Barbara Thomas Enterprises (BTE) was started in 1972 by Barbara Thomas. Barbara came up with the concept of Redi-TagsŪ while she was working as a Medical Records administrator in a hospital. Getting all the doctors to sign the patients' charts in a timely and efficient manner was a frustrating task. Because of a real need she came up with the idea of removable tags that were color coded for the various doctors.

Through direct mail sales to hospitals expanded nationwide. In 1983 BTE started selling Redi-Tags to the general office market. Sales really took off in 1985 when the first Sign Here Redi-Tag was introduced. Since that time BTE has continued to expand its line of Redi-Tags to include over 100 different colors, sizes, and phrases to help people process their paperwork more efficiently.

In 1996 BTE introduced a line of Redi-Tags and Index Tabs that could be printed on with a laser printer. In 1999 they developed Redi-Tags and Index Tabs for inkjet printers. All of these products for laser and inkjet printers are patented.

BTE sells throughout the United States plus Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Their corporate headquarters office is in Huntington Beach, California where their 16 employees strive to give BTE's customers exemplary service. All orders are shipped from their distribution center in Tennessee.

BTE has over 400 products including Redi-Tags, Medi-Tags, Index Flags, Medi-Labels, and Laser and Inkjet Printer Products. 50 of these products are currently available in the Office Depot catalog.

As a woman-owned, small business BTE strives to compete in the marketplace through the development of innovative products and excellent customer service. They continue to recognize the struggle Barbara Thomas had as a single mother when she started the company through their scholarship every year to a single parent who wants to study Health Information Management.