The History of
Hodges Badge Company

2020s

COVID, and other matters of interest.

2020 was a challenging year for everyone. We had the obvious challenges of maintaining and operating a business during the Covid crisis, but it was also a particularly sad year for the Hodges family with the passing of Jim Hodges. Jim was still an active and crucial member of the board at the time of his passing. He will be remembered and loved for the legacy he left behind.  

In 2022 we christened our second cold foil printing press. Using digital technology instead of handset metal type, we are able to speed production far beyond what we could do before. In addition, we added new machinery for rosette assembly, ribbon cutting and button making. Unemployment was so low that we had to enable more work to flow with just the employees we already had. 

In addition, we completely rebuilt our website, and in late 2022 began moving orders from the web to the printing press with just the press of a few keys. Truly a huge step in our digital transformation. 

I will close today with some words of wisdom from the late Jim Hodges – “As I read over the list of accomplishments, I am impressed by the following. Only one of the significant ideas that made Hodges Badge Company grow was mine, and that was the winter sale. Just about everything else was somebody else’s idea that I listened to, expanded upon, or encouraged. To make a Company grow you just have to listen to good ideas and then see that the best ideas are acted upon.” 

Jim Hodges