Layers of Talent: River City Pen Company

With his skills in design and eye for details, Rich Paul crafts pens that are as beautiful as they are functional.

- BARRY GABAY

As the manager of an educational program promoting home health and safety to families with children, Rich Paul needed to communicate that even the smallest irregularity can have unforeseen consequences. Then, of course, the pandemic intervened, and Rich suffered one of those unforeseen consequences due to the program's loss of funding. After the pandemic, he was reinstated as a food safety program manager that evaluates new restaurant plans. In a restaurant, a single source of bacteria can contaminate the entire kitchen, so Rich and his team anticipate lurking problems.

Rich has always enjoyed working with his hands. For years he exhibited at crafts shows, having made everything from six-pack beer carriers to bowls to trays. His work in wood sold well. A friend suggested he try making pens.

In Rich's own words, "I had zero interest in making a pen." It would mean buying more equipment and a significant change to his workflow.

One day that friend showed up at lunchtime, brought his small lathe, and set it up in Rich's workshop. When Rich made that first pen, he was immediately hooked. Several weeks later, Rich bought his first lathe and began producing kit pens, which he sold at regional art shows. Business looked promising, especially after he began making pens of his own design in varied materials. In December 2018, he established River City Pen Company, primarily offering custom pens. In April 2020, he planned to exhibit at the Atlanta Pen Show, his first, but the COVID lockdowns intervened. Always an optimist, Rich created a website and began selling online. Four years later, his Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based River City Pen Company is thriving.

After settling on pen making, Rich felt his identity was liberated. His company's name seemed to reflect this new attitude: he was no longer a general woodworker, he was a pen maker.