• • • • • • March 17 • 2015
SEND NEWS TO JAMESK@PPAI.ORG • • • • • •
Top News
Expo East 2015 Makes Its Mark With Attendees, Exhibitors
Expo East 2015 wrapped up on Sunday, having brought a new show experience to Atlantic City through its co-location with the Imprinted Sportswear Show (ISS). The show floor was abuzz at its opening on Friday morning as attendees, mostly from the Northeast, flooded into the Atlantic City Convention Center to visit more than 900 booths with new products and ideas for clients, and to learn about the latest technology and services in the decorated apparel industry.
Read More Expo East
Industry News
Royal Industries Acquires Waldor Products
Royal Industries (UPIC: ROYAL) has acquired Jersey City, New Jersey-based supplier Waldor Products (UPIC: WALDOR).
Read More Royal Incentives
Gemline Partners With Thermos L.L.C. For The Promotional Products Market
Gemline (UPIC: GEMLINE) has announced a partnership with Thermos L.L.C. that names the Lawrence, Massachusetts, company the exclusive supplier of Thermos brand vacuum-insulated food and beverage containers within the promotional products industry throughout the United States and Canada. The Thermos brand collection will be launched as part of Gemline’s Summer product line in April.
Bret Clemens, vice president of sales at Gemline, says, “Partnering with this popular, longtime brand enables us to provide more branding opportunities and inspiration to our customers. We are excited about this new partnership and are confident that our customers will share our enthusiasm.”
Proforma Media & Print Solutions Acquires El Paso’s Business Forms, Inc.
New Braunfels, Texas-based Proforma Media & Print Solutions, a part of the Proforma (UPIC: PROFORMA) network, has acquired Business Forms, Inc., a forms distribution company in El Paso. The acquisition of Business Forms is part of its expansion into West Texas and Southern New Mexico.
“We are extremely excited to open a new Proforma branch and move into this new market. We’ll be adding three employees to our staff who will manage the West Texas and Southern New Mexico territories,” says Edward Martin, owner of Proforma Media & Print Solutions. “We are looking forward to providing this new customer base with the same great customer service they’ve come to expect, with added products and services. In addition to business forms we will provide commercial print, promotional products, video, web services and much more.”
PPAI, SanMar Join PromoKitchen In Hosting Author Seth Godin
PromoKitchen is hosting a conversation with author Seth Godin on March 24 on his new book,
It’s Your Turn, and how its lessons can be applied to the promotional products industry. Sponsored by PPAI and SanMar, the live podcast is an opportunity for 100 members of the promotional products community to join the conversation. The first 100 people to sign up will receive a free copy of Godin’s book and be registered to listen to the podcast live, and they will also have the chance to ask Godin a question on the podcast.
Click here to register.
Spector & Co. Adds 40,000 Square Feet To Its Home Office
Supplier Spector & Co. (UPIC: SPEC0038) has expanded its Saint-Laurent, Quebec, headquarters, growing it from 65,000 square feet to 105,000 square feet. The expansion adds production space and more inventory storage to the facility.
PPAI News
PPAI Tech Summit To Recognize Members Accomplishments
The PPAI Tech Summit, taking place immediately after the North American Leadership Conference in August, will feature the first-ever Tech Summit Awards. Two awards will be introduced to showcase and celebrate technology advances that bring success to individual companies and the industry as a whole.
Read More Technology Summit
PPAI Technology Awards Now Accepting Submissions
In an industry that prides itself on developing creative marketing programs, technology continues to play a strong role in its success. It takes a certain individual with keen vision and unconventional thinking to create innovative and awe-inducing technological solutions. These individuals deserve recognition; this is where the PPAI Technology Awards come in.
Read More Technology Awards
Corporate Responsibility, Other Issues Explored In PPAI’s Webinar Series
In the coming months, PPAI’s online education schedule explores the numerous aspects of corporate responsibility, from social compliance to fair labor and sustainability, among other issues.
Read More Webinars
Product Responsibility
Mark Your Calendar For The 2015 PPAI Product Safety Summit
Registration is now open for the 2015 PPAI Product Safety Summit, September 28-30 in Bethesda, Maryland. The Summit brings business and compliance leaders from across the industry to discuss product safety issues and the business implications and challenges they face.
The Summit offers two days of education featuring distinguished speakers, industry thought leaders and representatives from product safety labs and product certification groups. All Summit attendees will also receive a binder containing best practices, testing protocols and recall resource materials.
Click here for more information and to register.
People News
Kirk Ross has joined Baltimore, Maryland supplier Towel Specialties (UPIC: TOWLSPEC) as vice president of national accounts, effective April 1. Ross will be responsible for sales growth with key partners as well as new business development, and will work out of his home office in Minnesota. Previously, Ross was business sales development manager at AIA Corporation, and from 2001-2003 he represented Towel Specialties as a multi-line rep.
The Allen Company (UPIC: ALLEN) has named Stan W. A. Dohan, Jr., MAS, president of the Blanchester, Ohio-based supplier. Dohan replaces his father, S. Allen Dohan, who has led the company since 1977 and who will stay on as CEO.
McFarland, Wisconsin, supplier Seville Gear (UPIC: SEVILLE) has appointed nine multi-line reps to represent the company in Canada and the United States. Its Canadian representatives are Claude Cote of Exoset, Inc. In Quebec, Dennis Lee of Dennis Lee Agency in South West Ontario and Darren Storr of Infinity Sales Group in the Greater Toronto Area. In the U.S., it will be represented by Scott Blankenship of Blankenship Marketing Group in NorthTexas, Oklahoma and Arkansas; John Butler of JB Solutions West in Southern California; Marc Sabin of Marc Sabin Marketing in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming; Scott Schaefer of Robert S. Schaefer, Inc. in Western Pennsylvania and Upstate New York; Larry White of Dynamic Professional Resources in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa; and Sharon Wohlleber of Sharon Wohlleber Sales in South Texas and Louisiana.
Melissa Kopf has been appointed Midwest sales representative at Gaffney, South Carolina, supplier Jetline (UPIC: jetline). Kopf will cover accounts in Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri and Minnesota.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Pro Towels (UPIC: PROTOWELS) has hired
Lauren Slee as marketing coordinator. Slee brings design and marketing experience to the supplier, and has served for the past three years in an assistant graphic designer position with a home and gift wholesale company.
Randy Evans has joined Prime Resources Corp. (UPIC: PRIME) in the newly created position of vice president of supply chain. In his new role at the Bridgeport, Connecticut, supplier, Evans will be responsible for the overall management of Prime’s domestic supply chain operations, which include sourcing, procurement and inventory management. He has extensive experience in all phases of global sourcing and supply chain management and lived in Hong Kong for 17 years. Evans’ previous experience includes senior management positions at Briggs Healthcare, Dollar General, Sears, Kmart and Disney.
Hub Pen Company (UPIC: HUBPEN) has hired
Linda Evans as inside sales representative. Evans has 23 years of experience in the promotional products industry and will be covering the Indiana, Michigan, New England and Ohio territories. Before joining Hub Pen, Evans was senior inside sales representative at NES Clothing Company, a brand of alphabroder. She has also held positions as a customer service representative and key accounts manager.
Accolades
BrandAlliance Recognized As One Of Canada’s Best Managed Companies
Distributor BrandAlliance (UPIC: COPI0001) was named one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies in 2014 by Canada’s Best Managed Companies awards program. Sponsored by Deloitte, CIBC, National Post, Queen’s School of Business and MacKay CEO Forums, the Best Managed award recognizes Canadian owned and managed companies with revenues over $10 million for sustained growth, financial performance, management practices and the efforts of the entire organization.
Read More BrandAlliance
HanesBrands Named A Great Place to Work In Latin America
Supplier HanesBrands (UPIC: HBIINC) has been recognized by the Great Place to Work Institute for its workplace practices in its El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic manufacturing plants.
Read More HanesBrands
SAGE FACT OF THE WEEK
Team Up! The Benefits Of Joining Industry Associations
Do you ever feel like a little fish in a big pond? The promotional products industry is one of breadth and depth, so it’s easy to feel lost or disconnected at times. Joining an industry association can help you find your way in the industry. Read about all of the perks of joining associations here.
PPAI members can join SAGE at no additional cost through the Power of Two relationship. Contact SAGE today at 800-925-7243 or visit www.sageworld.com to get started.
This Month’s PPB
Brand Worthy
This one-to-many model of information flow of the past 70 years has been upended since the advent of the internet and social media. Now, information flows in millions of different directions at once—to, from and by people all over the globe—in an all-to-all free-for-all for eyeballs and market share. Some of the well-established rules of branding still apply in this new, hyper-connected environment. But that doesn’t change the fact that building and differentiating a brand is harder than ever and will only prove tougher in 2015.
Read More Brands
Do It For Yourself
PPAI Image Award winners debunk three common excuses for not investing in self promotion.
Read More Self Promotion
Money In The Bank
They say you’ve got to spend money to make money, but how does spending money on promotional products ensure a financial services client will make money for itself and its customers?
Read More Financial Services
Contribute To PPAI Publications
Carry Away Clients
Editor’s Picks in May focuses on bags of all forms and functions. Send high-res images and descriptions of your top sellers and fan favorites, including classic styles and of-the-moment designs, to Jen Alexander by March 20.
Creative Collaboration
Artists, designers, photographers and writers need promotions as creative and visionary as the works they produce. Market to Market in May examines the creative services industry; if you have clients in this field and case studies showing how promotional products boosted their business, contact Jen Alexande by March 20. Suppliers, send high-res images and descriptions of products that complement creative services business programs and campaigns.
Safety First
PPB is looking for apparel from the safety/work wear category—items that keep you cool, warm, cozy and safe while you work. It also means sturdy apparel that can take a beating. Suppliers: Send high-res images and product descriptions of your shirts, vests, jackets, aprons, hats, etc. Distributors: We want to know your tried-and-true work wear items. Please send all submissions to Tama Underwood by April 15.
A Supplier Asks: We’d like to increase our in-house inventory levels for some of our most popular products. This is one of the riskier things a business can do, so how do we know if we’re ready?
What’s Your Answer? Email answers along with your name, title and company name to Question@ppai.org by April 15 for possible inclusion in an upcoming issue of PPB magazine.
Need peer advice on a sticky situation? Send your question to Question@ppai.org.
Read the answers to each month’s question here.
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