Known for scooping up fellow suppliers, HPG (PPAI 110772, S11) kicked off The PPAI Expo 2023 by announcing its latest (and arguably most high-profile) acquisition: Evans Manufacturing.

In recent months, however, the No. 8 supplier in the inaugural PPAI 100 has shifted its acquisition strategy to focusing on talent, recruiting some of the most recognizable names in the promotional products industry.

  • In December, the Braintree, Massachusetts-based firm hired Jenna Quaranta as director of sales training and development.

 

HPG isn’t just cherry-picking renowned industry veterans; it’s also grooming top talent and giving them opportunities to grow.

  • After joining in June as director of sales for Evans, Alex Symms, MAS, saw his role expand just four months later to cover HPG’s additional West Coast brands: Handstands (PPAI 111285, S7) and Origaudio (PPAI 421483, S7).

 

  • Nick Lateur has also flourished at HPG and was promoted in December into the newly created role of brand director.

Internally, it’s been said that Trina Bicknell, chief revenue officer at HPG and the driving force behind this aggressive talent acquisition strategy, is assembling the “Avengers of promo.”

“I believe we have some of the best of the best,” Bicknell says. “If you’re going into battle, these are the people you want with you. And since 2020, the macro economy and its headwinds have been one very long battle. We’re hopeful for a further resurgence in 2024, but there is definitely economic uncertainty. So, these are the people we want on our team: knowledgeable, industry experts who have great relationships and will do anything to help our customers succeed. They have energy and passion for what they do, which is the HPG culture and mentality.”

Bicknell says that the human resources department loves/hates her because she never goes to them and says, “I need a person for this role.” She does all of her own recruiting, keeping tabs on promo’s movers and shakers through social media, listening to customers and industry events.  

“I’ve always felt that, especially since 2020, we’ve had an awesome and incredible team,” Bicknell says. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t recognize great talent out there. When the time is right, I’d love to have that person on the team.”

Canadian Expertise

In Plummer’s case, timing was everything.

A 16-year veteran of the promotional products industry, she’s the daughter of the late David and Rosalind Plummer, co-founders of Canadian-based supplier Clearmount Plastics Limited.

  • Ironically, Plummer had tried to sell Clearmount to HPG, but was told that the company was “too small.”

 

She has also served in a variety of volunteer roles, including current vice chair of PromoKitchen, co-chair of the Women’s Empowerment Event for Promotional Products Professionals of Canada (PPPC) and past chair of the Women’s Leadership Conference for PPAI.

When HPG’s strategic plan called for Debco to have a director of sales, Bicknell says that Plummer was at the top of her list. “Kate is an industry expert who has great relationships in both Canada and the U.S.,” Bicknell says. “She’s a great leader and is really involved in the industry. She already has the trust and love from distributors, and she’s perfect for that role.”

Plummer says she took Bicknell’s call to be polite, but ended up impressed with the opportunity.

“I could see her big plan for the company and how well positioned everything was,” says Plummer, who compares Bicknell to Nick Fury rallying the Avengers together. “I felt that she would be so open to collaboration. She’s bringing in the star players and working off of people’s recommendations. If Trina believes in you and partners with you, you’re going places.”

Having the platform to grow Beacon and Debco also appealed to Plummer, whose father was friends with former Debco owner Stan Gallen.

“I’ve heard these companies described as the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the industry,” Plummer says. “They’re reliable and have what you need. Well, reliable doesn’t mean boring. Consistent doesn’t mean out of date. It means we’re good partners to have and that you can trust us. There’s potential for growth and market share. I’m hoping to achieve what’s already been achieved, but on a grander scale. We’re looking to spread the message even wider that Beacon and Debco are dependable, reliable and trusted.”

Shaping The Future Of Promo

Following Quaranta for the past couple of years, Bicknell has been wowed with her Field Training Academy, a six-week program that teaches tools and techniques to sales professionals.

“To have that ‘powered by HPG’ is something I’ve wanted for a while,” Bicknell says. “We really think about how we can make life easier for our distributors, helping them sell more products and be more successful. Jenna has that mindset, too. She really cares about what she’s doing, and people love her.”

A nearly 15-year industry veteran, Quaranta has held senior leadership roles at KNOSS Apparel, DSG International and alphabroder.

“I joined HPG because Trina and [HPG CEO Chris Anderson] immediately recognized the value of my sales academy,” Quaranta says. “They’ve embraced it and are committed to empowering the sales team. It’s the ideal organization to foster this innovative approach.”  

Starting in January, Quaranta will begin instructing the HPG sales force on her program, getting their skill sets up to speed with her field training. Eventually, she says, the company will open up her program to other companies, helping their sales reps sell more promo products.

  • As of December, the program had a waitlist of more than 40 people, says Quaranta, adding that HPG is going to “blow the top off of it.”

“It’s my passion to one day be the next Zig Ziglar, taking sales reps and helping them become the best version of themselves,” Quaranta says. “It’s exciting, but I can’t do this alone. I need collaboration. Kate, Nick, Ben [Pawsey, HPG’s vice president of marketing], Mel [Bettua, HPG’s director of sales], all these people are my dear friends. I now get to sit in the trenches with them and strategize and dominate.”

“If you look at our leadership roster,” Quaranta adds, “it’s fair to say HPG has a very influential presence with high-profile characters who are super deadly in the field. Ultimately, I aspire to cultivate the strongest salesforce in the industry.”

Investing In Sustainability

HPG has also made some personnel changes outside the sales division, such as promoting Jing Rong to vice president of supply chain and sustainability.

For the past seven years, Rong had served as supply chain and compliance leader at the company. But this new, expanded role signifies HPG’s commitment to prioritizing sustainability, an increasingly important issue in the industry.  

“Promoting Jing to this new role gives her not just permission, but a mandate to improve HPG’s sustainability performance,” says Chris Anderson, CEO of HPG. “She has been part of PPAI’s Product Responsibility Action Group (PRAG) for the past two years, so she possesses a strong understanding of where the industry is today and needs to go. I have every confidence in her that results will follow in the months and years ahead.” 

Rong hopes to formalize HPG’s sustainability strategy, pillars and targets, which align with not only the company’s mission and core values, but also the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“I would like to drive sustainability improvements across HPG through people, processes and technology,” Rong says, “making sustainability not another box to check off, but a commitment to improve the long-term interest of our associates, customers, shareholders, suppliers, communities and planet in everything we do.”

New Sustainable Products

As part of HPG strengthening its commitment to sustainability, the supplier is launching 250 new products in the first part of 2024. 

Fifty-three of those new items feature recycled or renewable materials, which represents more than four times as many sustainable products as HPG released in 2023, according to Aaron Irvin, vice president of product development at HPG.

“It’s a dramatic improvement for us and shows that we’re building momentum behind more sustainable products,” says Irvin, adding that 22 of the new items are made or assembled in North America.

  • PPAI 100 suppliers said less than a quarter (24%) of the products they sold in 2022 were marketed as sustainable, according to The State of Responsibility 2023.

Anderson credits two key drivers for the company increasing its sustainable products offering this year: distributor feedback and an obligation to corporate social responsibility.

“It’s clear from listening to distributors that the demand for sustainable products is on the rise, and HPG is doing what it takes to meet that demand,” Anderson says. “It’s also the right thing to do. As a society, we’re more aware of the potential impact our decisions and activities have on the environment. While we can’t flip a switch overnight, we can’t sit idly by either. For HPG, leveraging our product development talent to find innovative product solutions is one important step as part of our larger, long-term sustainability strategy.”

Expanding HPG’s North American manufacturing capabilities is part of that strategy. Currently, those capabilities include brands like BCG producing wood products in Montreal, Evans Manufacturing injection molding recycled plastic products in California and Mixie blending its own beeswax lip balms in Minnesota.

“You’ll see additional growth in our offerings of items both made of lower-impact materials and reduced transportation-related carbon footprint,” Anderson says. “That strategy, combined with a strong and experienced global sourcing team executing our sustainability game plan, will keep HPG ahead of the pack.”

Meeting Customers’ Demands

Rong says that the new generation of consumers takes sustainability more seriously, expects their favorite brands to reduce their environmental impact and, in turn, will reward them for it.

  • Roughly 89% of Gen Z consumers believe sustainability to be important and about 82% consider environmental impact to some degree when using promo products, according to PPAI’s upcoming Consumer Study.

“HPG has many sustainable products under the individual brands, but we haven’t done a good job of showcasing them to our customers,” Rong says. “We’re in the process of re-categorizing our sustainable products into search-friendly categories on the HPG website so that customers can find them more easily based on key features.”

Those key features are:

  • Recycled Content: Products made from the re-processing of materials to create new products, thus reducing the demands on creating new virgin materials.

 

  • Eco-Certified: Products made of certified eco-friendly materials or processes.

 

  • Natural Materials: Products made from natural fibers and sources.

 

  • Giveback Programs: Products where a percentage of revenue will be donated to support worthy causes.

 

  • Made Close to Home: Products made in North America rather than shipped thousands of miles on a container ship.

“The promo industry has an image problem,” Rong says, “as most of the products given away most likely end up in a landfill. As an industry, we have to shift our thinking from selling anything to offering higher quality products of daily use that recipients would want to keep and re-use. The upside is clear for brands giving away promotional products as their investment will have a longer-lasting impression.”

“We need to make a collective commitment as an industry to protect the environment and precious natural resources for future generations,” Rong adds, “while remaining financially sustainable as well, of course.”