SC Strong shirts saving jobs and supporting health care workers

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - A Midlands business owner has come up with a way to keep his staff working all while helping to support health care workers in the state. Koss Creative Brands in Columbia is now printing South Carolina “Strong” t-shirts during these uncertain and trying times.

The $10 shirts are now available for purchase, and $2 from every shirt sold will be donated to frontline health care workers combatting the coronavirus pandemic.

Koss Creative owner, Rusty Koss, says donations will be made to the SC Hospital Association and he's still hoping to connect with the SC Nurses Association.

This wouldn’t be the first time this company has created shirts to represent state pride. Koss Creative is also known for printing state championship t-shirts, once for the Gamecock women’s basketball team and twice now for the Clemson football players.

“In times of need, we’ve always kind of – we’ve come up with ideas to kind of help the state out. Whether it was Hurricane Florence, 9/11, the Columbia floods, we’ve always tried to pull something together for the community and this was the same thing. Not just a design to help bring the community together, but then what can we do to help support the people who are out there really helping us right now, and that was the nurses, the frontline workers and the hospitals,” said Koss.

Right now, you can purchase a shirt from the Koss Creative storefront on Atlas Road, or online at www.palmettoshirtco.com.

Keep in mind, once Columbia’s stay-at-home ordinance goes into effect, Sunday, it will be online purchases only, though T-shirt printing will continue at the Koss facility.

“That was the whole idea behind the design – bring everybody together, keep our guys working and then also provide some support to the health care workers. We have had to make some cuts to our staff. You can look at it this way, a portion of it keeps our guys working and a portion of it goes out and helps people out. So, I think as any business owner right now would tell you, the whole goal is just to kind of keep going and making it through. It’s not really to make a buck right now. It’s to keep your people working and just keep pride in jobs,” said Koss.

The shirts are available in heather navy to represent our state flag, and also in garnet and orange to represent our state universities.