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Vendor Highlight: T.R. McTaggart

Vendor Highlight: T.R. McTaggart

Not all screen-printing and embroidery businesses are created equal. For nearly 60 years, T.R. McTaggart has been serving the needs of outdoor tourism destinations across the country. In 2021, Alaska Geographic was added to this collection of partnerships, bringing together one of the country’s long-serving providers of decorated apparel to one of the most beautiful tourism destinations across the United States.

T.R. McTaggart was built on the premise of learning its partners’ needs and developing apparel and souvenir offerings to drive consumer connection while enhancing revenue for retail settings at local, state, and national tourism destinations. T.R. McTaggart, though, understands that it makes much more than that. What we make, what we help you to deliver to visitors – those are memories.

T.R. McTaggart has invested in its design and production teams, through training, apparel trend-spotting, and pushing the boundaries of traditional design. Our full-time, in-house designers work in tandem with our production team to ensure that our partners’ vision is brought to life – ensuring quality and delivery are top of mind, merchandising in-store and online is well-supported and visitors to destinations are enticed to purchase product to capture the memory of their visit. To support the needs of our many partners, we have focused on sustainably sourced and manufactured product, including t-shirts made with recycled water bottles – a Repreve® product. The sheer variety of sustainably made product is immense – and where our expertise lies.

The T.R. McTaggart sales and design team brings to life the AK GEO projects and partnership. Though our partnership with AK GEO began recently, we’ve been discussing projects for years. We’re committed to working to get projects correct and bring customer visions to life. We’re proud of how our partnership has evolved from our initial conversations at a Public Lands Alliance show to bringing those to fruition with apparel, hats, and souvenir products throughout 2022.

T.R. McTaggart is part of a much larger, family-owned company – Forward Corporation. Serving northern and mid-Michigan families for nearly 100 years, Forward began as a single gas station serving travelers to northern Michigan. Since then, Forward has grown to employ nearly 900 employees and operates four unique business divisions in the travel, tourism, and hospitality industries – including T.R. McTaggart. Annually, Forward Corporation supports community organizations through its golf outing, national partner charitable giving programs, and supporting the needs of smaller, local organizations. T.R. McTaggart donates clothing to local and regional shelters, clubs, and philanthropic organizations.

For 2023, T.R. McTaggart is again a proud partner with AK GEO, this time on the Katmai Bear* project. Certainly, one of the most compelling pieces of artwork the T.R. team has seen across its production floor and design room in years, paired with sustainably made, incredibly soft t-shirts – team T.R. is proud to serve Alaska’s public lands.

Content provided by Landi Goodman, Marketing Specialist with T.R. McTaggart

“Jeff working on Katmai Bear” provided by T.R. McTaggart team

 

CategoriesWaypoints by

Wild Scoops Gives Back

Wild Scoops Gives Back

Anchorage, AK – Throughout the month of August, when travelers and locals delighted in a tasty treat from Wild Scoops Handcrafted Ice Cream, many also took the opportunity to support Alaska’s public lands. 

 Wild Scoops places a strong emphasis on community involvement, and Alaska Geographic had the privilege of participating in their charitable program this August. “We’re supported by the community, thus we have a responsibility to give back,” said Elissa Brown, Wild Scoops owner and founder. “We are always looking for ways to pay it forward, especially when it comes to education and accessibility surrounding Alaska’s wild lands!” Throughout the entire summer month, and particularly in a sunny and ice cream-worthy August like this year’s, Wild Scoops generously matched every customer’s donation when they chose to add a dollar to their purchase.

As a small business, Wild Scoops Handcrafted Alaska Ice Cream views its impact as part of a larger community ecosystem — come to find out, it’s a small world after all, as one of their employees previously attended an Alaska Geographic Teen Expedition. Elissa recounted, “It was so neat to have the employee return to work invigorated and inspired by her trip! She told us all about how Alaska Geographic opened up the outdoors to so many people who might not ordinarily get out and explore. It felt coincidental and gratifying to be raising funds for them at that exact moment!” 

Wild Scoops

This community giveback raised over $400 for Alaska Geographic. Donations such as this support:  

  • Outdoor gear for teens working on stewardship projects on public lands 
  • Scholarships for a classroom teacher to participate in a field course training  
  • Gas to transport dozens of students to and from (what could be) their first camping trip
  • So much more!

Our ability to accomplish our mission relies heavily on the support of our community members, grant partners, and individual donors. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to Alaska’s local community through the success of this campaign and eagerly look forward to upcoming opportunities like these.