News

The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index ended 2018 on a positive as it recovered in December from a minor decline the month before. The index rose to 111.61 from 110.23 in November. December’s increase represents a 5.4 percent increase over the past year. It also comes as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the country’s economy added 312,000 jobs in the last month of the year.

“The Employment Trends Index rose sharply in December, reversing the declines in recent months, suggesting that employment will continue to expand in the coming months,” says Gad Levanon, chief economist, North America, at The Conference Board. “With gloom and doom views dominating the news in recent weeks, it is somewhat reassuring that leading indicators of employment are growing. While employment growth could slow down in 2019, it is still likely to expand fast enough to further tighten the labor market.”

There were no signs of a slowdown in job growth in the December jobs report from the U.S. government, Levanon notes, and wages continue to accelerate, with average hourly earnings growing at an annual rate of 3.2 percent in the past 12 months and 3.7 percent in the past six months. He says, “All the main measures of wages are now rapidly accelerating, suggesting that more people from the sidelines will return to the labor force in 2019. The improving labor force participation rate in December led to an increase in the unemployment rate to 3.9 percent. The expansion in labor supply is allowing employers to more easily expand their workforce and meet demand for their goods and services.”

Levanon adds, “While we do expect some slowdown in the U.S. economy and labor market, this jobs report should boost confidence in the U.S. economy. Together with strong wage growth, it suggests that markets are probably underestimating the number of times the Federal Reserve will increase interest rates in 2019. We expect two rate hikes during 2019.”

In determining its Employment Trends Index, the Conference Board aggregates eight labor market indicators that it has found are accurate within their own areas. It notes that aggregated individual indicators are placed into a composite index to filter out “noise” and show underlying trends more clearly. The increase in December was fueled by positive contributions from seven of the eight components. From the largest positive contributor to the smallest, these were: the Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now, Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find “Jobs Hard to Get”, the Ratio of Involuntarily Part-time to All Part-time Workers, Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance, Industrial Production, Number of Employees Hired by the Temporary-Help Industry, and Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales.

An indicator tracked by The Conference Board but not providing a positive contribution in December’s aggregate figure was the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings data.

IMAGEN Brands, parent company of suppliers Crown Products (PPAI 113430) and Vitronic (PPAI 114197), is celebrating in a unique way the memory of Francis “Fran” Ford, Jr., CAS, president of supplier Castelli, a division of Magnet, LLC, and 2015 PPAI Hall of Fame inductee, who passed away in May 2018—with a teddy bear. Ford was known for his memorable greeting, “Hey buddy!” In remembrance of Ford’s impact on the industry, the Hey Buddy Bear was born, and with every bear sold, IMAGEN Brands will donate to the Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF).

The Hey Buddy Bear was designed with hearts on its paws and “Hey Buddy” imprinted t-shirt, and comes with a hang tag with an image of Ford and a special message. The Hey Buddy Bear will make its grand debut at shows this month.

“Hey Buddy Bear was inspired by a very special friend, Fran Ford,” says Paul Lage, MAS, president of IMAGEN Brands. “He is someone that has touched so many of us. He gave you that ‘teddy bear’ feeling of being your best friend, someone you could always talk to, and gave you that warm comfort as you traveled through life. We all seem to get more than we ever gave. That’s why we are donating some of the proceeds back to the Promotional Products Education Foundations to help others in need. We hope Hey Buddy Bear touches others who may have a Fran Ford person in their lives.”

The partial government shutdown continues into its third week after weekend negotiations took place between the Vice President and staffers for congressional leaders. As the disagreement over the federal budget continues between the White House and congressional leaders, stories about the impacts of lacking government services are beginning to surface. Initial reports stated that tax refunds from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would be on hold because the IRS' fiscal year 2019 appropriations have yet to be approved. However, the White House Director of the Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney announced that a policy shift would allow the IRS to issue tax refunds during the shutdown to prevent delay. Also, the National Park Service announced that it will use entrance fee funds to subsidize operations during the shutdown. This decision comes after numerous reports of degradation in the parks' facilities. Another example of the impact of the shutdown relates to trade issues. 

Supplier Maple Ridge Farms (PPAI 114165) in Mosinee, Wisconsin, has promoted Jodie Schillinger, CAS, to executive vice president. She will report directly to President Tom Riordan. Schillinger is a 20-year company veteran who has held positions as assistant to the president, director of customer care and customer service manager.

"Jodie's ability to lead is founded in her passion for serving our customers' needs, total concern for our team of employees and dedication to the continued growth of Maple Ridge Farms," says Riordan. "I have watched Jodie grow both professionally and personally during the past 20 years and have complete confidence in the leadership abilities she brings to her new role."

 Schillinger says, "I am humbled and honored to take this next step forward with our visionary leadership team. I believe that the roots of Maple Ridge Farms run deep within this industry, and that our brand carries a strong, trusted, delicious and customer-centric identity. I look forward to earning the continued trust and support of our customer partners, while working passionately with our internal teams, bringing to the industry the next level of what Maple Ridge has to offer."

ASB is excited to announce a new partnership with the technology company, PromoHunt, which provides a browser extension that enhances the promotional product search experience. This will allow users within American Solutions for Business to easily access ASB-specific supplier contact information, coupons, specials, product ratings and product reviews, in addition to creating user-based collections, favorites and notes. 

“I’m confident that PromoHunt will help bridge the gap between suppliers and our sales associates,” explains Dana Zezzo, ASB’s VP of Marketing & Vendor Relations. “It’s our goal to constantly provide our team with proactive, easy-to-use tools that help save time, increase productivity and grow sales. Integrating with PromoHunt will help accomplish this.”

MTC Promo, Inc. (PPAI 740364), based in Carollton, Texas, has named Howard Weiss account manager for the Southwest region.

The R.S. Owens’ design team worked closely with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s (HFPA) design firm, R/GA, to design this new version of the Golden Globe Award; created to give a new and powerful look to one of Hollywood’s most famous icons.

The final design weighs 7.8 pounds and is made of zinc, brass and bronze with a 24k brushed gold finish. In addition, there was a special design created for the Cecil B DeMille and Carol Burnett Lifetime Achievement that utilized a graceful black marble base.

The base for all the Golden Globes has been given a remarkable remake with a graceful cylindrical design while keeping any changes to the trademark “Golden Globe” topper to a minimum.

For the first time each trophy will be marked with a “proof of authenticity” at the show to guarantee that each award is officially sanctioned by the HFPA and not a copy.

Among the winners taking home the new trophy on January 6 was Glenn Close, Christian Bale, Mahershala Ali, Jeff Bridges and Michael Douglas.

R.S. Owens has been making awards for over eighty years and can produce a symbol for your brand in any material you can imagine. Let our custom design department design your next award and start a tradition to honor your brand identity today.

In 2019, R.S. Owens celebrates its 81st year of inspiring achievement.

R.S. Owens has grown into the largest manufacturer of premier awards in the world with a firm commitment to creativity, quality and craftsmanship. The Oscar®, Emmy®, The American Idol, The Russian Golden Gramophone Music Award, Motor Trend, London International Advertising Award, GMA Dove Award, Athena Leadership Award, Kennedy Center Award, Cotton Bowl, NASCAR Pepsi Max 400, Phil Simms All-Iron Award and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Awards highlight the expansive list of honors produced by R.S. Owens.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has closed resulting from a lack of funding for the fiscal year 2019. It’s included in about a quarter of federal government offices that have been shut down for the past 13 days.

The CPSC has published its procedures in the event of a lapse in appropriations on the CPSC.gov website. The procedures outline what activities certain CPSC staff are legally allowed to engage in during a government shutdown and identify which employees are excepted from the furlough. Employees who are not excepted from the furlough remain on call in the event of an emergency that requires them to report to duty as an excepted employee, which is a determination made by the executive director.

During a government shutdown, the regulatory agency retains limited functional capability for responding to imminent threats to human safety and protecting government property. The CPSC has posted a hotline number for consumers to call in the event of an issue arises that needs immediate attention from their offices: 800-638-2772.

At press time, there was no end in sight as the shut down enters its second week. The longest shut down in history was the stalemate between President Bill Clinton and the GOP Congress that lasted 21 days from December 16, 1995 to January 5, 1996.

Brooklyn Center, Minnesota-based Showdown Displays (PPAI 254687) has acquired Xarisma, a custom soft signage supplier in Huntsville, Alabama.

“Xarisma’s creative branding solutions and innovative display development is an ideal complement to the current offerings of Showdown Displays,” says Kevin Walsh, president of Showdown Displays. “We’re equally excited to bring the added production capacity, expanded facility space and Xarisma’s expertise and talent in custom fabrications to the Showdown family.”

In a news release, Showdown Displays describes the two companies as like-minded and culturally compatible, and once integrated under the Showdown Displays brand, will offer a more comprehensive suite of both stock and custom portable lightweight display solutions.

“Showdown Displays is the undisputed industry leader in portable, lightweight displays,” says Jon Houser, a Xarisma owner and vice president of sales and marketing. “The entire Xarisma team is excited about the synergies this acquisition represents as well as the opportunity to leverage each company’s strengths to accelerate our overall growth.”

The corporate headquarters for Showdown Displays will remain in Brooklyn Center. The current Xarisma offices and 85,000 square foot production facility in Huntsville and its 90 team members, will complement the Showdown Displays facilities and talent force.

Industry distributor Geiger (PPAI 105182) has promoted Bob Blaisdell, CPA, CMA, MAS; Dale Denham, MAS+, and Chris McKee, MAS, to new roles and responsibilities within the Lewiston, Maine, company’s executive team.

“Having a strong leadership team is critical to the ongoing success of Geiger,” says President Jo-an Lantz, MAS. “I am enthusiastic about the skills that Bob, Dale and Chris contribute and the impact to our organization. They are terrific colleagues, and together I am excited about the future.”

Blaisdell will now oversee all administrative operations in addition to the finance, legal and compliance departments. He has been with the company since 2000 as chief financial officer and executive vice president. He previously worked in various financial roles in Maine, Massachusetts and Saudi Arabia. Blaisdell received his accounting degree with honors from Merrimack College and his MBA in finance with honors from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri.

"I look forward to my expanded role as we commit to applying continuous improvement practices to enhance the customer experience,” says Blaisdell. “The customer experience is not only at the time of the sale, it involves all touch points during the transaction including confirming the order is correct, that it will ship on time, be billed properly, the payment process is easy, and that any claim is dealt with expeditiously."

Denham has been with Geiger since 2011 as chief information officer (CIO) and has been promoted to senior vice president in addition to his role as CIO. He also currently serves as PPAI’s board chair. Prior to joining Geiger, Denham was CEO of Maryland Pennysaver and senior vice president at the Advertising Specialty Institute. He is now responsible for information technology, ecommerce, vendor relations and digital marketing as well as the Crestline division of Geiger.

"I love crafting the intersection of offline and online sales as I strongly believe in the benefits of both," says Denham. "Some customers want to buy online, some offline and some a mixture of both. I'm enthused to further position Geiger as the leader in this hybrid ecommerce space. As customers look to the web more frequently to drive their purchasing decisions, we will work to ensure our vendors who provide the best products and the best service receive the majority of our business."

McKee has been promoted to senior vice president of sales and marketing. He joined Geiger in 1995 and has worked in positions with steadily increasing responsibility. He started his career with Geiger in marketing followed by five years as the division manager running Geiger’s Miami, Florida, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, operations. In 2001, McKee was promoted to general manager of corporate programs and then in 2006 to vice president to oversee the division’s online stores, business development, distribution and call center operations for top clients. In his new capacity, McKee will oversee all sales, business development, international activities and marketing for Geiger.

"I am very excited by the opportunity in my new role to expand our business both in the U.S. and internationally,” he says. “We have an exceptional client base that will benefit greatly from our initiatives in Europe and Far East. We have a team and company culture that is second to none and I can’t think of a better group to work with on behalf of our customers, sales partners, associates and our local communities.”