Photo by Jason Leung  /  Unsplash.com

 

The recipients of PPAI’s most prestigious awards for 2021 were announced in October. Teresa Moisant, MAS, owner and president of Oklahoma City-based distributor Moisant Promotional Products, is the PPAI Hall of Fame inductee; Mark Abels, MAS, CEO and owner of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based supplier SELCO, is the PPAI Distinguished Service award recipient, and Bob Waldorf, CAS, founder of Los Angeles-based, HALO Branded Solutions affiliate Waldorf Marketing Group, is the PPAI H. Ted Olson Humanitarian award recipient.

The promotional products industry has grown and prospered because of the creative spark and the dedication of many, but there are some individuals whose selfless efforts and devotion to the industry are monumental. PPAI gives permanent recognition to these individuals through induction into the PPAI Hall of Fame.

Moisant has a distinguished history in the promotional products field as a longtime volunteer, speaker, mentor, advocate and champion of women in the industry. She was the recipient of PPAI’s Woman of Achievement Award in 2017, Distinguished Service Award in 2016 and has also been honored by The Journal Record, not only as one of Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs, but also as one of 50 Women Making A Difference. In addition, she has also been honored three times by the OKC Chamber as owner of one of the 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies as well as being named the Best Promotional Products Company in okcBiz magazine’s annual Best Of Business for 10 consecutive years.

The PPAI Distinguished Service Award celebrates members who consistently contribute their skills and expertise toward the betterment of the Association. Through volunteer service or by offering their leadership to PPAI, these members generously give the benefit of their energy, time and enthusiasm.

 

Abels is a servant leader starting first and foremost with his organizational management style and through leadership that has carried on the family legacy by assuring the high standards of customer service and product innovation that SELCO customers have come to expect. He is a PPAI Fellow and served on the Promotional Products Association of the Southwest (PPAS) board of directors from 2010 to 2011. Abels has served in numerous PPAI volunteer roles since 1995, leaving an enduring impression on every PPAI committee, taskforce and work group on which he served, while advancing the work and mission of each.

Named after the late H. Ted Olson, MAS, PPAI president emeritus, the PPAI H. Ted Olson Humanitarian award represents what Olson stood for—volunteerism inside and outside of the promotional products industry. The award is presented to PPAI members who have shown longstanding empathy, devotion and commitment to improving quality of life and facilitating change for the betterment of a community. This tireless volunteer has exhibited exemplary devotion and volunteerism to nonprofit, civic, charitable and/or educational organizations committed to the needs of the communities they serve.

Waldorf is a 60-year veteran of the promotional products industry, previously serving in executive roles with Lee Wayne Corp., Idea Man, Inc. and Jack Nadel International. Waldorf served on the PPAI Board of Directors from 1991-1995, and spent countless years on PPAI and Specialty Advertising Association of California (SAAC) committees. He is a PPAI Hall of Fame inductee, PPAI Fellow and avid supporter of the Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF). Waldorf’s philanthropy includes service and contributions to Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles and its summer camp and Waldorf’s namesake CAMP Bob Waldorf, and leadership on the boards of the UCLA Anderson School of Management and Los Angeles Jewish Home.

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James Khattak is news editor of PPB.