Inside PPAI | Community PPAI • APRIL 2026 • 63 Promo Leaders Attend First-Ever LEAD ECHO In Washington PPAI MEMBERS AND STAFF travel to Capitol Hill every spring for Legislative Education & Action Day, better known as LEAD, to advocate for the branded merchandise industry. Our efforts produced some notable wins in 2025, and to build on that momentum, the Association planned a pilot sister event – LEAD ECHO, or Executive Capitol Hill Outreach – to connect a small cohort of PPAI 100 executives in targeted meetings with federal agency leadership and key members of Congress. “LEAD ECHO is a powerful demonstration of what PPAI does best: ensuring our industry’s voice is not only heard, but influential,” said Drew Holmgreen, PPAI president & CEO. “By convening the biggest voices in branded merchandise at the national level, we’re shaping a stronger, more resilient future for our members and for the entire branded merchandise community, here and now.” The government shutdown last fall forced PPAI to postpone ECHO, originally scheduled for early November. Fortunately, the brief partial shutdown in early February did not affect Congress or the agencies on the agenda for the rescheduled event, and executives from a dozen PPAI 100 firms took the industry’s concerns to leaders in the nation’s capital on Feb. 4: • Danny Rosin, Brand Fuel, PPAI Board Chair • Zack Ottenstein, The Image Group, PPAI Board ChairElect and Government Relations Action Council Chair • Erin Reilly, Pop! Promos, PPAI Board Member • Samantha Kates, Spector & Co., PPAI Board Member • Debbie Abergel, Nadel • John Bruellman, Showdown Displays • David Geiger, Geiger • Dan Jellinek, Magnet Group • Ira Neaman, Vantage Apparel • CJ Schmidt, Hit Promotional Products • Todd Sachs, Bamko • Tej Shah, Overture “I am so proud of PPAI’s commitment to aggressively approaching the best ways to effect change at the policy level in D.C.,” said PPAI Board Chair Danny Rosin, coowner and co-president of Brand Fuel, PPAI 100’s No. 29 distributor. “It’s an investment that will pay dividends for members long-term.” The group broke into teams to meet with seven Senate offices and one House office, as well as staff for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), before reuniting for a luncheon with the coalitions director for House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R- Minn.). Members noted the flags, signs and other promo items decorating the doors of congressional offices. “You cannot walk the halls of Congress without seeing promotional products,” said John Bruellman, CEO of Showdown Displays, PPAI 100’s No. 8 supplier. In addition to a one-page summary about the industry and our concerns, attendees gave each staffer a PPAI-branded pen with an NFC chip in the clicker and demonstrated how to use it to link to PPAI’s Promo By The Numbers page with
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NzU4OQ==