PPB December 2019

PPAI On Capitol Hill To Protect The Industry On October 30, PPAI reported that a bill on Capitol Hill, introduced by Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and co-sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, would prohibit federal agencies from spending on promotional products to promote themselves or their programs. Two days later, PPAI President and CEO Paul Bellantone, CAE, along with Stephanie Critchfield, vice president and national sales manager at distributor The Vernon Company, based in Newton, Iowa, and Cliff Andrews, PPAI’s D.C.-based lobbyist, were in D.C. meeting with the senators’ staffs to educate them on the promotional products industry in their states and work with them to better craft the bill. I have been in the promotional specialty industry for 45 years and during that time various government agencies have tried to stop the purchase of promotional products. Promotional products serve a useful way for government agencies to explain the purpose for their agencies, and for their constituents to know how they can assist them. Do not stop the purchase of promotional products, they’re a small amount of the budget whether in the federal government or municipalities. JERRY CHIAT Owner Acclaimed Promotions Owings Mills, Maryland PPAI 103783 Promotional Products’ Digital Path Forward In “The Internet Of Promotional Things,” the November issue’s cover story, PPB tracks how the promotional products industry has evolved to embrace changing technology and the rise of online distributors. The content here is spot on. In the age of consolidation, you will see more and more traditional distributors gain immediate relevancy by acquiring an online-driven distributor and vice versa. At the end of the day, what will emerge is the hybrid distributor. Before InkHead sold, we had been screaming that from the mountaintops since 2014, and then boom, we had an offer the boys could not refuse. It was a very happy ending! JIM FRANKLYN Vice president of business development Swag Promo, LLC Alpharetta, Georgia PPAI 562712 feed back Send feedback on articles in PPB or opinions on industry issues to JamesK@ppai.org . 8 | DECEMBER 2019 |