Still doing good: Beacon Design donates 3,500 ornaments to Special Olympics

“Doing good in the community is so important to the team at Beacon Design, from participating in neighborhood cleanup efforts to supporting local organizations who do impactful work,” said Ana Lopes, vice president of sales and marketing.

She said donating the ornaments to the Special Olympics was, “a no-brainer.” The nonprofit will be able to use the donated products at events, to sell online, to offer to donors, or in any way they choose. Lopes said the goal of the donation was to help “a great local nonprofit by giving them products that will increase funds or donations.”

In business for more than 45 years, Beacon Design by ChemArt has a unique claim to fame.

The Lincoln company is the leading manufacturer of ornaments nationwide, including the annual White House ornament. It has artfully designed all of Lincoln’s Christmas ornaments.

Military veteran Richard Beaupre founded the company ChemArt in 1976, which launched Beacon Design as one of two divisions in 2017 (Beacon Design and ChemTec). Beaupre developed a water-based, photo-resistant process in the creation of jewelry findings, which he later used to make decorative ornaments and other metal-etched keepsakes.

Beacon’s ornaments and other products are designed, tooled, assembled and packaged at the company’s headquarters off New England Way. All of the products are etched in solid brass and finished in 24-karat gold, rhodium silver or brass lacquer.

Today, the company manufactures ornaments, including custom pieces, bookmarks, lapel pins, wall art, jewelry findings, keepsakes and more at its 55,000-square-foot factory.

Beacon has served as the official manufacturer of the annual White House ornament since 1981, selling more than one million White House ornaments each year.

The 2021 White House Historical Association ornament commemorates the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson, featuring a painting of the 1967 Blue Room Christmas Tree. The ornament was inspired by a painting commissioned by the late president for a holiday card that year.

This year’s featured products also include handcrafted ornaments that celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo space program and the Apollo 14 moon landing.

For the organization itself, 2020 and 2021 have brought some hurdles.

Lopes told The Breeze that, though the pandemic was challenging to navigate as an organization, “with the right team, flexibility and modifications to the day-to-day operations to keep people safe, we have been fortunate to be doing well in a very challenging time.”

Lopes added that manufacturing products made entirely in the U.S. “has helped us to avoid a lot of the supply chain issues that many companies are facing as well.”

Further, the company has continued the late Beaupre’s legacy of philanthropy through a program called Beacon Giving Back!, established by his three sons. Beacon has been working with nonprofits since the company was founded, helping various organizations create custom keepsakes for fundraising, donor gifts and more.