David Nicholson

Polyconcept, a global promotional products company and parent company of suppliers Polyconcept North America (PCNA) and PF Concept, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Charlesbank Capital Partners, a Boston-based middle-market private equity firm...

Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) has announced new board members Bruce Perryman, MAS+, CEO of supplier Embroidery Unlimited Inc., and Mary Jo Tomasini, CAS, CEO of distributor CE Competitive Edge LLC.

Last year, Keith S. Walters, chairman, president and CEO of Midlothian, Texas-based Ennis Inc., encouraged members of the industry to promote printing as “not only a solution for customers, but a more cost-effective solution than newer technologies.” 

Polyconcept North America announced that Craig Morantz, after seven years as vice president of sales, will be retiring from the promotional products industry to pursue new personal and business interests, effective Jan. 31.

Promo Marketing, a sister publication of Print Professional, has compiled a new Top 50 Suppliers ranking. Despite stricter regulations on the safety and sales of promotional products, 2010 and the first half of 2011 have shown a sales resurgence in the industry. The returning fiscal strength of the industry is evident from the list, which is based on revenue numbers from 2010. Overall, the top 50 suppliers raked in more than $500 million more than they did in 2009. These companies have increased their margins, upped the interest in their products and committed themselves to making it through the financial crises stronger than before, and they are being rewarded for it.

Even as suppliers face rising costs for manufacturing and importing products, New Kensington-based Leed’s, a member of industry leader Polyconcept North America, has committed to maintaining its current prices through the end of this year. The company determined that holding prices would help distributors continue to grow as the industry gradually gains momentum following the recent economic downturn.