A Great Time was had by all at the PPAMidwest Holiday parties!

Thank you to everyone that attended PPAMidwest's Holiday Parties on either 12/4/24 at Llyweln's Pub in St. Charles or on 12/5/24 at Elixir Space in Overland Park. What a great time catching up and celebrating the Holiday season with our awesome members!

A special thank you to all that donated to our PPAMidwest Scholarship fund! Your generosity will go a long way to those in our industry looking to further their education.

 PPAMidwest PhD Award Recipient Announced at the 2024 Holiday Parties

The PPAMidwest Board of Directors added Education as a focus to our regional association's strategic plan. In an effort to encourage participation and reward active members, the PPAMidwest PhD (Promo Honors Designee) award program was developed.

Annually, one outstanding member will be rewarded with the PhD Award. Throughout the year, points are awarded for activities as detailed on our point structure which you may find here. Each November, the PPAMidwest Board of Directors will review the points standings and determine the recipient, based on the top point earner(s) and a vote, in the event of ties.

And the 2024 Winner is........

Congratulations to our 2024 PPAMidwest PhD award recipient Rochelle Barnes with Blingz Promo! So very well deserved!

PPAMidwest will continue to offer exciting and ongoing educational programs and your participation can lead to awesome recognition! Make sure to attend our events and participate in our webinars and activities to earn your points so that you might be our 2025 recipient!

ASB Announces Senior Leadership Updates: Borst and Zezzo to VP Roles

Glenwood, MN – American Solutions for Business announced that Taylor Borst has been promoted to Vice President of Vendor Relations, Marketing, and Events and Dana Zezzo will be transitioning to Vice President of Strategic Growth and will remain a member of the senior

leadership team.

Since joining the company, Borst has held various roles from Strategic Operations Support Specialist to Senior Director of Marketing & Vendor Relations. President Justin Zavadil remarked, “Taylor has made our organization better every day and contributes greatly to our presence in the industry. Her expertise, work ethic, attitude, and relationships will continue to improve ASB, and she’ll be a fantastic addition to our Senior Leadership Team.”

“I'm honored to step into this position and can't wait for what's ahead,” says Borst. “Over the last six and a half years, I've learned so much from Dana's direction and mentorship, and I’m thrilled we get to continue our collaboration and growth in this next stage. I’m proud to continue serving our sales associates, support teams, home office, and vendor partners. This wouldn’t be possible without our talented team, who works hard every day to ensure impact is the best in the market.”

Since joining ASB in 2018, Zezzo has led vendor relations, marketing, and events as Vice President, while recently having direct involvement in new initiatives such as Canadian Solutions for Business, global expansion projects, and ASB Athletics. This transition will allow him to dedicate more focus to these initiatives. “ASB has dramatically improved since Dana joined,” says Zavadil. “Much of that has been because of his dedication. I have complete confidence in him making the same type of impact as we grow in new ways.”

“I’m excited to embrace this new role and focus on driving strategic initiatives that support ASB’s growth,” says Zezzo. “The progress we’ve made is a direct result of the dedication and teamwork across ASB. This position provides an incredible opportunity to build on that momentum, explore new possibilities, and strengthen our efforts in key areas. I’m also thrilled to see Taylor step into her new role on the Senior Leadership team, and I look forward to continued collaboration.”

Vantage Apparel Taps Industry Exec Sean Macilvain for Sales Leadership Role

Avenel, NJ – Vantage Apparel, the foremost supplier of custom branded apparel known for its award-winning decoration and integration capabilities, is proud to announce the appointment of industry powerhouse, Sean Macilvain as Vice President of Business Development to lead Vantage’s US sales team. Sean brings over nine years of industry expertise and more than 12 years of sales experience, solidifying his reputation as a dynamic leader in business development and sales strategy.

Throughout his career, Sean has demonstrated an exceptional ability to foster positive team cultures and drive business success. Formerly, he served in a sales leadership role with Alphabroder and most recently, Sean spearheaded the creation and leadership of a high-performing sales and customer service team for one of the largest auto service organizations in the United States. His deep understanding of customer needs and commitment to innovation will help drive Vantage's growth initiatives.



"I’m honored to join the incredible team at Vantage Apparel and contribute to its legacy of innovation and customer focus," Sean said. "This is an exciting time for the industry, and Vantage is perfectly positioned to help our partners thrive. I look forward to building strong relationships, exploring new opportunities, and driving meaningful growth for both our customers and the company."

Sean’s enthusiasm for leadership extends beyond his professional pursuits. He enjoys spending quality time with his wife and their 1.5-year-old son, often at the beach during summer weekends. A self-proclaimed foodie, Sean loves discovering hidden gem restaurants and welcomes recommendations. When not indulging in culinary adventures, he enjoys golfing and is a devoted Philadelphia Eagles fan, having attended over 150 games.

Rob Watson, CEO of Vantage Apparel, expressed his confidence in Sean’s ability to elevate the company’s business development strategies. "Sean's track record of innovation and customer focus aligns perfectly with Vantage's mission to be a trusted partner in the branded apparel space. We’re thrilled to have him on board."

Sean’s appointment underscores Vantage Apparel’s commitment to strengthening its leadership team and fostering meaningful customer relationships as the company continues to expand its industry presence.

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile in 6 Easy Steps

Jason Foodman • Entrepreneur Leadership Network Contributor • Managing Director at Archetype

LinkedIn offers a vast array of configuration options, most don't take advantage of all of them, overlook many and fail to optimize the sections they do use. This article covers a number of high-visibility key areas along with suggestions of how to get the most out of them.

With more than 1 billion users in 200 countries worldwide, LinkedIn is currently the largest professional networking platform. So, whether for professional networking or job search purposes, it's more important than ever to customize and optimize your LinkedIn profile. Similar to advertising, visitors to your profile page will likely spend just a few precious seconds to form an opinion, so it's imperative that everything is clear, concise and on-message. Fortunately, LinkedIn has a robust feature set that enables a lot of customization. Unfortunately, many on the platform overlook key parts of their profile, in some cases not including them at all and often not optimizing what's there.

As you craft your LinkedIn profile, the fundamental objective to keep in mind is that you want to clearly articulate four things in a concise and quick-to-digest manner: who you are, what you are doing professionally, what you have done and what you are looking for — especially for those who are job hunting. You should remove anything that does not contribute to any of these points.

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