A Message from our CPPA President......

Happy Spring!

Finally, we can enjoy some warmer temperatures! It’s time to come out of hibernation and your CPPA Board has lots of activities to help you reconnect!

Don’t miss the kickoff of our Factory Tour and Talk Series on April 16 at BDG Promo. Meet the team at BDG Promo and make your own decorated glass to take home! This is a great opportunity to take a peek at how your glassware orders are made and give you some ideas to pitch to your clients!

On May 8, we look forward to our signature tabletop show-Pinots and Promos, at the beautiful Black Ankle Vineyards in Mt. Airy, MD. Come check out new and innovative products and then mingle with your CPPA friends with a wine tasting and a commemorative glass. What a great way to jumpstart your spring sales season.

Your board is busy planning for more exciting events including an Orioles game for the summer and a sailing trip in the fall just to name a couple of events. Stay tuned for more details!

As always, I want to thank each of you, on behalf of myself and the board, for your membership. We are grateful for each of you and want you to know that we value your suggestions, comments and feedback. Please know that we represent YOU and changes for the better are made possible with open communication and respect. I am always happy to speak with any member to discuss ideas, concerns or suggestions. You can reach me at 410-793-9476. I’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at BDG Promo on April 16.

All the best,

Cheryl Hokanson

CPPA Board of Directors President

Mark your calendar for our 2024 Fall Promo Expo!

Details coming soon!

ASB Hires Kate Murray as Communications & Public Relations Specialist



Glenwood, MN – American Solutions for Business welcomes Kate Murray as Communications & Public Relations Specialist.

In this role, Murray will support strategic initiatives by creating and maintaining internal and external communication for ASB. She will write, review, and distribute public-facing communication, work alongside events and marketing teams to ensure seamless planning and execution, along with carrying out social media and content strategies.

“We’re so excited that Kate has joined the ASB family!” shared Taylor Borst, Senior Director of Marketing & Vendor Relations. “With her education, skillset, and personality, I’m confident she’ll be an excellent addition to our team who can help share our company story, create meaningful connections and maximize impact.”

Murray graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in May of 2023 with a degree in Communications and Business Management.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such an incredible team, doing what I enjoy most,” says Murray. “The position feels like the perfect fit and I eagerly anticipate the chance to work with our home office team, sales associates, customers, vendors, and everyone that has made ASB successful for over 40 years.”

PCNA Welcomes Doug Mitchell as Chief Growth Officer to Drive Strategic Initiatives and Innovation



Pittsburgh, AP – Polyconcept North America (PCNA), the leading supplier of promotional products, is proud to announce the appointment of Doug Mitchell to the role of Chief Growth Officer, a new position within the company's Executive Leadership Team. Mitchell is tasked with spearheading strategic initiatives focused on high growth and driving innovation throughout PCNA's operations in North America.

With a proven track record of building and scaling high-performing teams and products throughout his 15 years of experience in e-commerce, digital marketing, and advertising, Doug Mitchell is exceptionally positioned to contribute to PCNA’s mission. Most recently, he was the Vice President of Performance Marketing at Chewy, where he enhanced the online customer acquisition and retention programs for the leading pet retailer. Prior to that, Mitchell was the General Manager of Supplier Advertising and Retail Media at Wayfair, where he further solidified his expertise in building and growing a cross-functional business unit that created impactful advertising solutions for Wayfair's suppliers and partners.

"I am incredibly excited to contribute to PCNA's market leadership by advancing the company's growth and innovative endeavors, especially through Givee Select, PCNA's pioneering gifting solution,” expressed Mitchell. “The demand for a streamlined, personalized gifting experience is significant, and I am dedicated to ensuring Givee Select not only meets but exceeds distributor expectations."

Launched in January 2024, Givee Select is a centralized online store solution that streamlines personalized gifting, offering a seamless gifting process for any occasion, such as conferences and corporate events. The all-in-one platform empowers distributors to handpick from a curated collection of high-quality gifts, facilitating the option for unique personalization, transparent pricing, no inventory obligations, and reduced waste. To date, Givee Select is nearing 1,000 store set ups, highlighting the platform’s growing demand in the industry.

Mitchell is no stranger to the Promotional Products industry, having led the team that created Vistaprint’s wholesale business as Vice President of Partner Development for seven years. His entrepreneurial spirit is also demonstrated through his co-founding and leadership as CEO at OfferLogic, which aligns exceptionally with PCNA's innovative drive.

“We are thrilled to welcome Doug to the PCNA family,” stated Neil Ringel, CEO of PCNA. “Doug's entrepreneurial mindset and proven track record in driving growth make him an invaluable addition to our team. We are confident that he will help us achieve our vision of becoming the leading provider of personalized and customized products in North America.”

Doug Mitchell attended the US Naval Academy, earned a bachelor’s degree at Brown University and his MBA from The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

ASB Hires Michael Conway as Senior Director of eCommerce



Glenwood, MN – American Solutions for Business welcomes Michael Conway as Senior Director of eCommerce.

In this role, Conway will be responsible for developing and implementing the strategic eCommerce plan for ASB. This entails building and nurturing a best-in-class digital team to optimize the process and drive new ways of working with the digital-first approach. The primary objective is to continue enhancing and improving our eCommerce offering, ensuring it aligns with ASB’s overall objective and goals.

“I am thrilled to have Michael join our eCommerce team!” Shared Mike Schmitz, Vice President of Technology. “His expertise will enrich our promotional products experience on the eCommerce platform. Michael was the managing director of the Digital Transformation practice for a consulting company, which helps him bring fresh perspectives into how we might better improve many of our processes.”

Conway has years of experience in the promotional industry, previously working for ASI and PCNA. He was one of the founding members of PromoStandards and served on the board representing both ASI and PCNA. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Queensland, Australia.

“I could not be more excited to be joining the team at American,” says Conway. “A name that has been familiar to me throughout my time in the promotional products industry as one where people succeed, is a great place to work and that has a culture that I know fits me well. I look forward to bringing my experience from both the supplier and service provider perspective of the promotional products industry into American. At my core, I love getting into the process of asking the WHY, WHAT and HOW questions to uncover business opportunities, and then finding the appropriate place and means for technology to unlock them. I can’t wait to get started!”

Showdown Displays Wins People's Choice Stevie Award



Brooklyn Center, MN – Showdown Displays has been honored as the Favorite Customer Service winner through a global public vote, as part of the 2024 People’s Choice Stevie Awards for Sales and Customer Service. The announcement, made by the Stevie Awards organization, highlights Showdown Displays' commitment to delivering exceptional customer service.

The 2024 People’s Choice Stevie Awards received an overwhelming response, with more than 2,300 nominations from organizations of diverse sizes and across various industries. Finalists were determined by the average scores of more than 200 professionals worldwide in seven specialized judging committees.

"We are truly honored to receive this esteemed recognition from the Stevie Awards," says Jim Thomsen, the vice president of customer success at Showdown Displays. "It is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our entire team in ensuring world-class customer service at every touchpoint."

Established in 2002, the Stevie Awards have gained global acclaim as the premier business awards, celebrating the outstanding achievements and positive contributions of organizations and professionals worldwide. Over the past two decades, the Stevie Awards have evolved into one of the most coveted accolades in the business world.

PPAI Pyramid Awards: The Supplier Stars Are Best In Class

The relationship between distributors and the suppliers they work with is fundamental to success in the promotional products industry. Some suppliers go the extra mile to make that relationship run smoother, respond more efficiently and be more fruitful for all involved. PPAI’s Supplier Stars award recognizes those suppliers who have gone above and beyond.

The 24 companies recognized here have been chosen by industry distributors for the quality of their communications, customer service, products, decorating and packaging.

The Supplier Star is one of four PPAI Pyramid Awards, the industry’s pinnacle of achievement, now in its 66th year. Distributors cast their votes for one supplier in each of 12 categories. This annual competition is open to all PPAI supplier members in good standing who update their sales volume every two years as required and maintain a SAGE supplier rating of A or higher.



Find the List of the 24 Companies Here

AI Is Changing the Way We Look at Job Skills - Here's What You Need to Do to Prepare Ryan Wong * Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor * CEO of Visier

As workplace roles evolve and disappear faster than ever, companies that focus on skills will have an advantage.

Talk about an HR nightmare: Today, 1.7 million people work in the U.S. auto industry, and 99% of cars sold or on the road are gas-powered. But that's all about to change … and nearly overnight. By 2030, plans call for half of new car sales to be electric — making millions of roles redundant and creating the need for millions more.

Welcome to the brave new labor market. As technology advances at an ever-faster clip, seemingly no job is safe. Generative AI has only quickened the pace, leaving organizations scrambling. Some workplace roles are becoming obsolete in the course of months, not years, while new ones are constantly emerging.

For companies, keeping up with these changes calls for a dramatic shift in mindset: Goodbye jobs, hello skills.

Businesses have traditionally managed talent by fixating on rigid job descriptions. But hiring and firing based on ever-changing roles is proving increasingly problematic. So progressive employers are taking a skills-based approach instead — reconceiving employees as a bundle of malleable skills rather than a fixed role.

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PANTONE 13-1023 Peach Fuzz

Feeling all warm and fuzzy after the new year? Well, apparently, Pantone is feeling the same way about 2024! Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year goes to… Peach Fuzz!

This year’s Color of the Year is described as a “velvety gentle peach tone whose all-embracing spirit enriches mind, body, and soul.” Now, doesn’t that sound like a color you just want to wrap yourself in? This color is all about comfort going into the new year, and we all need a little calm and ease, don’t we? Some say it reminds them of their grandmother’s bathroom décor, and others say it reminds them of a springtime tulip. Let’s see what Pantone says about their color of the year!

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