PPB October 2015

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PPAI Business Development Director Gary Slavonic, MAS, wel-
comes team members from Eskimo Joe’s Promotional Products
Group during their visit to PPAI headquarters.
Eskimo Joe’s Promotional
Products Group Visits PPAI
Headquarters
PPAI hosted a visit August 28 from staff members of
Stillwater, Oklahoma-based distributor Eskimo Joe’s
Promotional Products Group (UPIC: eskimo). Eskimo
Joe’s team was in the Dallas area visiting vendors and
wrapped up their time in North Texas with a tour of the
Association’s Irving headquarters. Eskimo Joe’s staff also
shared the story of their company’s transition from a
restaurant in a college town—Stillwater is home of
Oklahoma State University—to adding t-shirt imprinting
capabilities and a promotional products distributorship to
their business model.
100 • PPB • OCTOBER 2015 CONNECT
SNAPSHOTS
UMAPP Executive Director Sue Selseth; RAC Delegate to the
PPAI Board Scott Hareid; UMAPP Government Relations
Committee Chair Dave Malek; Geiger Brand Architect David
Hawes, MAS+; and UMAPP President Rena Ashfeld meet with
Rep. Erik Paulsen (third from right) during the August Recess.
UMAPP Members Meet
With Rep. Paulsen During
August Recess
During the August Recess, members of the Upper Midwest
Association of Promotional Professionals (UMAPP) met with
Minnesota Rep. Erik Paulsen (R), PPAI’s first Legislator of the
Year and a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
The discussion between Paulsen and UMAPP members focused
on the industry’s concerns about advertising expenditures, the
status of independent contractors and the power of promotion-
al products. The industry delegates brought various examples
of products from promotions in Minnesota and shared stories
behind each one that illustrated promotional products’ role as
professional problem-solvers and that every product has a pur-
pose. Paulsen, in turn, urged industry members to be more
proactive, saying that by contacting him immediately when
issues arise, he can be far more effective.
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