a school in Vietnam that teaches computer skills to children otherwise living on the streets, to domestic abuse shelters in California and Camp Heartland, a camp for children living with or affected by HIV or AIDS in Minnesota. Since 2004, they've given away half a million dollars. The monks use about $150,000 a year for operating expenses, though between 15% and 20% of that is given away to charities as well.