How Shutterfly prints the WBTV Family Recipes cookbook

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - You’ve probably created a photo book or calendar using Shutterfly, but did you know that the largest production lab for the company is in Fort Mill, South Carolina?

Not only do they churn out millions upon millions of products every year, they also have a big heart for charity. And they helped us create the WBTV Family Recipes cookbook.

This was the first time we saw the WBTV Family Recipes cookbook in real life, rolling off the line in the massive printing room at Shutterfly Fort Mill.

“We have hundreds of people who come to work every day making memories for people,” said Scott Jones, Site Director at Shutterfly.

He and production manager Chris Oxendine showed us all four steps of the process it takes to print a book like this one: Printing the individual pages, cutting and binding them, creating the cover, and then attaching the cover to the book. They are checked and rechecked to be sure high-quality finished products are going out the door. It is projects like this, they say, that put an extra spring in the step of the hundreds of full-time employees here.

“People love working here; it’s a really cool environment, it’s a family atmosphere and people having an opportunity to get involved in the community and to do what they do every day and produce something that is going to be shared in the community and be involved in local charities, that’s very important to us,” said Jones.

Printing cookbooks really isn’t anything new for this team. Family histories are told through food and preserved in books made by Shutterfly.

“We see photoscanned pictures...keep as a family heirloom. A lot of people converting their old recipes, we see that all the time,” said Oxendine.

And while these amazing team members are careful not to peek inside – “They have recognized the faces that are on the outside of the book, so that’s been pretty cool. It’s had a little buzz on the floor.”

Through their foundation, Shutterfly Fort Mill does many other charitable projects throughout the year.

Hundreds of pounds of food were donated, backpacks and school supplies, too, and they did a coat drive to help keep families warm who don’t have places to call home.

If you’d like a copy of the WBTV Family Recipes cookbook they are being sold only at Paper Skyscraper and Park Road Books starting Nov. 15. They cost $30 and $25 dollars from each book sold will be shared between The Bulb, which provides fresh produce for people living in food deserts, and the Johnson and Wales University Scholarship fund.

For more information, go wbtv.com/qclife and click on the Family Recipes tab.

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