A student at Liberty University is using his business to meet the educational and professional needs of others.

John L. Cramer, Jr. is a junior at Liberty University and is also the founder and owner of Stylo Ink, a company that handcrafts pens made out of exotic woods and acrylics. Cramer founded the company in March of 2017, and in addition to utilizing the business' profits to pay his way through college, Cramer is using Stylo Ink to help other students in a variety of ways.

Students at Liberty must complete 20 hours of community service a semester, and Cramer provides chances to earn these hours by working at Stylo Ink. Jonathan Zapanta is a freshman at Liberty and is one student who has taken advantage of this opportunity, undertaking several different tasks to help Cramer.

"I've been doing a lot of the product photography, and helping create [an] email newsletter," Zapanta said. "And then there's some other stuff I did...like setting up his workshop."

Besides earning community service hours, college students are finding opportunities to cultivate valuable career skills that would apply to their desired professional careers.

One student who is finding practical career experience through volunteering at Stylo Ink is William McCraw, II a sophomore majoring in Business Administration. McCraw, who has been in charge of inventory management for Cramer, said the lessons he has learned through inventory management will be useful for him when he starts applying for jobs.

"It shows that you have diligence, patience, and that precision of detail," McCraw said. "It also shows that you can work independently, and it gives me an eye into a specific position within a business or a corporation."

This has been one of Cramer's goals for Stylo Ink since he arrived at Liberty.

"Diplomas don't always get you the job you want," Cramer said. "You need hands-on experience in that field."

For more information on Cramer's business and for online orders, visit his website at stylo-ink.com.

To view the voice-over script click the link here.

John Simmons: 603-395-7186; jasimmons2@liberty.edu.