While in the Chicago, Illinois-area recently, PPAI Director of Business Development Ellen Tucker and Business Development Account Manager Lameshia Haynes-Gilbert visited suppliers Hinda Incentives and Illinois Glove Company to learn more about their businesses and philosophies.

At Hinda Incentives’ Chicago office, Tucker and Haynes-Gilbert met with Mike Donnelly, the company’s president, and Alisa Shafer, its director of marketing, and discussed what they are working toward with its Hinda Partner Portal service, and what they’re looking forward to in the industry in the years ahead.

Donnelly says, “What’s most exciting to me is how the industry’s changing. We’re expanding the rewards portfolio approach beyond just merchandise. The big thing to keep in mind is that rewards need to be experiences; they need to be more than something showing up in a box. We always say that incentives are supposed to engage, inspire and reward.”

Tucker and Haynes-Gilbert also met with Jay Shmikler, director of sales at Illinois Glove Company. Shmikler has been with the company since 1996 and is the fourth generation to work at soon-to-be 100-year-old supplier. During their visit, the pair learned about the different markets the company’s products serve and got a close-up look at some of its decorating processes and techniques.