Two friends hope the road to professional success is paved with T-shirts and textbooks.

Dewey Derifield and J.D. Hackworth had been looking for a way to work together and capitalize on a good friendship when they started bookexchangeonline.com last year. The online bookstore allows college students internet access to swap needed textbooks.

“We’re here to help students,” Derifield explained. “We were all students at one time and we didn’t like the high prices the book stores charged.”

Recently, they added contraptiontees.com. They screen print shirts with everything from school names and logos to political messages.

“We just want people to enjoy our T-shirts,” he said. “We’re putting out a good product. We want to grow and have fun doing it.”

Derifeld said while much of the work takes place out of homes and a small space on Vine Street, they hope to find retail space in the future and would like to have a kiosk at the Ashland Town Center later on.

The group would also like to open a restaurant. For more information on products and pricing, browsers may check either Internet site or call (740) 534-9554.