Photo above: Prime Line's employee recognition awards recognized recipients in several categories, presenting honors for innovation, leadership and spirit. Recipients were also celebrated at an awards dinner held in conjunction with alphabroder's Northeast Expo show. 

Prime Line Celebrates Employees' Accomplishments

Prime Line, the hard goods and decoration division of alphabroder, held employee recognition ceremonies at its Connecticut and South Carolina facilities honoring employees nominated for alphabroder-Prime Line Corporate Team Recognition Awards. The recognition awards program originated last year and spotlights employees who dedicate themselves to consistently doing an amazing job.

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BIC Graphic North America Donates Supplies To Marjorie’s Hope For Pasco County Schools

Earlier this year, BIC Graphic North America delivered a donation of more than 55,000 items to the Marjorie’s Hope organization to benefit students at Pasco County Schools. The Clearwater, Florida-based supplier’s contribution included a variety of backpacks, pens and earbuds that will be used as school supplies.


Above: Deborah Shackowsky (left), founder of Port Richey, Florida-based Marjorie’s Hope,
with Melissa Ralston, BIC Graphic NA chief marketing officer. The organization now provides
children a strong foundation for a happy and successful life by meeting needs for educational
supplies, toys and other learning tools. The organization has been helping local students
through their Back to School Program for the past 18 years.

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MiPPA Takes The Industry’s Message To Michigan State Capital

The Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) hosted its fourth annual Legislative Education Action Day (LEAD) breakfast in Lansing, Michigan, on March 7. Held at the Anderson House of Representatives Building, directly across the street from the state capitol building, the breakfast drew 46 state representatives, state senators and legislators’ staff members.


Above: MiPPA’s breakfast was an opportunity to present information on the promotional
products industry in Michigan. MiPPA members met with lawmakers to explain the needs of
small businesses in the state while a continuous loop presentation of pertinent industry facts
was presented on a big screen. Brief presentations providing an overview of the industry
and the issues important to its members were led by MiPPA Immediate Past President Jane
Mitchell, MAS (front row, center); MiPPA President Roger Burnett, CAS (back row, center
left); PPAI Government Affairs Manager Maurice Norris (right); and MiPPA Executive
Director Paul Kiewiet, MAS+ (second from right).

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PPAI’s McLean Connects With PSDA Members At CEO Summit

In March, PPAI Executive Vice President Bob McLean, CPA, CAE, attended the Print Services & Distribution Association’s (PSDA) annual CEO Summit in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The event brings PSDA members together to connect, discuss high-level trends and share ideas and challenges. McLean attended to learn more about the industry PSDA serves and meet the association’s members. PPAI and PSDA share a significant overlap in membership and there are similarities in the industries’ supply chains. The associations have been supporting each other for years by holding training at their various shows and sharing content between their publications.


Above: PPAI Executive Vice President Bob McLean, CPA, CAE (center, left), met with PSDA
leaders at the CEO Summit, including (from left) Nathan Goldberg, president of PPAI member
Specialized Office Systems and incoming president of PSDA; Matt Bruno, executive vice
president of PSDA; and Joe Walkup, CAS, president of PPAI member Innovative Business
Products, LLP and president of PSDA.

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ASB’s VP Of Technology Presents At High School Career Day

Mike Pfeiffer, vice president of technology for American Solutions for Business, spoke to students at Minnewaska Area High School’s Career Day earlier this year. The school is located near Glenwood, Minnesota, where the distributor is headquartered, and many of its students are children of employees, who may choose to pursue summer internships or future employment at the company.


Above: Much of Pfeiffer’s presentation and conversation with the students centered around
the technology field on both a large scale and local level so they could understand their options
in relation to their own career goals and paths.

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Leed’s Staff Connects With PPAI During Headquarters Visit

In March, PPAI welcomed three visitors from supplier Polyconcept North America’s Leed’s division to its Irving, Texas, headquarters. They met with staff and learned more about the Association.


Above: PPAI Director of Business Development Ellen Tucker (left) hosted the visit from Regional
Sales Manager Alina Rubinshteyn (center, left) and Field Sales Managers Katie Crnkovich (center,
right) and Emily Douglas. Along with giving them a tour of PPAI’s headquarters that included stops
at each department for an overview from the department director, Tucker provided general information
about the Association and shared details on resources available to them.

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PPAI, RMRPPA Take Promo Industry Issues To Colorado’s State Capitol

PPAI joined the Rocky Mountain Region Promotional Products Association (RMRPPA) and Colorado-based industry members in Denver in March for the first-ever L.E.A.D. Local Colorado. PPAI staff and industry participants held 10 meetings with state senators, representatives and their staff members to discuss both local and national issues important to promotional products businesses.


Above: L.E.A.D. Local Colorado’s participants—from left, Ben Irvin, owner and president of
Picasso Group Custom Products and a RMRPPA board member; RMRPPA Executive Director
Julie Schoenbauer; PPAI Government Affairs Manager Maurice Norris; Brian Grall, owner and
president of distributor LogoMyBiz.com; and, not shown, PPAI Public Affairs Director Anne
Stone—met with legislators on a number of issues, among them a new rule by the state
Department of Revenue issued as a reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wayfair vs. South
Dakota decision. The rule allows every jurisdiction in Colorado to enforce their own remote
seller tax requirements, even on an intrastate basis.

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Chocolate Inn/Taylor & Grant/Lanco Hosts SAAGNY Members

Chocolate Inn/Taylor & Grant/Lanco hosted a tour in March of the imprinting and embroidering capabilities at its Ronkonkoma, New York, facility for select members of the Specialty Advertising Association of Greater New York (SAAGNY). This was the first tour demonstrating the new capabilities added since SPD/Shoreline joined the Hicksville-based supplier earlier this year. The first part of the day took the group, which consisted of New York-area distributors, through Lanco’s hardgoods manufacturing process. The group also had a chance to tour SPD/Shoreline’s apparel stitching and embroidery facility.


Above: Marc Wadler, director of operations at Lanco, gave tour attendees a demonstration
of the company’s printing process for drinkware.


Above: Larry Junda, sales manager at SPD/Shoreline, gave an overview of the company’s
embroidery process and best practices on how to ensure product clarity.

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James Khattak is news editor of PPB.