Founded in 1929, during the heart of The Great Depression, Cintas (PPAI 303547, D12) is now a publicly traded company with more than one million customers in North America. Revenue and a strong online presence helped determine its placing in the PPAI 100, but the Ohio-based distributor made a concerted step forward in 2022 with its next ESG initiatives, setting the stage for even greater sustainability possibilities in the future.

In November of 2022, Cintas announced “A Shared Drive For Better”, its central brand for ESG programs within the company. Cintas President and CEO, Todd Schneider said at the time, “We believe our new ESG brand will help us bring attention to the heightening focus on sustainability.”

Chicago-based distributor Corporate Imaging Concepts (PPAI 221047, D11) has only continued to grow since it acquired Atlanta-based distributor eCompanyStore in 2018. Today, the company has operated facilities across North America in the Southeast, the Pacific Northwest and the Midwest. They ship products to customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Central and South America, Puerto Rico, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim.

CIC has grown while boasting a claim of a ten-year average tenure for their sales team.

Deluxe (PPAI 187418, D12), which is primarily a financial services company, also has made substantial strides as a promotional products distributor. As its overall company has grown, they have consistently paid close attention to its online presence, for which it received high marks in the inaugural PPAI 100 list.
With over 42,000 followers on LinkedIn, Deluxe takes time to provide regular posts for those followers regarding small and large updates. In 2022, Newsweek named the Minnesota-based company one of the most trusted companies.

PPAI 100 is an exclusive, research-backed ranking of the 50 leading distributors and the 50 leading suppliers in the promotional products industry. Companies are scored based on a variety of metrics.
The race to become the first billion-dollar company in promotional products ended in a tie, with both HALO and Wisconsin-headquartered 4imprint (PPAI 107200, D15) topping the milestone in 2022. However, it was the ecommerce giant 4imprint who narrowly posted the stronger earnings, at just north of $1.1 billion.

The company’s digital-first approach, which largely eliminates the need for individual salespeople, has long been a disruptive force in the industry, but more distributorships have sought to emulate its model. 4imprint’s greatest strength may be its marketing efforts. As the industry’s largest advertiser, 4imprint is the closest thing to a household name distributor among end-buyers, and its campaigns undoubtedly help keep promo top of mind for the greater public.