Working out of a cabin near the ocean in Kane­ohe, Premium Shirt Printing Hawaii LLC creates custom-printed T-shirts and other apparel for businesses, community groups, individual customers and anyone who places an order.

The business grew from a short-lived but successful organic line of clothing called Nui­nani, featured at a Kai­lua store with the same name.

Brothers Adam and Ben Worrel and partner Peter Keizer moved to the islands four years ago, inspired by Hawaii’s natural beauty.

They operated the Nui­nani store for about seven months until they had to move out for redevelopment.

"At that time we were having success with Nui­nani," Keizer said.

The company was receiving inquiries about clothing lines for other businesses, so the end of one business allowed them to "switch gears and see what this would offer, so that’s how the transition happened."

Among the garments Premium Shirt Printing can customize are long-sleeved shirts, hoodies, polo shirts and jerseys, "and we’re actually getting into hats right now," Keizer said.

The company has created business uniforms, event shirts and shirts for teams participating in fundraising races or other endeavors.

For Lanikai Juice "we created a whole new clothing line" including T-shirts, tank tops and the like, Keizer said.

The company has completed orders as large as 1,500 units.

"That’s well within our capabilities; we can do a lot more," Keizer said.

It also fills small orders.

One client had worn out a favorite shirt over the 12 or so years he’d owned it, and came to Premium Shirt Printing to get new ones made.

"For him we created a fairly detailed design based off his shirt and replicated it," and printed four of them, Keizer said. The design featured printing in three places on the shirt, which also is no big deal to the small company.

"One of the things that sets us apart … is that we do the design work ourselves," said Keizer.

Adam Worrel earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and is the primary designer, though his brother Ben also does work for the company.

Keizer handles the business side of the company as accounts manager, "doing the marketing, going to networking groups, talking with reporters," he laughed.

Less than a year old, Premium Shirt Printing’s principals knew from the start that helping the community in ways that they can is an important part of doing business in the islands.

"We understand the community side of Hawaii. It is an ohana here, so we’ve all got to help each other out," Keizer said.

The business’ nonprofit clients have included the well-known MADD Hawaii and the lesser-known Proj­ect Hawai‘i, established to help homeless or impoverished children.

Premium Shirt Printing just completed its fourth order for Proj­ect Hawai‘i. "That’s another charity we believe in," Keizer said.

A nonprofit will approach the company expressing a need for shirts and say, "Here’s our budget," and the conversation moves forward from there, he said.

The cost of an order will depend on the amount of design work needed, the number of colors involved in the design and, naturally, the style and quantity of shirts desired.

To offer a frame of reference, Keizer estimated that a one-color, text-based design printed on the front would cost roughly $14 per shirt for a dozen shirts.

Building customer awareness for a tiny company can be a gigantic challenge.

Clients have found the business through word of mouth, "and we’re on Yelp," he said.

The company also maintains a social media presence across platforms including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to engage with the community and share news of community events as well as display its own work for clients.

The long-term goal for Premium Shirt Printing’s principals, "besides world domination," Keizer joked, is to become known for quality-designed shirts that are customized for businesses, so those clients can build an additional revenue stream.

"Each time Billy Bob buys a shirt from Aloha Salads or whatever it is, Aloha Salads gets paid $10," Keizer said. In wearing the shirt, the customer increases brand awareness at minimal cost.

“Buy Local” runs on Aloha Fridays. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.