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INDUSTRY NEWS |
PPAI NEWS |
Senate Finance Committee Passes Healthcare Legislation The vote is a small but decisive step in leading the nation toward an overhaul of the industry and its accessibility, according to news sources. Millennium Leather Business To Continue After Restructuring "We took this action to ensure long-term viability in the face of a difficult banking environment," says Kahan, who co-owns the business with his wife, Donna. In an interview with PPB on Monday, Kahan says the restructuring will have no impact on daily operations or the company's future outlook. Kahan cites the down economy and resulting soft sales as the reason behind difficulties with the company's primary secured lender. He says the company will continue to pay down its debt with a plan eventually to move away from bank financing. "We have begun to see a return of promotional products business both due to seasonality and a general uptick in the promotional products sector due to pent-up demand," says Kahan. "We are optimistic for the future of our industry and the future of Millennium Leather, LLC. This is actually a positive step for us given the past year and the industry downturn." Barton Nelson, Leed's Earn QCA Accreditation "Achieving QCA accreditation is a notable achievement for Barton Nelson Inc., as it demonstrates our dedication to providing safe, high-quality products. With the emergence of the QCA Certified Seal, distributors can easily identify industry suppliers that share in our commitment," says Gabe Nelson, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Barton Nelson. Other companies earning certification this year are: Woodinville, Washington-based distributor Bensussen, Deutsch & Associates, Inc. (UPIC: BENS0002) "This long and rigorous process reconfirms Leed's commitment to product safety," says David Nicholson, David Nicholson, president of Polyconcept North America, parent company of Leed's. "I am equally proud of the progress that QCA has made throughout the past year in addressing this critical issue for our industry," says Nicholson. Motivation Show Introducing "Our new three-day show schedule for 2010 is intended to expand our education and networking offering, while maintaining a full 16-hour exhibit schedule at a reduced cost to our exhibitors," says Pete Erickson, Motivation Show managing director. Click here to read more about the changes and to view the preliminary schedule.
Read more industry news at PPB online. |
Suppliers Are The Focus Of On Thursday, October 22, at 1 pm CDT, Susan DeRagon, associate director for toys and premiums with Specialized Technology Resources (STR), will address testing, tracking, reporting and compliance issues. A Q&A session is included at the end of the 30-minute webinar. Click here to register for the webinar, or for more information contact Anne Lardner, PPAI senior manager of public affairs, at 972-258-3041. Expo Numbers Are On The Rise Pre-registration for the industry's largest and longest-running tradeshow is also exceeding expectations, a solid indicator that The Expo 2010 is the industry's cant-miss event. For more information and to register for The Expo, click here. Third Quarter Supplier Sales Dip 16 Percent Though still a decline, the numbers reflect improvement over the previous two quarters. In comparison, first quarter 2009 results showed a sales decline of 21 percent and the second quarter showed a decline of 27.8 percent. Previously, information was gathered each quarter from a cross-section of the industry's 25 leading suppliers who reported their sales performance for the period compared to the previous year. The PPAI Supplier Committee is the driving force behind the supplier quarterly survey initiative. Members who did not participate in the most recent survey are encouraged to watch for the next quarterly survey to arrive by email in January. PPAI LAW
S. 301 Webinar Explains Nuts And Bolts Of Senate Bill To help members communicate with legislators about S. 301, PPAI is offering a free webinar on October 14 at noon CDT. PPAI lobbyist Robert Drummer, along with Government Relations Action Council member Eric Ekstrand, MAS, and PPAI Senior Manager of Public Affairs Anne Lardner will discuss how to speak to legislators about the bill. Click here to register for the webinar. |
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RAC Welcomes New Board Members Click here to read about the newly elected and re-elected members. RAC is comprised of five Districts representing 28 regional associations in the promotional products industry. RAC exists to foster positive relationships and partnership among the regional associations to offer education, tradeshows, professional services and grassroots legislative support to its 9,000 regional members. Delaware Valley Regional Celebrates Successful Show On September 14, distributors and their clients met with suppliers, factory reps and multiline reps in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to see the latest items and collaborate on developing new ideas for promotional products campaigns. "Traffic seemed steady. Several key distributors brought multiple salespeople and end users," says Denise Spencer, territory manager for Trevose, Pennsylvania-based supplier Broder Bros. (UPIC: BRODER). "The best part for me was that many were working on specific projects where my items could be used. It was well worth the time we spent." Midwest Regional Wraps Up Holiday Show "With overall tradeshow attendance down not only in the promotional products industry but also in most other markets, we feel very fortunate that the PPAM Holiday Showcase maintained both attendee and exhibitor numbers compared to last year," says Kathy Fleming, PPAM executive director. Click here to read more. |
Cedar Crest Hires Hunt As Sales Rep iPROMOTEu Welcomes Sterling Cut Glass Names Tymula National Sales Manager Tymula has more than 16 years of industry experience in both the supplier and distributor sides as a national sales and marketing manager. He currently serves as the Upstate Chair of Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY). Touchstone Welcomes Lash Lash is based in Detroit, Michigan, and most recently worked as a strategic account executive at Dayton, Ohio-based distributor WorkflowOne (UPIC: SF00001). Lash has more than 25 years' experience in the industry and has earned and maintains her CAS certification. The Vernon Company Hires Whitman
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Winter apparel ideas are on The Industry Show this week. Also, industry leaders share insights with mainstream media. |
in memoriam |
ACCOLADES |
Lester K. Wright Sr., Co-Founder Of Vitronic, Inc. Born July 13, 1928, in St. Louis, at age 19 Wright and his family moved to Doniphan where he became plant manager for Wright Leather Specialty Co. In the early 1950s, Wright joined his brothers Charles, Jack and Larry in forming Vitronic, Inc. Click here to read more. COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Crystal D Packs Thousands Of Meals For International Cause The number of meals packed is enough food to feed 83 children every day for one year. This is Crystal D's fourth time to participate in the program, which distributes meals to children living in Africa, Brazil, Haiti and Ukraine, among other places. "Participating in a number of community outreach programs is an important part of Crystal D's culture," says President Chuck Dahlgren. "Feed My Starving Children is a great organization that provides lifesaving food to children all over the world. As a company, we feel that we really can make a difference by volunteering for this great organization." "It is a great feeling to know that we can make such an impact on the lives of children all over the world," says Tessa Trumble, who works in business development. |
Newton Manufacturing Honored By Development Group "We are very honored to receive this award," says Lee Cochran, Newton Manufacturing president. "Newton Manufacturing is committed to being a community steward. We understand that a vibrant and successful Newton community is imperative to our success." Spartan Promotional Group Wins Sweda Case Study Challenge "The Power of a Pen," submitted by Lyons on behalf of colleague Alvin Badiner, was named the winning entry after receiving 44 percent of 4,000-plus votes. The prize is a check for $5,000 and a company credit memo of $2,500 for Spartan. "I'm just speechless," says Lyons. "I hope this case study speaks to all of us in the ad specialties business. I think that it teaches us about our own use of promotional products and how that promotes not only salespeople, but the industry as a whole."
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Got Happiness? Why Do You Attend The Expo? Get Packing With Travel Products A Collection Of Coordinating Apparel Smartphone App Roundup PPAI Needs Your Olympic Products Share Your Cause Awareness Products With PPAI |
Can You Hear Me Now? 21 Trends To Watch While most marketers are familiar with traditional media, and also promotional products to some extent, most of us are just learning about the potential that exists within social media--the latest marketing and communications tool. Social media is particularly important because of its ability to push, pull and target customers.
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what would you do? A distributor asks: "We've had an order for four months that we can't get out of the door because the end user keeps hesitating and changing its mind about what imprint it wants. What can I do to move it along? I'm thinking of charging a fee just for my time. Would this move the end user along or scare it away?" What's your answer? E-mail answers along with your name, title and company name to Question@ppai.org by October 16 for possible inclusion in the December issue of PPB magazine. Answers to this month's question are in. Click here to read advice for a supplier concerned about its negative customer reviews on an industry website. |
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