PPB April 2019

focuses on home goods; and Magna-Tel in 2016, a business specializing in flexible magnets. In 2017, the company started marketing all of its lines under Fey Promo. The acquisitions were part of a larger effort to continue manufacturing domestically and expand the product offering, Fey says. The acquisitions also allowed Fey Promo to grow its RF heat-sealing capabilities to include thermoforming, injection molding and sonic welding; its decoration methods to include screen printing, hot stamping, pad printing, laser engraving and digital printing; and made it possible to operate an onsite tool and die shop. “Our history includes being willing to take risks, to reinvent and to be guided by values that my grandfather and father would be proud of,” he says. Throughout the changes that have taken place internally, the company has stuck to its Minnesota roots, remaining in Edgerton. The central location, Fey says, has always been an asset. “With this central location, we have quick transit time for customer shipments, and most importantly, we have a tremendous team that brings Minnesota nice perspective and work ethic.” The company’s 250,000-square-foot facility includes an onsite gym, dubbed the “Workout Factory,” complete with a half-size basketball court, racquetball court, sauna, locker room, free weights, circuit- training system and treadmills. Due to its expanded services, Fey Promo has become sought- after for customized kitchen and home products. “Kitchen and household items provide premium exposure, with the majority of family decisions being made around the kitchen and dining room of the home,” says Fey. “Our practical products lead to repeated use with items that are retained.” One of their bestsellers is The World’s Best Pizza Cutter™, which boasts a sleek, patented design, and can be used to cut everything from pizza to brownies and bread dough. Other kitchen product categories include barbecue and beverage tools, kitchen gadgets and utensils, measuring cups and cutting boards. While Fey is dedicated to carrying on his family’s business, joining the company wasn’t his initial career plan. In the seventh grade, he started his own business round-baling hay for local farmers, which became the focus of his junior and high school summers. During college, he spent two summers working at Fey, but this experience connected him with the Hohenwald Family and their distributor Spartan Promotional Group. Before and after graduation, he worked for Spartan Promotional Group in a sales capacity during the day, and at Sears at night and on weekends. “While I never had plans to join Fey or move back to the small town, there was an opening in the sales department, and Tony Haga, MAS—the head of the company’s sales and marketing operations at the time—called me to see if I would be interested,” he says. “The rest, as they say, is ‘history.’” Today, Fey is the only family member who is active in the business, but his children have also shown interest. “My oldest son has spent some summer breaks at the company, along with doing a sales/marketing internship recently between college semesters. He joined us at The PPAI Expo®, and with his outgoing personality, he jumped right in and engaged customers.” His daughter, who is in high school, helps with human resources and various office-related tasks. But all in all, he believes the work of the Fey Promo team, and the Fey family, is enough to make his predecessors proud. “I don’t believe either my grandfather or father had considered a business flourishing for over 50 years and into the future generations,” he says. Danielle Renda is associate editor of PPB. Top photo, from left: Michelle Fey Mitchell, Norm Fey and Mike Fey at Fey Promo’s Employee Appreciation Banquet in 1998. The event was held to recognize years of dedicated service for the Fey Promo team. Bottom photo, from left: Norm Fey and Mike Fey on the day of Fey Promo’s 50th anniversary in 2015. The pair held tours at the Fey Promo headquarters that were open to the public, in addition to other celebratory activities. | APRIL 2019 | 71 THINK