One of the industry’s newest suppliers, Rupt (PPAI 826757, Base-Standard), has brought on Ben Jablow as chief strategy officer. With a distinguished career marked by strategic technology leadership and a strong personal commitment to environmental sustainability, Jablow will lead Rupt’s strategic initiatives aimed at reshaping the promotional products’ industry landscape.

• Jablow brings extensive experience from his tenure at Postal.com, CareerBuilder and Hunt Club, where he consistently helped exceed sales targets, built high-performing teams and launched successful products in competitive markets. After leaving Postal.com, he founded a consultancy specializing in strategic guidance for technology startups and promotional products distributors, further enriching his strategic acumen and industry insights.

“Ben’s appointment marks a pivotal moment for Rupt as we continue to redefine the future of promotional products and beyond,” says Jason Lucash, CEO of Rupt, which made its debut at The PPAI Expo in January. “His track record in driving revenue growth, launching innovative products and fostering a culture of innovation will be instrumental in advancing our mission to change the narrative of the promotional products industry into every facet of our business.”

commonsku (PPAI 552077) has launched skummunity Forum, a new online platform for commonsku users to engage with one another through distinct groups, channels and direct messages.

• skummunity Forum features permission controls for commonsku customers, as well as a global search bar to easily search through posts and ideas. The forum is available to all commonsku distributor customers.

“What makes our new skummunity forum different is a hyper-focus on niche communities and topics,” says Mark Graham, commonsku’s president and chief brand officer. “For example, if you’re in sales, we’ve made it easy to connect and share ideas with other salespeople across the commonsku distributor network. Or, if you’re in a production role, we’ve created a channel just for production pros; likewise, if you’re the CEO or a leader, we have specific channels just for you.

“Community has always been a hallmark of our innovation in the industry,” he adds, “but we’re now fine-tuning that mission by creating easier ways to share ideas by cohort.”

St Regis Group (PPAI 230188, Platinum) – the No. 22 supplier in the 2024 PPAI 100 – has formed a new partnership with Cerruti 1881 that allows it to sell a select range of Cerruti products in the U.S. and Canada. Distributors can now source Cerruti’s premium brand writing instruments and personal accessories directly from the St Regis Group website.

• Cerruti 1881 is a brand of the fashion house Cerruti founded in 1967 in Paris by the Italian stylist and fashion producer Nino Cerruti.

“We are thrilled to introduce Cerruti products to our esteemed product line,” says Merrick Falkenstein, CRO of St Regis Group. “Cerruti’s commitment to excellence aligns perfectly with our values and commitment to offer our customers the finest in luxury and quality.”

Proforma (PPAI 196835, Platinum) – the No. 3 distributor in the 2024 PPAI 100 – has added Lona Carson, owner and CEO of Lake Orion, Michigan-based Mixed Promotions (PPAI 485157, Standard-Plus) to its growing network of distributor owners.

• With an impressive 24 years of industry experience, Carson is poised to lead significant growth for the distributor, supported by the extensive resources and capabilities offered by Proforma, including order management technology, marketing, operations, eCommerce solutions, financing, recruiting and more.

“I am thrilled to join the Proforma Family, a network that values growth and innovation, and provides exceptional support,” says Carson. “With Proforma’s resources, specifically their ecommerce solutions, I am confident Mixed Promotions will achieve record milestones.”

With its recent donation of a whopping $34,676.54 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, Twintech Industry (PPAI 261545, Silver) is helping to fight food insecurity in Los Angeles County.

• With the donation, derived from a portion of Twintech’s power bank proceeds, the food bank is able to provide meals to nearly 900,000 people each month. Since 1973, the food bank has distributed nearly two billion pounds of food.

“Thanks to Twintech Industry’s generous donation, we can continue to meet the growing demand for food assistance in our community,” says Michael Flood, president at Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “Their support helps us provide essential nutrition to food-insecure children and families across Los Angeles County.”

Fourteen vendor partners have officially been vetted and loaded on American Solutions for Business’s (PPAI 101656, Platinum) ACES proprietary ecommerce platform. ASB is the No. 10 distributor in the 2024 PPAI 100.

• The vendor partners are alphabroder, Cutter & Buck, Garyline, Gemline, Goldstar, HIT, Koozie Group, PCNA, Raining Rose, S&S, SanMar, Starline, Storm Creek and St Regis.
• Through these integrations, ASB can publish up-to-date and accurate product data on many ACES sites. Combined with the real-time inventory lookup, the process of selecting products and placing orders becomes more streamlined and efficient.
• ASB’s technology team will continue to integrate Patriot vendors on ACES PromoStandards each month. ASB is committed to expanding its PromoStandards integrations to include order status and electronic purchase orders in the near future.

“Publishing accurate, up to date product information, including access to real time inventory levels, on our ACES websites is crucial for providing a great customer experience. This capability significantly contributes to the success of our ACES eCommerce platform,” says Michael Conway, senior director of ecommerce. “PromoStandards integrations with our Patriot vendors is essential and we intend to keep adding to the list of integrated partners while exploring other integration options available through PromoStandards.”

RovR Products (PPAI 816072, Base-Standard) and Logomark (PPAI 110898, Platinum) – the No. 14 supplier in the 2024 PPAI 100 – have entered into a strategic partnership aimed at enhancing RovR Products’ brand visibility and customer engagement through high-quality promotional items.

• Under this new partnership, David Baldwin, director of corporate sales, will spearhead the promotional and corporate sales channels for RovR Products to ensure a seamless integration of Logomark’s offerings with RovR’s award-winning product lineup.
• By combining RovR Products’ coolers with Logomark’s decoration services, the partnership aims to create a powerful synergy that will resonate with customers and stakeholders alike.

“Choosing Logomark as our key supplier was an easy decision,” says Baldwin. “Their unparalleled client support, extensive product knowledge and premium decoration capabilities align perfectly with our commitment to provide our customers products we’re proud of. We are confident that this partnership will elevate our promotional efforts and provide exceptional value to our customers.”