A monastery might not seem like the sort of place that could be a hot-bed for entrepreneurial activity, but this is certainly the case for one abbey in Wisconsin.
Roman Catholics are meant to support themselves, and, as noted by the New York Times, while some will sell home-made produce or wine, the monks at the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Spring Bank are a little different.
Located in Sparta, the Cistercian abbey makes its money by selling ink and toner cartridges, barbecue sauce and dog treats, which are called Benevolent Biscuits.
As a result, it has experienced a significant increase in its revenues, the NY Times explained in an article entitled Entrepreneurs Help a Monastery Thrive.
The main business is called LaserMonks and it is based in the grounds of the monastery.
For the most part the money used to run the monastery is derived from the company, which sells printer cartridges.
Rev. Bernard McCoy is the monastery's superior and he came up with the idea for LaserMonks.com.
However, it wasn't really until the company received some outside help, courtesy of two female entrepreneurs from Colorado, that things really started to take off.
Cindy Griffith and Sarah Caniglia got in touch with Father McCoy around the time of 2002 to see if LaserMonks would be interested in purchasing the database of their online ink and toner company, which they were looking to sell.
He was interested and the women paid the monastery a visit. Initially they offered to stay for a few weeks to share their expertise - but they ended up staying permanently and helping the business grow significantly.
Ms Caniglia told the NY Times that the company has a very nice working environment.
She said: "We feel we're stewards of their business and we really put bread on the table. I feel like the head of a family, but the boys are grown up and they're never going to get married."
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