First announced Friday in a PPB Newslink Breaking News alert, Daron Hines has been named president of Overland Park, Kansas-based distributor Staples Promotional Products (PPAI 108945, D15), a subsidiary of office retail company Staples, Inc. Hines is an executive with more than 20 years of experience with numerous well-known brands, including General Mills, the J.M. Smucker Company and most recently, Morton Salt.

In a statement announcing his appointment, Hines said, “I couldn’t be more excited to join Staples Promotional Products (SPP). SPP is an industry leader with an incredibly innovative team and an unparalleled global supplier network. I look forward to working alongside the team to build upon SPP’s successful track record of creating meaningful brand experiences for employees, consumers and stakeholders.”

At Staples, Hines is a member of Staples’ executive leadership team, reporting directly to its CEO. With a focus on the general management and profit-and-loss responsibilities of the promotional products business, he will work with customers and suppliers to develop brand experiences for employees, consumers and stakeholders.

Hines’ background includes roles in general management, commercial strategy development, brand building, innovation, trade marketing, direct account and customer relationship management, category management, retail operations and organization structure design. Prior to joining Staples in December 2021, he served as vice president, consumer and industrial, Americas, at Morton Salt. There, Hines led the sales and marketing teams supporting the company’s Morton, Windsor and Lobos brands and applications in North and South America. Earlier, at J.M. Smucker, he was the vice president of sales, channels, and the vice president of trade marketing.

An affiliate of NC Custom has acquired the continental U.S. business of ACE USA. ACE USA was established in Alaska in 1955 as a wholesale supplier of custom-designed apparel and hard goods for the gift and tourist industry. It joins promotional products brands Chocolate Inn, Taylor & Grant, Lanco and SPD Shoreline under the umbrella of Hicksville, New York-based NC Custom.

With in‐house design, screen-printing, embroidery and pad-printing capabilities, ACE USA delivers customized and coordinating product collections. It will be combining its production operations with NC Custom’s state-of-the-art 200,000 square feet of customization manufacturing. The product line will also give back a portion of the proceeds to the National Park Foundation.

“The acquisition of ACE USA continues our vision of building out a leadership platform in the souvenir and resort business with top-notch product, design and development,” says Lance Stier, CEO of NC Custom. “We are honored to build upon the tremendous legacy of the ACE USA business and are excited to work closely with many of ACE USA’s team members to continue to build this great business.”

Becky Ourso, president of Arctic Circle Enterprises (ACE USA), says, “NC Custom is a great fit for our treasured customers. I am thrilled they will be able to continue to offer top‐notch designs on a curated product line developed specifically for the gift and souvenir industry.”

The acquisition was completed December 15.

American Solutions for Business pledged $8,315 during their annual United Way scavenger hunt. Held during the second week of November, 39 American Solutions for Business employee pledges help achieve the massive goal.

With virtual events held November 8^th-12^th, The United Way of Pope and Douglas Counties used their annual campaign to support their local community and spread the important work that their organization does.

“The annual campaign is a way for our company to support our community and spread the word about the important work that is done by the United Way of Pope and Douglas Counties,” explained Web Application Support Specialist, Michelle Pfeiffer. “Employees that participated in the events were eligible to win prizes. We had 39 employees this year who pledged a total of $8,315.”

Mark Gammon, CAS, currently president and chief operating officer of Cap America (PPAI 111597, S10), has been appointed CEO of the Fredericktown, Missouri, supplier. He will assume the new role on January 1, 2022, the start of the company’s new fiscal year.

Gammon succeeds founder and current CEO Phil Page, who will transition to chairman of the board for the company. Cap America board members include Phil Page, Mary Page, Mark Gammon, Jon Page, Cory Cissell, Curt Carr and Wes Royer.

“I am honored to assume this role and grateful to Phil for his influence and guidance through this process,” says Gammon. “It has been an incredible five years. We are well-positioned to expand opportunities for our clients and associates moving forward. This is a terrific opportunity that any leader would welcome.”

American Solutions for Business has announced new board members joining their Vendor Advisory Board, effective January 1, 2022.

This advisory board is an exclusive group of trusted partners who provide valuable feedback and guidance regarding decisions that affect the prosperity of ASB’s sales associates, customers and partners. The group advises in an array of areas including events, budgeting, branding, product trends, technology, marketing strategy and more. Members moving forward serve a total of two years.

“This board has been instrumental in contributing to ASB’s success,” says Dana Zezzo, VP of Marketing, Vendor Relations & Events. “We are incredibly grateful to our board members who have provided guidance and support over the last two years and are excited to welcome our incoming board members to this dynamic group."

Incoming members for 2022-2024 include: Marc Held (Alphabroder/Prime), Dan Taylor (BamBams), Mike Szymczak (Hub Promotional Group), Melissa Ralston (Koozie Group), Beth Marston (Navitor), Jarod Thorndike (SAGE), Kevin Walsh (Showdown Displays), Roni Wright (The Book Company) and Bob Saunders (Wise).

They will join a select portion of the original board members rolling over for their final term ending in 2023, including Steve Osterloh (Ennis), Scott Leonard (Hit Promotional Products), Miles Wadsworth (Logo Mats) and Phil Sperling (Printco).

Staples Promotional Products (PPAI 108945) has been named the official licensee of U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Olympic national governing body of ski and snowboard sports in the U.S., based in Park City, Utah. Staples will manage its new line of branded merchandise, ecommerce website and its partners’ and affiliates’ promotional merchandise programs.

“We couldn’t be happier to partner with SPP to bring U.S. Ski & Snowboard consumer merchandise to the next level,” says U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief Revenue Officer Michael O’Conor. “The company’s industry-leading promotional products are creative and exciting, and this is the next step in branded merchandising and ecommerce for U.S. Ski & Snowboard. We’re also excited to offer an enhanced consumer shopping experience that will inspire fans to support the team with branded gear through the Olympic season and beyond.”

Staples Promotional Products has worked with the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee for nearly 30 years on sponsorship merchandise programs. Its Olympic merchandising team will continue to work closely with U.S. Ski & Snowboard to expand its curated seasonal retail collections.

“Staples is thrilled to be part of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard family,” says Donna Armstrong, director of Olympic partnerships at Staples Promotional Products. “As we lead up to the Beijing Olympic Games, SPP looks forward to supporting the fans with exciting U.S. Ski & Snowboard merchandise. I have been a part of the Olympic and Paralympic movement since 1999, and I couldn’t be more delighted to partner with one of the premier U.S. National Governing Bodies.”

Hosted on the U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s website, the ecommerce microsite will include branded retail collections of men’s, women’s and children’s apparel, and a branded accessory line.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has suspended its activities related to the implementation and enforcement of its COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), published on November 5, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay the ETS.

Applicable to employers with 100 or more employees, the ETS had mandated that, by January 4, 2022, all staff be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing. It also specified that unvaccinated employees are required to wear masks at all times and anyone who tests positive must leave the workplace immediately.

While OSHA says that it “remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies,” activities related to the ETS are pending future developments in the litigation.

For a summary of OSHA’s ETS, click here. FAQs can be found here.

Industry companies who use the United States Postal Service (USPS) to ship customer orders should be prepared for delays during the upcoming peak mailing season—the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day—when the USPS is expecting to deliver more than 12 billion letters, cards and packages. While volume may fall short of the 2020 holiday season’s record-setting 13 billion pieces of mail, it is still a tremendous challenge for postal workers to manage.

The crunch is expected to start the week of December 6 with the week of December 13-18 anticipated to be the busiest for mailing, shipping and delivery. During that week alone, the Postal Service predicts that nearly 2.3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards and packages, will be processed and delivered.

The holidays’ high mail volumes and related delays come at a time when companies are already contending with supply-chain related bottlenecks and their effects, so for some promo companies, this aligns with what they are already communicating to their clients.

“One proactive approach we took was an email I wrote to all of our clients outlining the supply chain and shipping challenges and encouraging them to order early so they get the products they want and don’t miss their holiday gifts,” says Tom Goos, MAS, president of Kirkland, Washington-based distributor Image Source. “Along with that, our account executive teams have been proactively reaching out to each of their clients communicating that we need to get orders in so we don’t get delays in production and shipping. The shipping challenges have not been a significant issue yet, but they will be in the next few weeks as the consumer demand peaks for the holidays. Current supply chain challenges for inventory and decoration are still overshadowing shipping. For example, most embroidery companies have a six-week production time right now. This already misses the holiday delivery timeframe.”

To help manage its volume, the Postal Service will expand Sunday delivery, beginning November 28, to locations with high package volume. USPS already delivers packages on Sundays in most major cities and expects to deliver more than 9.7 million packages each Sunday throughout the holiday season. Mail carriers will also deliver packages for an additional fee on Christmas Day in select locations.

Also, the USPS has leased 7.5 million square feet of additional space across more than 40 annexes to handle the increase in the number of packages being mailed and is currently hiring more than 40,000 seasonal positions to help process and deliver mail. Since April, the Postal Service has installed 92 of 112 new package sorting machines, part of $40 billion in planned investments over 10 years. Additionally, more than 50 machines that can sort large packages are expected to be up and running prior to December. The new machinery gives the Postal Service the capacity to process an additional 4.5 million packages each day.

Along with the crush of heavy mail volume, prices are rising. As of August 29, the cost of a Forever stamp increased to 58 cents from 55 cents. There are also temporary price increases in place through 12:01 am, CT, December 26, on all retail and commercial domestic competitive parcels for some shipping products, which also includes military shipping—Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Return Service. International products are unaffected. The USPS says that these temporary rate increases will cover extra costs in anticipation of peak-season volume surges similar to levels experienced in 2020.

The temporary pricing increases for Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Parcel Select Ground and USPS Retail Ground and First-Class Package Service are:

• Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express Flat Rate Boxes and Envelopes: 75 cents
• Zones 1-4, 0-10 pounds: 25 cents
• Zones 5-9, 0-10 pounds: 75 cents
• Zones 1-4, 11-20 pounds: $1.50
• Zones 5-9, 11-20 pounds: $3
• Zones 1-4, 21-70 pounds: $2.50
• Zones 5-9, 21-70 pounds: $5
• First-Class Package Service: 30 cents

• December 9 — APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
• December 15 — USPS Retail Ground service
• December 16 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express Military service
• December 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
• December 17 — First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• December 17 — Priority Mail and First-Class Mail, Hawaii to/from mainland
• December 18 — Priority Mail service
• December 18 — First-Class Mail, Alaska to/from Continental U.S.
• December 18 — Priority Mail, Alaska to/from Continental U.S.
• December 21 — Priority Mail Express, Alaska to/from Continental U.S.
• December 21 — Priority Mail Express, Hawaii to/from mainland
• December 23 — Priority Mail Express* service

The PPAI Expo is the industry’s largest and longest-running trade show. It is also the result of a strong, collaborative relationship between PPAI and Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The PPAI Expo was first held at Mandalay Bay in 2003—in fact, it was the facility’s first major trade show—and has enjoyed a long, productive tenure there ever since. The strength of that relationship will be evident at The PPAI Expo 2022.

Recently, Chuck Bowling, president and COO of Mandalay Bay, and Ernest Stovall, vice president of sales at Mandalay Bay, recorded a video where they talk about the Association’s long relationship with the convention center and welcome attendees back for The PPAI Expo 2022. Click here to watch the video.

In the conversation, Bowling and Stovall touch on some of the changes made at the facility, including an updated mobile app that allows guests to check in on their phone, and a partnership with Allegiant Stadium, which sits just across the I-15 freeway from Mandalay Bay and is visible from many of the resort’s hotel rooms.

Mandalay Bay has implemented numerous other improvements since The PPAI Expo was last there in 2020. First and foremost among these are significant upgrades to ensure a more comfortable, efficient and safer experience at both the convention center and the resort.

Among the updates, the entire Mandalay Bay resort, including the exhibit halls, is equipped with an extremely efficient ventilation system that provides 12 full air exchanges per hour and is equivalent to the standard found in hospitals and other medical venues. Onsite policies, such as face masks, will follow local ordinances and CDC recommendations. Stay up to date with the latest local ordinances here.

Additionally, the Mandalay Bay has achieved Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC) Star Facility accreditation, the gold standard for prepared and safe facilities awarded by the world’s leading trade association for the cleaning industry. GBAC accreditation means that Mandalay Bay has established and maintains a cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention program to minimize risks associated with infectious agents like the coronavirus. It has undertaken proper cleaning protocols, disinfection techniques and put practices in place to combat biohazards and infectious disease, and the facility employs highly informed cleaning professionals who are trained for outbreak and infectious disease preparation and response. Additionally, the entire Mandalay Bay resort, including the exhibit halls, is equipped with an extremely efficient ventilation system that provides 12 full-air exchanges per hour and is equivalent to the standard found in hospitals and other medical venues.

Among the other changes that Mandalay Bay has undertaken to improve the show experience, is its transition to a Cat6 internet infrastructure, which will enhance the wireless internet experience for attendees and exhibitors alike through more bandwidth, better network speed and fewer lost signals. Another change that will be welcome news for attendees’ feet is the removal of the cobblestone flooring in the walkway between Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino and the convention center, near the restaurants and Starbucks.

For more information on The PPAI Expo 2022, including the trade show, education and networking opportunities, visit expo.ppai.org. To register for The PPAI Expo 2022, click here.

Employees at Evans Manufacturing’s (PPAI 110747) Nogales, Mexico, facility celebrated Employee Health Week, “Semana de la Salud 2021,” which focused on employees’ health and breast cancer awareness. Health Week is an annual event at the Garden Grove, California-based supplier’s Nogales location and this year included a speech by Nogales Mayor Juan Francisco Gim, with Evans CEO Alan Vaught in attendance.

“Evans is committed to worker safety, health and welfare because our most vital resource is our employees,” says Vaught.

Adolfo Centeno, Nogales plant manager, adds, “Semana de la Salud is an important and festive affair with both cultural celebrations, employee recognition and health screening. It is one of many events we provide to encourage employee engagement and show our appreciation for our Evans team. This year, the event was dedicated to Dr. Judith Alcala, our company physician who passed away from COVID at the end of 2020.”

Recognizing that the psychological aspect is an important part of employee heath, Health Week focused on psychological risk factors in the workplace due to the pandemic. The 2021 Evans Health Week in Nogales also resulted in 250 diabetes tests, 250 hypertension tests, 250 vision tests, 90 cervical cancer tests and 100 oral check-ups and cleanings.