Industry certifications and professional development are a big part of what gives Michigan-based Competitive Edge, well, its edge, says Mary Jo Tomasini, MAS+, CEO of the No. 92 distributor in the 2024 PPAI 100.
Professional Development is just one of the categories by which companies are judged in the PPAI 100. Scoring for this category includes the total number of CAS, MAS and MAS+ certified employees on each company’s roster, with added credit given for the more advanced certificates.
Competitive Edge (PPAI 103776, Silver) excels by requiring every employee to pursue these certifications, as well as by encouraging continued growth through other industry-specific courses and engagement. For added impact, the company rewards employees with cash bonuses as they complete their certifications.
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“We want them to have a great understanding and command of the industry,” says Tomasini, a former PPAI Board chair. “We want them to be the best of the best, and we want them to be bringing the best things to their customers.”
All Competitive Edge employees start their first week on the job with PPAI’s Product Safety Aware training. Tomasini says many of the company’s customers, including Big Ten schools, have never had conversations about product safety, labeling requirements or similar issues, and it’s important to inform them.
“We’re always surprised, because we don’t understand how somebody that is a vetted and licensed supplier to a university wouldn’t know those things and wouldn’t share that with the client,” she adds, “but we’re OK with that because that is our differentiator. That’s one of the things that makes us Competitive Edge.”
Having an educated workforce of certified industry professionals also helps the company demonstrate its commitment to the business.
“We do share that information with our customers as far as how important the certification is to us so that they understand that we are dead serious about the world of promotional products,” says Tomasini. “We’re not just dabbling in it. It’s not something that, you know, we just decided we’d sell coffee mugs on the side. We are true dedicated professionals to the industry and to our craft.”
Competitive Edge also encourages employees to seek more general professional development opportunities, whether it’s boosting Excel skills, diving into Canva or learning how to use new AI tools. “We want them to be on top of those things,” says Tomasini.
It’s also a great way to attract and engage younger workers, adds Paula Wygonik, MAS, president of Competitive Edge.
“The current generation of worker that’s entering the workforce, they’re very committed to continuing education and learning new things and community,” she says, “so it feeds that desire for them to always be getting better and to feel like they’ve got access to new information and that they’ve got something to work towards.”
The world is always changing, Wygonik adds, and you have to be purposeful about keeping up with what’s changing so your business can continue to evolve and your employees can continue to thrive.
“I think if you live by the adage that if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, then you run the risk of becoming stale,” she says. “And education, be it through the formalized training program through PPAI or community-related training that our team members have access to … it’s something that needs to continue to be sought or you run the risk of becoming stale and irrelevant.”
Tomasini and Wygonik – who are sisters are well as business partners – lead by example.
“People see me and Paula and other leadership participating in education, and that helps elevate it to our employees as well,” says Tomasini. “We always talk about sharpening your axe and the importance of that. Sometimes we are just busy chopping, chopping, chopping wood, and we need to take a deep breath and step away and sharpen our axes.”
