PPB January 2018

FEATURE | PPAI 2018 Award Winners G rowing up in a small, rural town in Massachusetts, David Woods, MAS, expected to spend his life working at the local paper mill, like his father, or as a mechanic at the garage where he was invited to apprentice. Fate had a different plan. Encouraged by his pastor, two high school teachers and the family doctor, he decided instead to go to college. “They said, ‘You can work in themill like your father and grandfather, but you have the ability to domore than that, if you want to,’” he remembers. Woods took their wise advice and enrolled at the University of Florida in 1961, later transferring to Boston University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration. A few years later he earned anMBA from the University of Michigan and completed an intensivemanagement programat Harvard Business School. It was the start of a remarkable career and a lifetime of volunteer service to the promotional products industry and to a number of other philanthropic and charitable organizations near and dear to his heart.This month, Woods will be inducted into the PPAI Hall of Fame duringThe PPAI Expo in Las Vegas. He was nominated by Joe Fleming, president of Hub Pen Company, a friend and colleague for more than 20 years. Woods’s route to the promotional products industry was a long and winding one that took him fromhis first professional job as a management consultant with Deloitte and Touche inManhattan to CFO for a packaging company startup. When the company was acquired, he was offered an opportunity to run a division as general manager. After gaining this experience, he gave in to his entrepreneurial leanings and raised the venture capital to start his own company in the soft-drink distribution business.The venture taught him that he enjoyed working for himself. Ten years later, Woods sold his interest in the company and was looking for his next challenge when he took a call fromhis former accountant at Arthur Andersen.The caller askedWoods if he had any interest in running an ad specialties company. “I said, ‘I might—what is that?’” says Woods, with a chuckle. After some due diligence, he decided to pursue what looked like a great opportunity. The promotional products companywas LeeWayne Corporation, a distributor based in Sterling, Illinois. It was housed in an old shopping center, had about 40 employees and was in financial trouble. Woods was eager to take on the challenge to turn the company around. Two years later, in 1993, he sold the rebuilt company to fellowdistributor HALO (nowHALO Branded Solutions). After serving as executive vice president of HALOand for a brief time as president of HALO International, it was time to move on again—and the next opportunitywas one he never could have imagined. In 2002, Promotional Products Association International was gearing up tomove its trade show fromDallas to Las Vegas, and the Association needed a COO to support the team during those preparations. Woods, who had just finished his role as PPAI’s immediate past board chair, was the right guy for the job. He packed up his Jeep and headed south to Dallas where he spent a year working alongside President A Life Of Purpose Hall of Fame inductee David Woods, MAS, capitalizes on what’s really important in a life well lived. by Tina Berres Filipski Hall of Fame ™ 2018 I NDUCTEE David Woods grew up in a small, close-knit family where he was taught to be kind and help others. “They said, ‘You can work in the mill like your father and grandfather, but you have the ability to do more than that, if you want to.’” 28 | JANUARY 2018 |