Many communities and businesses in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and neighboring states have been devastated by recent summer storms and flooding. As flood waters recede in some towns, and continue to rise in others along the Mississippi, additional communities are expected to struggle with transportation, flood damage and communication challenges. The Irving, Texas-based Promotional Products Association International (PPAI), announced it is reaching out to member companies affected by these floods in the form of the Promotional Products Business Recovery Plan. The purpose of the recovery plan is to take care of immediate needs by determining which companies have been affected and what they need
Read MoreFacing Floods Raining Rose’s Hammond Finds Hope
On Thursday, June 12 the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based Raining Rose facility was hit with extreme flooding and subject to a mandatory evacuation of the area. The devastating floods have affected not only the facility but also employee homes. The company first gained access back into their facility on Friday, June 20. While the business operations of Raining Rose have been temporarily interrupted, the company has already made significant progress returning to normal. Raining Rose has obtained temporary facilities and the sales, customer support and administrative groups are fully functional. Raining Rose will continue to have the same phone number and e-mail address throughout
Read MoreCorvest Celebrates Grand Opening of Combined Facility
Largo, Florida-based Corvest, a leading promotional products supplier and parent company of Adva-Lite, It’s All Greek To Me and Toppers, is commemorating the grand opening of its new 300,000 square-foot facility with a ribbon cutting and open house celebration on June 20. The event will showcase the completion of the multitiered expansion plan the company began one year ago to bring its three lines together for enhanced customer experience, increased idea generation and expanded innovation. “The sales team has been sharing our positive story for months, and we’re extremely excited to have the opportunity to show our operation to customers firsthand,” said Catherine Pilgrim,
Read MoreBankers Advertising Company Launches New Web site
Promotional products distributor, Bankers Advertising Company of Iowa City, Iowa, announced the launch of a new Web site. Bankers developed the site featuring up-to-the-minute design, a proprietary product database, easy navigation, a marketing ideas page, conclusive research on the effectiveness of promotional products and a welcome video explaining site navigation and the benefits of working with Bankers Advertising Company. Bankers’ goal was to develop a Web site that would serve as a comprehensive marketing and sales tool for sales partners and give customers a user-friendly place to find product ideas. In addition to the improved site, Bankers is in the process of developing
Read MoreCounterPoint Revamps, Launches New Logo
Las Vegas-based CounterPoint, an industry leading counter mat supplier, introduced a new look for the company’s logo. This new redesigned logo comes at a time when CounterPoint is undertaking a distributor-friendly initiative by lowering prices and reducing their minimum order quantity on selected counter mats. “It was time for a subtle, yet sleeker look for CounterPoint,” said Ed Hamilton, president. “This dynamic logo will add a fresh, upgraded feel to all of our advertising and branding efforts. CounterPoint is the industry’s leading counter mat supplier offering hard surface, fabric and window counter mats in a wide variety of surfaces and base options.”
Read MoreBodek and Rhodes Wins Best Overall Performance Award from Premier Promotional Group
Philadelphia-based Bodek and Rhodes, a leading wholesaler of imprintable apparel and accessories, was recently honored with the Best Overall Performance Award from the Premier Promotional Group. The group, which presented the award at a ceremony in May, is a national organization of 40 supplier companies and 52 distributor companies representing territories across the United States. The awards ceremony was the final celebration of the three-day annual meeting in Sarasota, Fla. “It’s such an honor to get an award like this,” said Steve Rosengarten, vice president of sales for Bodek and Rhodes. “Our whole philosophy is to deliver the best of family-business service to our
Read MoreNorwood Souvenir Plant and Employees Devastated in Midwest Flooding
On Wednesday June 11, Norwood’s Souvenir writing instruments facility and the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa experienced a “once in a thousand years” flood, exacting a devastating toll on the lives of all the employees in Norwood’s Souvenir facility as well as the Cedar Rapids community at large. “On behalf of the entire Norwood family, we are now focusing our attention on our employee’s recovery efforts as well as deploying contingency plans to meet the needs of our customers. We will continue to update customers with direct phone contacts and with postings on our Web site, www.norwood.com, with the most recent information as
Read MoreJournalbooks Aims To Raise $1 Million For Chinese Quake Victims
“We got some people together and we had some raised eyebrows—like, ‘Are you kidding?’ But you know what? You don’t know until you try,” said Tom O’Boyle, president of the Charlotte, North Carolina-based Journalbooks. O’Boyle was referring to the company’s new web-based fundraising effort—Promotional People Care—to help the injured, displaced and homeless victims of the May 12 earthquake that struck China’s Sichuan province. According to the Federal Way, Washington-based World Vision agency, one of O’Boyle’s partners in the effort, the 7.9 magnitude quake killed 70,000 and left approximately five million people homeless. “This earthquake was so quick, nobody had put anything together to
Read MoreR.S. Owens Expands In-house Custom Art Glass Capabilities
Chicago-based R.S. Owens announced expanded in-house art glass design and manufacturing to offer stock and custom awards in a fast and growing art glass award segment. “Glass, particularly art glass, is one of the strongest growing trends we have observed in the awards industry,” said Larry Maloney, vice president of marketing and sales. “There are a number of reasons for this. First, art glass awards are some of the most beautiful awards our industry has even seen. They come in a virtually unlimited variety of shapes and colors, they capture light and have an elegant vibrancy,” he continued. “Second, because they are an
Read MoreThunder Road Brandworks Named Promotional Marketing Agency for Carolina Panthers
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Thunder Road Brandworks was selected as an official partner of the Carolina Panthers and will serve as the franchise’s preferred promotional products agency for the 2008 season. In addition to working with the Carolina Panthers organization on projects, Thunder Road will work with the NFL team’s corporate sponsors to supply game-day giveaways for Panthers home games. “Our company is energized to have the opportunity to work with the Panthers organization and its sponsors,” said Matt Coben, president of Thunder Road. “It was very gratifying to be selected by such a well-respected organization, and we’re looking forward to tackling the challenge.” “Thunder
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