Industry News

NEWTON, Iowa -- The Vernon Co.’s annual fundraising campaign has raised more than $24,000 for United Way of Jasper County.

Employees raised the money through a series of fundraising activities, including a “Kiss the Pig” contest, tricycle races, duct-tape the president, pop can collection, jeans day donations and annual employee pledges. The Vernon Company then provided a 100-percent match.

Employees were challenged by the campaign team to increase their pledges this year over last year. Sixty employees met the challenge and increased their pledges by at least 10 percent.

“I’m extremely proud of our campaign team’s leadership and our 200 plus Newton employees for their wonderful contributions to the United Way to help support local families in need,” said Chris Vernon, president/COO. “We were somewhat concerned about achieving our United Way campaign goal this year because we had such a tremendous outpouring of support from our employees for the Hurricane Katrina Red Cross relief fund a few months ago. I guess it is in challenging times like this that people really open up their hearts and pocketbooks!”

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PARSIPPANY. N.J. -- On November 21st, Dara Caggiano, sales manager of TeleNations/MediaTree passed away from heart failure following a sudden illness. She was 28.

Caggiano, who had been with Telenations for two years, began her industry career at Annin & Co. where her father is the national sales manager.

“She was one of the very first people to work for us, and in a lot of ways she was the heart of the company,” said Bill Grassmyer, Telenations president. “Our customers loved dealing with her. She really knew how to reach people and make them laugh, and was a compassionate and kind person, too. And not only was she very well liked, but she also managed to be our top salesperson as well. I can’t tell you how much we’ll miss her around here. It was like losing a family member.”

Outside of work, Caggiano liked to spend time with her family and pets.

In lieu of flowers, anyone interested is asked to make a donation to either Paws Animal Shelter, 77 North Willow St., Montclair, NJ 07042 or St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tenn. 38105-1942.

Caggiano is survived by her parents, Mary and Robert; brother, Brian; and grandmother, Josephine.

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WARREN, R.I. -- Distinctive Brands Limited has changed its name to PictureFrames.net.

Andy Arruda, MAS, president and owner, said “PictureFrames.Net better communicates our goal of being the resource for any frame, in any price range, for every need and occasion.”

PictureFrames.Net is the latest venture from Andy Arruda, an industry veteran known as the “The Frame Man.” Andy began Distinctive Brands in 1996.

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RALEIGH, N.C. -- WICKid Performance, a moisture wicking, performance gear supplier has announced that TSC Apparel, Imprints Wholesale and Virginia T’s will be adding WICKid Performance Gear for 2006.

TSC Apparel is based in Cincinnati with another location in Fullerton, Calif. Wholesale Imprints is based in Denver with additional locations in Las Vegas and Seattle. Virginia T’s is based in Petersburg, Va. with additional locations in Jacksonville, Fla. and Evansville, Ind.

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ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. -- Brandon Decker, former Chairman of the Certif-A-Gift Company, passed away November 30th in Diamondhead, Miss. after a long illness. He was 86.

Decker and Randy Tobutt founded the Certif-A-Gift Company in 1954. Five years later they realized they could expand their sales force nationally through advertising specialty distributors.

Trish Duh, Brandon’s daughter, and Andy Tobutt, Randy’s son, have continued to grow the business their fathers created over 50 years ago. Andy recalled Brandon as “one of the true pioneers in the incentive industry. He always conducted himself with class, and was one of my most important mentors. I will miss him.”

Duh recalls that “the greatest gifts my father gave me were the values he instilled in me, and the opportunity to continue his legacy.”

When not indulging in their love for travel, Decker and wife Lorna, remained active in the community by serving for 5 years as Diamondhead Fire Commissioner, helping administer the AARP “55 Alive” Program, and as a Trustee of the VFW Post 2880.

Brandon is survived by his wife of 23 yearss; children Dr. Michael Decker (Rebecca), Penne Huxtable (Kemp), Trish Duh (Robert), stepdaughter Debra Rankin (Jim) and grandchildren Jamie Styger, Courtney Huxtable, Kathryn and Sarah Decker, Mike Duh, Elizabeth and John Decker, and Julia and Michelle Matthews.

Memorials may be sent in Brandon’s name to the Diamondhead Fire Department, 4440 Kalani Dr., Diamondhead, MS, 39525.

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SIDNEY, Ohio -- Holloway has pitched in to help Katrina victims by donating clothing. Holloway has a long standing history in the Louisiana market. During the 70s to early 2000s, Holloway had six manufacturing and warehousing facilities housed in Louisiana. With the relationships developed over the years with their workforce, Holloway wanted to help those affected in the best way possible.

In October, a truckload of Holloway branded sportswear that included adult- and children-sized apparel headed to Louisiana to several thousand evacuees.

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DELRAY BEACH, Fla. -- In response to the relief effort to help victims from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, The Book Co. has organized a partnership with Random House Publishing and coordinated the donation of more than 105,000 books, valued at more than $940,000, to the Feed The Children Organization, according to President Doug Greenhut.

The majority of donated books have already been distributed to shelters, churches, synagogues and re-building libraries throughout the Gulf Coast area, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. The remaining books were shipping to New Orleans for a special distribution held last Thursday on Thanksgiving Day. The Sheriff of New Orleans hosted a Thanksgiving dinner, where books were distributed to those left homeless as a result of Katrina as well as firefighters, policemen, first-responders and military personnel.

“We realized early on that the biggest obstacle was going to be the actual distribution of the books to the people,” said Greenhut. “Finding and partnering with Feed The Children was a miracle since they already had an established distribution network to all of the affected areas. Although they typically deal with food and clothing, the people at Feed The Children were thrilled to help us get these books directly into the hands of the people who needed them most.”

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CLEVELAND -- Proforma has been ranked the number two Top Distributor in the industry by BFL&S Magazine. The ranking, which is based on annual revenues, listed Proforma as a top distributor with $276 million in sales, 650 office locations throughout North America and 100 employees working at the Worldwide Support Center in Cleveland.

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INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Dunbrooke Apparel Corp. has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Reebok International Ltd.

The agreement grants Dunbrooke the exclusive right to market a line of Reebok-branded apparel to promotional products distributors in the United States beginning in the spring of 2006.