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#ppaiexpo
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January 13, 2016
PPAI
EXPO DAILY
™
TERESA MOISANT, MAS, AND BRUCE FELBER, MAS, HONORED FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE
By Tina Berres Filipski
PPAI presented honors to a
number of members and industry
leaders at Monday night’s black-tie
Chairman’s Leadership Dinner hosted
by Rick Brenner, MAS+, PPAI board
chair and Paul Bellantone, CAE, PPAI
president and CEO. Among those
being recognized were a new class of
50-year members, the inaugural PPAI
Promotional Products Pioneers and
PPAI’s 2016 Distinguished Service
Award winners.
PPAI members recognized and
applauded for their 50 years of
membership were: Dean Watkins
Company East, ADG Promotional
Products, Advertising Accents Inc.,
Ball Chain Manufacturing Company,
A.T. Cross, Gemaco Inc. Lipic’s Inc.,
Paulich Specialty Company Inc.,
SAMCO Line, Sanatex Corporation,
SELCO, and Tee Pee Advertising Co.
Among those honored in PPAI’s
newest program, PPAI Promotional
Products Pioneers, were Norman
Cohn, ASI; the late Forest P. Gill,
Gill Studios, Inc.; Frank Krasovec,
formerly with Norwood Promotional
Products; Norm Stern, Norscot Group
and the late Frank B. Thomas, ASNA/
PPAI. The five were honored for their
vision, drive, innovation, character and
leadership that played a key role in
the advancement of the promotional
products industry.
Bruce Felber, MAS, The Image
Group, and Teresa Moisant, MAS,
Moisant Promotional Products,
were each presented with PPAI’s
Distinguished Service Award in
appreciation for their countless hours
of volunteer leadership to PPAI and the
industry.
In accepting the award from
presenter Steven Meyer, MAS, Felber
thanked many of his industry friends,
family and fellow volunteers within
PPAI and the Ohio Promotional
Professionals Association and added,
“This is the greatest industry with the
greatest people. I share this award
with the entire industry and my hope
is that we all continue to give back to
PPAI and the promotional marketing
industry.”
Teresa Moisant gratefully
accepted the award from her friend
and colleague Linda Campbell and
recounted
many stories
and shared her
appreciation
for those who
helped her grow
her career in the
industry. “This
award is all
about service,”
she said. “I
am where I am
today because
someone
helped me.
I encourage
each of you
to open those
same doors
for others
around you
and to make
someone
else’s day
a little bit
brighter.”
n
FINANCIAL EXPERT MONICA MEHTA SAYS THE
U.S. ECONOMY IS STRONGER THAN IT LOOKS
By Julie Richie
Despite the recent volatility in the
global stock market, the U.S. economy
has actually been in expansion
mode for 78 months, which is about
20 months longer than the average
expansion, according to Monica
Mehta, an investor, finance expert and
author of
The Entrepreneurial Instinct
.
In Tuesday’s keynote luncheon,
“Recession or Progression,” Mehta
discussed the overall health of the U.S.
economy.
She presented relevant data
underlying the six barometers critical
to the health of the U.S. economy:
growth, consumer, housing, financial
markets, business and world economy.
Growth: Over the past 60 years,
the gross domestic product (GDP),
which is the total value of everything
people are buying in the U.S., grew
3.25 percent. Since 2007, Mehta said
the GDP has averaged 2.5 percent and
the future prediction for the GDP is 2.3
percent.
Consumer: “The U.S. economy
lives and dies by the consumer.
Consumer spending is 70 percent
of GDP,” Mehta says. “It’s taken six
years, but consumers finally have more
money to spend.”
Housing: Home prices have been
rising, and as the primary source of
wealth for consumers, that’s a good
sign for the economy. In the top 10
housing markets, prices have risen 5.5
percent in the last year, and 35 percent
since the low, but are still 11 to 13
percent lower than the peak in 2006.
Financial Markets: While volatility
continues in the overseas markets
and the stock market lost $1 trillion in
value in the first week of 2016, “China
only represents less than five percent
of S&P profits, so it doesn’t have
the bearing you might think,” Mehta
emphasized.
Business: Manufacturing is slow
because of the decline with overseas
demand for American products. The
energy sector has been the biggest
drag on corporate earnings, while at
the same time lower gas prices are
good for the consumer.
World Economy: While volatility is
up, China’s GDP is still predicted to
grow 6.5 percent in 2016, compared to
eight to 14 percent in past years.
Final economic verdict: moderate
progression.
n
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
outstanding work being done by the
theater department,” he says. “Our
poster program is a good example of
how a business can make a simple
connection with a school and help
advance the cause of education in
America.”
Gilman, who served on the PPAI
Board of Directors for nine years, told
the audience he was most proud of
the role he played in the hiring of Ted
Olson to fill the role of Association
president and CEO. “I always thought
of Ted as the ideal servant leader.
He was called to lead, and he led
by always serving the needs of the
Association,” Gilman recalls. “I had
many learning experiences under Ted’s
guidance, and I am humbly grateful to
receive this award in his honor.”
n
Above: PPAI Pioneer recipients
and representatives
Teresa Moisant, MAS and
Bruce Felber, MAS
Mark Gilman, CAS