CPPA Signal E-News June 2026

JUNE 2026

Fresh ideas. New opportunities. A season full of possibilities.

July 14, 2026 Tuesday Learning Lab: “New Tricks in '26: What's New in SAGE"

Join us for a walkthrough of the latest enhancements to SAGE Workplace, Websites, and Stores, as well as some existing “Hidden Gem” tools designed to help you sell more and keep your year going strong!

Learning Outcomes:

Idea & Presentation Wizards
Instant Virtual Samples
Lifestyle Images
Custom Page Builder

Read more and register

Mark your calendars and register to attend our upcoming Fall Promo Expo ~ Home of the 2026 Preakness!

CPPA is proud to bring you and your clients multiple opportunities to attend trade shows and events throughout our region. The Fall Promo EXPO is a great opportunity to connect with vendors and discuss current and upcoming projects. CPPA Distributor members are encouraged to invite clients to attend as exclusive guests.

9 am - 10 am: Education Session: Details Coming Soon!
10 am - 1:30 pm: Exhibits Open

Private Distributor Hosting Rooms!

We're excited to offer an exclusive opportunity at this year's Fall Promo Expo: Distributor members can now reserve a private room to invite and host their customers during the show!

*Room Rental: $250 ~ 1 room out of 3 still available - offered on a first come, first served basis (image on website)

Whether you want to create a VIP experience, hold private meetings, or just offer a quiet space for client conversations, these rooms are the perfect solution. Reserve your room today during registration before they're gone!

For more event details and registration links, click here

CPPA News

ASB Raises $10,000 for Star of the North Maternity Home at Accelerate Event

Glenwood, MN - ASB raised $10,000 for Star of the North Maternity Home during its annual Accelerate event. Through the generosity of the American family and valued supplier partners, this year’s contribution doubled last year’s donation total.

The chosen local charity, Star of the North, holds a close connection to ASB and a mission that struck a chord with attendees: “Our mission is to support pregnant women or women with children 18 years of age or older without a home in Northeastern Minnesota.”

Since opening its doors in 2019, Star of the North has welcomed mothers and families into its Duluth location and has more recently expanded with additional rooms in Hibbing. Staff and volunteers work closely with each mother to provide stability, support, and guidance as they prepare for a sustainable future.

“We’re helping moms write their stories,” shared Molly Rathke, Program Manager.

“Our hope is to go beyond housing to transform women’s lives with education, holistic medical care, and comprehensive services by partnering with our TFLN collaborative and community partners,” according to Star of the North’s website.

This charitable tradition has become a meaningful part of ASB’s Accelerate event. ASB remains committed to ensuring each gathering not only fosters professional growth and connection, but also creates a lasting and meaningful impact on the host community.

Brett Long & Tim Rosica Join Prime Line as Outside Sales Reps

Bridgeport, CT - Prime Line is adding two promo industry veterans to its outside sales team.

The Bridgeport, CT-based subsidiary of Counselor Top 40 supplier S&S Activewear has announced Brett Long and Tim Rosica as its newest outside sales representatives for the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions, respectively. The hiring announcement follows the firm’s appointment of Paige Millard, who last month joined Prime Line as a West Coast account executive.

Long comes to the firm with over 20 years of outside sales management and national accounts experience in the promo industry. Most recently, he served as a national account manager at Charles River Apparel.

He also spent seven years at Counselor Top 40 supplier The Magnet Group as a regional account manager and nearly three years at Counselor Top 40 supplier Goldstar, where he achieved a 40% territory increase during his tenure.

Rosica, meanwhile, joins Prime Line with more than 25 years of promo experience as the principal of Rosica Marketing and a longtime partner at Paul Sprunk Associates.

He has scaled sales volume from $1.5 million to $7.3 million. He has also earned the Multi-Line Rep of the Year award several times from the Chesapeake Promotional Products Association, Three Rivers Advertising Specialty Association and Virginia Promotional Products Association.

Prime Line said these hires signal its commitment to strengthening its presence across markets and providing support to distributor partners.

“We are focused on positioning Prime Line as an absolute powerhouse in the promotional products space, and that starts with putting the absolute best people on the field,” said Eric Levin, general manager at Prime Line.

“Following the addition of Paige Millard to our team last month, bringing Brett and Tim onboard underscores our strategy of attracting heavy-hitting, elite industry talent.”

Vantage Apparel Joins Thousands of Volunteers for
Clean Ocean Action’s 41st Annual Beach Sweep

Avenel, NJ - Vantage Apparel proudly participated in the 41st Annual Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweep, serving not only as a statewide sponsor of the event, but also as an active volunteer team helping remove debris from New Jersey’s coastline.

This year’s event brought together more than 6,000 volunteers across 40 beaches spanning 130 miles of New Jersey coastline. Together, participants collected nearly 170,000 pieces of litter and debris. Perhaps most notably, 83% of all items collected were plastic; an ongoing remind of the important of reducing waste and supporting sustainable solutions.

For Vantage Apparel, the event aligns closely with company’s commitment to environmental responsibility through its Earthwise Collection, which incorporates REPREVE® recycled performance fabrics made from post-consumer plastic water bottles.

Vantage’s commitment to sustainability extends beyond product innovation. The company has earned an EcoVadis Bronze Medal, recognizing its ongoing efforts in environmental responsibility, ethical business practices, sustainable procurement and corporate social responsibility. “Through initiatives such as the Earthwise Collection and community partnerships like Clean Ocean Action, we continue to invest in programs that create a positive impact both within and beyond the promotional products industry,” said Rob Watson, CEO of Vantage Apparel.

As with every Beach Sweep, volunteers uncovered a few unusual finds among piles of litter. This year’s collection included a wedding ring, a full quart of milk, and even a whole watermelon. And with these unexpected discoveries generating laughs among volunteers, the event’s mission resonates throughout. The data collected during each Beach Sweep helps Clean Ocean Action identify pollution trends, advocate for environmental policies and drive meaningful change throughout the region.

“Our team members and their families live here, children take their first steps in the sand here, and millions of beachgoers vacation here every year,” states Watson. “This event is more than just doing something good for the planet. It’s a chance to make a visible impact and contribute to something larger than ourselves.”

Since its inception in 1985, Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweep program has become one of the nation’s most impactful environmental stewardship initiatives. Over the past four decades, volunteers have dedicated more than one million hours and removed nearly nine million pieces of debris from New Jersey beaches and waterways.

Industry News

2026 Woman of Achievement Recipient

PPAI Media

PPAI Names Renee Jones, MAS+, 2026 Woman of Achievement Recipient

Scottish novelist and playwright J.M. Barrie, creator of Peter Pan, said, “Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” Psychologists refer to this as the “helper’s high,” meaning those who spread joy mirror that happiness and promote a community of support and encouragement. And Renée Jones, MAS+, has cultivated quite a community.

For the woman who signs her emails with “Be Happy,” there is no greater gift than to lift up others, extend a helping hand and cheerfully give back to her industry and community.

Since 1983, when Jones took on her first volunteer roles with the Disabled American Veterans Auxiliary and the Department of Veterans Affairs, two organizations closest to her heart, she has been (and in some cases, still is) a hands-on volunteer for nine organizations in her home state of North Carolina. In addition to the DAVA and DVA, she is mail call coordinator for Honor Flight of the Cape Fear Area and active in Wilmington Central Rotary and Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. She’s also a past volunteer for Wilmington Women of Purpose and several other organizations.

“As a founding member of Wilmington Women of Purpose, she helped raise $24,800 to support five local nonprofits, demonstrating her ability to bring people together for meaningful impact,” says Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS+, CEO of Competitive Edge, and one of five previous WOA winners who nominated Jones for the honor or wrote letters of support.

When Jones volunteers, it’s not just in name. She’s all in. Every time. Over the years, her work with the DAVA led to increasing responsibility, including heading the 250,000-member organization as national commander.

AI Is Changing How Your Business Shows Up on Google - Take These 5 Steps to Adapt

Michael Quoc * Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor * Founder and CEO of Product.ai

These five operating shifts will decide whether AI agents recommend your brand or quietly route around it.

Every founder running a commerce business in 2026 is asking some version of the same question. Is the playbook that got me here still the right one for the next decade? The honest answer for most operators is no.

Commerce discovery has inverted twice in the last 17 years. The first inversion was the social era. Community-driven discovery rerouted traffic away from the search-and-display playbook. The second was the SEO era. Content depth and link equity determined which brands customers ever found. Each inversion rewarded the founders who restructured first and punished the ones who waited until the new playbook was obvious. By then the playbook already belonged to someone else.

The third inversion is the agent era, and it is happening right now. Agents weight a different stack of signals from the ones that drove Google rankings for the last 15 years. Their behavior is unlike a human shopper’s. They read claims, weigh evidence and make a decision. The brand that cannot back its claims gets skipped without warning.

2026 PPAI Responsibility Summit

PPAI Advance

Registration is Open For Responsibility Summit 2026

The branded merch industry is evolving – along with its risks and opportunities.

Designed for professionals, across functions, who are navigating the complex landscape of responsibility. The PPAI Responsibility Summit 2026 delivers practical insights to help you lead, manage or communicate on emerging trends and regulations across product design, ethical sourcing, supply chain due diligence, environmental impact and regulatory compliance.

This year, Summit moves to Denver, Colorado, offering improved access from both coasts while staying well connected to the broader industry. This shift creates a more balanced travel experience, as well as an opportunity to visit a leading city in climate and sustainability practices.

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