(Editor’s Note: PromoWire by PPAI Media is a running digest of news releases and updates submitted from organizations around the promotional products industry. PPAI Media edits these only slightly, including for length, and will consider newsworthy entries from any member organization.)

April 23, 2023

Printable Acquires Race Ahead Promotions

Printable (PPAI 102841, D4) has reached terms to purchase Race Ahead Promotions’ book of business from its owner, Beth Eaton.

  • Printable’s capabilities, such as pack and ship fulfillment programs, shops, custom gifting programs, international shipping experience and print-on-demand options are expected to be areas of expertise that will benefit Race Ahead Promotions’ clients.
  • Printable Vice President of Sales and Marketing Mitch Silver first met Eaton through the PromoKitchen community in 2018 and says he’s long been impressed with her professionalism, intellect and business savvy.

April 21, 2023

Finnegan, Thompson Join Vantage Apparel 

Vantage Apparel ((PPAI 113235, S10) has added Ryan Finnegan and Stephanie Thompson to its sales team.

  • Finnegan joins with over a decade of experience in custom apparel sales on both the distributor and supplier sides of the business. He will be responsible for sales in the Mid-Atlantic serving southern New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Northern Virginia and Pennsylvania.
  • Thompson brings over nine years of promotional apparel experience from a major retail golf brand and will join the central sales team with responsibility for clients in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Nebraska.

Gemline Announces Partnership With Outdoor Brand VSSL 

Gemline (PPAI 113948, S11) has formed a strategic partnership with outdoor retail brand, VSSL.

  • VSSL manufactures high-quality, ultra-light outdoor gear that is compact, portable, water-resistant and durable.
  • Its products are assembled in Abbotsford, British Columbia, by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.

Frank Carpenito, president & CEO of Gemline, says, “As we look to grow our outdoor recreation-focused product offering in order to keep up with the explosive growth in outdoor participation, this new partnership offers our distributor partners more co-branding opportunities.”

April 20, 2023

Cooley Group Named A Best Company To Work For In New York

Pittsford, New York-based Cooley Group, Inc. (PPAI 278317, D3) has been named one of the Best Companies to Work for in New York by The New York State Council of the Society for Human Resource Management, Best Companies Group and the Rochester Business Journal.   

  • As an employee-owned company, Cooley Group has a long history of hiring locally, maintaining a culture of continuous learning, teamwork, integrity and service.
  • The award is based 75 percent on employee input and is designed to identify, recognize and honor the best places of employment in New York, whose practices benefit the state’s businesses, economy and workforce.
  • Cooley Group was also honored by PPAI as a Greatest Company to Work For in 2021 and 2022.