country’s government. There are limited options to accurately audit the supply chain there, and for Stone Fish, the answer was clear. “For so long, China was the source for most of your materials,” he says. “In the medium- and long-term, that’s likely to be a liability.” Sustainability Focus For the first time in its 13-year run, Summit dedicated an entire day to sustainability in the promotional products market. “Sustainability is incredibly important to the industry,” Campbell says. “Sustainability is something everybody should be worrying about because it’s the right thing to do and worry about. From the industry perspective and just for the planet, we should all be thinking about what we’re doing and how we can do it better.” Summit’s sustainability agenda – filling its second full day of education – featured a cross-section of perspectives from inside and outside the promo industry. Sessions explored keeping sustainability claims and marketing in line with the Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides” and its compliance principles and examined ethical supply chains, state-by-state sustainability standards, best practices for measuring an organization’s sustainability efforts and more. “I really liked the large focus on sustainability,” says Michelle Armstrong, director of merchandising for hardgoods at alphabroder|Prime Line. “That’s really the way to move forward, so getting some guidance on how to develop product and make sure that our merchandising follows along those lines is going to be really beneficial for what I’m going to be doing.” Natalie Sheffey, business sustainability manager at supplier Hit Promotional Products and a speaker at Summit, says, “In the business world, sustainability shifts the bottom line frommoney to a ‘triple bottom line’ of people, planet and profit.” Summit’s Full Schedule Summit delivered on a wide range of other subjects relevant and vital to professionals working in compliance for the promotional products market. It turned its focus to government programs on this side of the Pacific, with a look at the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, a voluntary partnership between U.S. Customs and Border Protection and industry to implement security and trade compliance best practices, and a rundown on a range of legislation – at the U.S. state and federal level and in Canada – that could impact the industry. The conference also examined per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), common in many goods sold in the promotional products industry, in a discussion on the chemicals and how the promo industry can respond to concerns to them. Additionally, PPAI’s general counsel, Cory Halliburton of Freeman Law, offered attendees a look at recent updates to the PPAI Code of Conduct. Revisions to the code range from child labor and discrimination to collective bargaining and the environment, and more. Summit ended officially on September 20, but a couple dozen attendees took part in a boat tour of the Port of Long Beach the following morning. The 90-minute guided tour gave participants a close-up look at the port’s operations, scale and advancements, and it was an insightful cap to this year’s successful, engaging Summit. “The Port of Long Beach is one our main ports of entry, and I am really interested in seeing how it all goes,” says Wynona Hendrickson, production coordinator at supplier USAopoly and first-time Summit attendee. “I deal with it on the computer, and I see all the tracking and when it arrives, but I would like to put a visual with the documents I see and read. Like the other information we received at Summit – new regulations and the Uyghur Forced Labor Act – it’s good to dive deep on things I only know on the surface level.” Summit attendees gather on a pier before board the boat for the Port of Long Beach tour. 86 | NOVEMBER 2022 | CONNECT
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