Robert Aronson created the USA-VisualBank to encourage his grandchildren to save their money.
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Engineer, with an artistic flair and a carpenter's hand. Throw in banker. Add a touch of grandfather. What you come up with is Robert Aronson, an entrepreneur whose grandchildren inspired his new venture.
Aronson was visiting his daughter in North Carolina when he noticed a piggy bank in his grandsons' room. Jacob, now 10, and Josh, now 6, had each received a bank that was made to look like a baseball.
"My daughter said they didn't like it because they couldn't see the money," Aronson said. "Kids are very visual."
The Dow engineer dabbled in woodwork, so he came home to Winfield and started working on a bank that encouraged children to save by seeing their money stack up. The USA-VisualBank was born.
The coin banks that Aronson initially will market via Tamarack, will be the tall "Coin Tower" design -- usually made from a 2-inch thick piece of wood, between 6 to 12 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
"The bank part of the design is a single piece of solid wood," he said. "I cut the channels into this solid wood piece, sand, and then attached the bottom base as a separate solid piece of wood. Then I stain the entire bank as one piece."
Aronson uses a special router that he custom orders to create long slots for quarters to slide into, two coins deep and 20 coins tall. The banks that will be sold at Tamarack have five rows on the front and five on the back. That's 10 rows of 40 quarters -- but Aronson will make the children do the math to figure out how much money that equals.
"It's not only good for them to learn about saving. They also learn to multiply to find out the total of coins they have," Aronson said.
The bank has been through several revisions, thanks to the help of Ron DeWitt, program director for the Tamarack Foundation. The smooth finish of the various woods and other minor adjustments came from suggestions by DeWitt. Aronson sings the praises of the Tamarack pre-jurying process, which allowed him to hone his product for production and marketing.
The coin banks were created with children in mind, but Aronson sees them sitting on a credenza in an office or on the mantle in the living room. They are made from cherry, mahogany and other upscale woods, making them functional works of art.
WINFIELD, W.Va. -- Engineer, with an artistic flair and a carpenter's hand. Throw in banker. Add a touch of grandfather. What you come up with is Robert Aronson, an entrepreneur whose grandchildren inspired his new venture.
Aronson was visiting his daughter in North Carolina when he noticed a piggy bank in his grandsons' room. Jacob, now 10, and Josh, now 6, had each received a bank that was made to look like a baseball.
"My daughter said they didn't like it because they couldn't see the money," Aronson said. "Kids are very visual."
The Dow engineer dabbled in woodwork, so he came home to Winfield and started working on a bank that encouraged children to save by seeing their money stack up. The USA-VisualBank was born.
The coin banks that Aronson initially will market via Tamarack, will be the tall "Coin Tower" design -- usually made from a 2-inch thick piece of wood, between 6 to 12 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
"The bank part of the design is a single piece of solid wood," he said. "I cut the channels into this solid wood piece, sand, and then attached the bottom base as a separate solid piece of wood. Then I stain the entire bank as one piece."
Aronson uses a special router that he custom orders to create long slots for quarters to slide into, two coins deep and 20 coins tall. The banks that will be sold at Tamarack have five rows on the front and five on the back. That's 10 rows of 40 quarters -- but Aronson will make the children do the math to figure out how much money that equals.
"It's not only good for them to learn about saving. They also learn to multiply to find out the total of coins they have," Aronson said.
The bank has been through several revisions, thanks to the help of Ron DeWitt, program director for the Tamarack Foundation. The smooth finish of the various woods and other minor adjustments came from suggestions by DeWitt. Aronson sings the praises of the Tamarack pre-jurying process, which allowed him to hone his product for production and marketing.
The coin banks were created with children in mind, but Aronson sees them sitting on a credenza in an office or on the mantle in the living room. They are made from cherry, mahogany and other upscale woods, making them functional works of art.
While his current creations are fitted for quarters, he can order a blade to create banks for coins of all sizes.
"I wish the U.S. was more into the dollar coin," Aronson said.
His frequent overseas travels have him thinking about creating a bank for the euro, the currency of the European Union.
Aronson has applied for a provisional patent on his creation. Soon he will sell several different sizes of the bank online on eBay, including a four-sided version.
The businessman credits his parents for instilling in him a strong work ethic and financial responsibility. He hopes the VisualBank will help today's parents do the same.
"I believe that it is very important for children to be taught the importance of hard work, a strong mind and body, coupled with solid long-term financial goals," Aronson said. "The USA-VisualBank provides a fun, easy and neat way for seeing your money grow. The bank can be used to motivate the whole family toward a savings environment and can be an excellent tool for parents to emphasize the importance of saving money to all members of the family."
Reach Sara Busse at sara.bu...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1249.
