From PPAI Josh Ellis Publisher & Editor-in-Chief 03.25 PPAI members have joined in our efforts to push back against policies that would negatively impact the industry, and we’re grateful for your support. Advocating For You, With You IT’S BEEN A WHIRLWIND START to 2025 for the branded merchandise industry, and I’m proud to say that the entire PPAI staff is going above and beyond to position you for success. For my teams, this has meant coverage of the excitement and delight at The PPAI Expo, recapped throughout this issue of the magazine, online at PPAI.org/ media and across our social channels. It’s meant new and dependable research projects defining the scope of the industry in the U.S. and abroad. And as part of our enhanced public affairs engagement, it’s meant helping you navigate an altered business landscape amid the flurry of actions taken by new leadership in Washington. This has been one of the most significant efforts during my time at PPAI, and I’m thrilled with the work this team is doing on your behalf. In early February, when President Donald Trump announced tariffs against China, Canada and Mexico, then quickly paused the levies against our North American neighbors, PPAI Media provided live updates to a fluid situation, on par with any news organization in the country for its quality and timeliness. And behind the scenes in recent months, our advocacy team has worked closely with lobbying partners in Washington to share the industry’s concerns with elected representatives. We have played a role, alongside like-minded business interests in the U.S., in staving off the most consequential actions the new administration considered, including Chinese tariffs more than seven times as large as what the president ultimately put in place. Tariffs at the levels previously suggested would have caused dramatic inflationary prices for a wide swath of promotional products sold in the U.S., likely diverting more advertising spend to competitive mediums. PPAI members have joined in our efforts to push back against policies that would negatively impact the industry, and we’re grateful for your support. Many of you personalized outreach that we prepared and used it to correspond with your representatives and senators. When Iowa’s Joni Ernst, leader of the Senate DOGE Caucus, targeted merch spending by government institutions, promo leaders in the state co-signed a letter to the entire Iowa delegation advocating for the ways promotional products create positive impacts for vital institutions. Credit is due to our research and public affairs lead, Alok Bhat, for embracing this message, along with our research and public affairs editor, Rachel Zoch. They will continue working alongside you and on your behalf, and they truly are just getting started after taking on the advocacy challenge last summer. As you read this, PPAI is hard at work to make sure our annual, member-driven advocacy visit to Capitol Hill (April 7-8) is more impactful than ever. Legislative Education and Action Day is one of the most important events on the industry calendar, and if you didn’t apply to join us this year, I hope you will do so in the future. PPAI staff and members are working together because we all believe – and our research has always shown – that promotional products work. They work for nonprofits researching cures for disease. They work for our armed forces in recruitment. They work for an untold number or businesses employing the American workforce, creating livelihoods that put food on the table and send kids to school. Promotional products create joy for the recipient. But there’s more to them. Our products serve a purpose in advancing the positive missions of end-buyer clients – the government agencies, organizations and companies doing all the good and necessary things. Merch matters. 4 • MARCH 2025 • PPAI
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