January 2020
A Message From Our PPAMidwest President.......
Hello from the heart of Chiefs Kingdom!

What a fantastic start to the new decade. 1st the ringing in of 2020, then the best attended and most amazing PPAI Vegas Expo ever and finally, the Chief’s BIG WIN Sunday propelling them into anticipated victory in Super Bowl 54.

2020 will be a year of many anticipated victories and fresh exciting events for PPAMidwest as well! Do you like PUPPIES and like to give back? If so, read on!

Our new board started off with our strategic planning session in Dec. and I believe it’s important to share our new Mission and Goals with all of our regional members so you can see what we are working on and hopefully something will peak your interest so you can get involved as well.
Promotional Product Association of the Midwest Mission Statement:
PPAMidwest unites and engages our community of promotional product professionals through industry education and events.

2020– 2021 Goals:
1:  Committees - To establish strong committees with a base of volunteer members with targeted goals.
  • Events Committee: Joe Huber, Chair; Craig Wallace, Co-Chair
  • Marketing Committee: Stephanie Thompson, Chair; Meredith Wallace, Co-Chair
  • Philanthropy Committee: Mandi Rudd, Chair; David Schultz, Co-Chair
2.  Engagement - Engage more members by offering a variety of events and a robust social media and marketing strategy.
3.  Membership Growth - To increase membership by providing an environment that allows our members to exchange knowledge and ideas.
Upcoming NEW events where we hope to see you soon:

Coffee Connect (open coffee sessions with the Board)
February we will kick off casual opportunities for members to stop by a TBD coffee shop in town and have a coffee and connect with their local board members. Bring your questions, ideas and enthusiasm. We want to get to know more of you so we can best serve and connect with you in 2020.
 
March Madness events will be happening in both cities so stay tuned.

PPAMidwest’s Spring Product Premier - April 7 th in St. Louis and April 8 th in KC
A Spring date provides for a safer opportunity for more members to attend our annual tradeshow and more suppliers to participate. And.....The PUPPIES are coming!! As part of our Philanthropy goal we will include a “give back” opportunity at each of our major events. More details to come as we get closer to the show dates.

Together we achieve more.........Excited to see you soon!

Kerri Nobrega
President, PPAMidwest
PPAMidwest News
Congratulations to one of our own!!  

Charles G. Duggan II  was recently honored by the Advertising Specialty Institute as the 2020 Supplier Sales Rep of the Year. “I love the Ironman slogan: ‘Anything is possible.’ That’s my mantra,” said Duggan. “I want to help distributors be successful and achieve their goals."

PPAMidwest couldn't be more proud of our colleague and friend. Read more about Duggan at  https://bit.ly/35nWPrL
Thank you to everyone that contributed to our Cold Weather Clothing Drive! 

What incredible generosity and support from our Kansas City and St. Louis area PPAMidwest members!

Your winter apparel donations will help so many families who are under-served and need assistance.

All items were donated to Operation Breakthrough and were greatly appreciated. Operation Breakthrough provides a safe, loving and educational environment for children in poverty and empowers their families through advocacy, emergency aid and education. To donate to Operation Breakthrough or for more information regarding their organization, click here .

Keep up the good!!
Sarah Louden Promoted to VP of Human Resources at American Solutions for Business

Glenwood, MN – American Solutions for Business is pleased to announce that effective January 1, 2020, Sarah Louden will be promoted to Vice President of Human Resources.

Louden joined the company in July as ASB’s Executive Director of Human Resources under Katie Hallstrom, VP of Human Resources. Hallstrom will now transition to working part time in the department in her new role as Director of Human Resources.

We are delighted to have Sarah on our Senior Leadership Team,” says Justin Zavadil, ASB President. “Her knowledge and experience are instrumental in improving the lives of our employees and her personality is a perfect fit for our quest to have the best culture in the world! We are also very excited to retain Katie in her new role. Her dedication and hard work have grown the Human Resources team at ASB tremendously.”

Optimistic about the future, Louden has set strategic goals for herself and department to ensure ASB is best positioned for growth and development.

“I am very excited about this opportunity; I have a passion for working with leaders and driving our talent strategies,” affirms Louden. “We can’t do this work at American without our employees. Focusing on our employee experience will be one of our main objectives as an HR team. I want to thank Katie Hallstrom for the mentorship she has given me these past 6 months. She is a great asset to our organization, and I am glad she will be with us part-time.”
Wild Wednesday Webinars - Lunch and Learn at your desk!
 
“Power of Partnering - Leveraging the Community to Maximize Sales & Profits”
Wed, January 29, 2020 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CST

There is a phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know” I say that’s partially true. What you know is equally important. In today’s competitive market, it’s imperative to know who the players are in your industry and having the ability to leverage that talent in order to lift your success; however, it can’t be one sided! Because we are so busy, we fail to take the time to really understand what value each of us possess, unfortunately this causes us to miss out on so many opportunities. This webinar will help all attendees, regardless of your status; distributor, supplier, multi-line reps, everyone will benefit! You will hopefully see through leveraging your community and being part of the giving back, it will help raise the entire industry to unprecedented levels.

Attendees will learn:
  • Understanding the value of broader partnerships
  • How giving back helps lift all in the system
  • Where to look and where and how to ask from your community
  • Multiple case histories will be discussed

 1 CAS Credit when you submit your PPAI Pin Number with your survey.
PPAMidwest Members.....Are you taking advantage of your Member Benefits? Did you know that you can save hundreds of dollars by accessing the PPAMidwest Member Only Coupon Book?
Did You Know that PPAI Online Education offers
live webinars on Wednesdays throughout the year?
Industry News
Women's Leadership Conference
June 22-24, 2020 - Charlotte, NC
Spots will fill up fast.....Don't Delay!

The vision of The PPAI Women’s Leadership Conference is to create an engaging, collaborative community that enables diverse promotional product women to be authentic, learn, and build relationships throughout the year. It will serve as an influential force in the promotional products industry so that women are full and equal leaders in creating a flourishing business community. 

For more information and to register, click here
Why You Need to Pick Up the Phone to Close That Deal
Gregg Schwartz •  Guest Writer • Entrepreneur

It may seem counter intuitive, but in 2020, email won't get it done.

Anyone who has ever worked in sales or been an entrepreneur in the B2B space has had this feeling before: You just got off the phone after a great sales call. The prospect seems excited, they’re saying all the right things, you feel strong momentum, you finish your day still energized about this new possible opportunity and yet, somehow, the buyer doesn’t call you back. They stop responding to your emails, and suddenly the opportunity is dead.

When a prospect goes silent or a hot sales lead turns cold, most sales people’s first inclination is to email the prospect to check in and ask for next steps. Put it in writing, right? Plus, email makes it easy to follow up multiple times and gives you a paper trail to show your boss that you were trying. But all too often, those follow-up emails are also met with silence.   Read More
PPAI Product Responsibility Summit
September 13-15, 2020 - Newport Beach, CA
Attend the Summit to stay up-to-date with State and Federal product safety regulations that are critical for you to know

The promotional products industry's most robust compliance and product-safety education event will feature expert speakers covering a broad spectrum of topics. Those topics will range from new developments related to Prop 65 to the challenges of sustainability, social responsibility, sourcing beyond China and much more.
 
Product responsibility guidelines are always changing and the promotional products industry must be able to quickly adapt to an evolving marketplace. The Product Responsibility Summit has broadened its educational scope and is now the must-attend program for safety and compliance professionals at companies throughout the industry.
 
Attendees will receive a free sourcing and compliance resource manual (a $495 value). All attendees will also automatically renew their Product Safety Ambassador status as well as their company's Product Safety Aware designation.
 
Register now by visiting www.ppai.org/summit