Hurricane Ike Leaves Industry Companies Powerless
The worst storm to hit Texas in nearly 50 years resulted in flooded roads, destroyed homes and businesses, and power outages to nearly 4 million people. Residents of hard-hit Galveston were given evacuation orders to shelters in San Antonio and Austin. However, Houston was not given plans and evacuation was only voluntary. The impact of this natural disaster has led to a growing cause of concern to industry companies in this area, leaving many wondering when businesses will be back and running again.

In Houston, there are 355 ASI-listed distributors and 36 ASI-listed suppliers. Counselor contacted a majority with the end result being an answering machine or a disconnected phone service. Jeremy Konko, owner of The Platform Group Gallery (asi/78708) in Houston, is one who's working. Konko is currently camped out at a local salon where he is trying to operate his company effectively. "We are running our customer service here because our plant has no power. We are trying to be smart, using every communication channel we can to inform our customers," he says. "Our employees are set up at nail stations with power to the internet and we put up an emergency Web site so our customers can know exactly what's going on." Konko was told by power companies it will take a little more than three weeks for the power outage dilemma to get solved.

Peter Hirsch, president of Houston-based Hirsch Gifts Inc. (asi/61005), says his company didn't suffer any internal damage. "We got lucky. We

have a generator up and running and we are handling emergencies," Hirsch said. "We realized the situation might have been as bad as this so we all worked late on Thursday, getting most of our urgent orders out on time." Hirsch's concern isn't getting the city back to normal, but to put focus on the violence taking place. "People are so agitated because they don't have food or water, so there's been a lot of violence with gun shots and theft in closed businesses," he said. Because of this, local police have put the nation's fourth-largest city under a weeklong curfew starting at 9 PM each night and ending at 6 AM each morning.

Six ASI-listed distributors in Galveston have also been contacted, but not one was available for comment. This could be a result of the enormous amount of damage to the city, as well as Mayor Lyda Ann ordering residents not to return to their homes until the dreadful conditions are resolved. But look for Counselor PromoGram to update the status of companies in the area next week. If you or your company were in the path of the storm, send an e-mail to Andy Cohen at acohen@asicentral.com saying what your company's current situation is and how you were impacted by the storm.

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China Eases Monetary Policy: Lower Import Prices?
China yesterday altered its monetary policy in an attempt to fight inflation by cutting interest rates and easing bank lending restrictions. The latest tinkering by the People's Bank of China includes a 0.27% drop in the rate commercial banks can charge for one-year loans to businesses to 7.2% and a 1% drop in the share of assets that small and medium-sized banks must deposit in the central bank coffers. A combination of slowing exports due to rising prices along with a weakening real estate market and falling stock prices have prompted China to act.

Greater China's (asi/58135) President Ben Zhang sees the move as pretty standard for China. While he doesn't think it will have a huge impact immediately on the ad specialty industry, there would likely be some long-term benefits to the industry. "China has been doing this for a long time," he says. "In the short term, I don't know if it will really make any changes to our industry with its concentration on low price; it's a price sensitive industry. But long term, it's good news because it should slow down inflation and give prices a soft landing."

Jonathan Isaacson, president of Gemline (asi/56070), agrees that China's efforts will not likely have an immediate affect on the promotional industry and will take time to work through the system. But he stopped short of calling China's latest moves typical. "I don't think it's more of the same," he says. "I think that it's clear that we are dealing with a global slowing and it's clear that China will be affected by that. I think it's very early to figure out exactly how."

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Check Out ASI Internet Radio

Every Tuesday morning from 10:30am eastern time to 11:00am, a team of ASI editors will be debating the most important topics facing the industry. Of course, we'll also be offering our own off-beat look at the market. This week we discussed why most press releases are boring, looked at our picks for the Emmy Awards, and analyzed the best ways to build a brand.

If you missed the show, don't worry. A recording is now available at www.asicentral.com/radio. And, don't forget to join us next Tuesday morning, September 23, at 10:30 am eastern time for our next show. Of course, we'll also be taking calls from the audience, so please do call us at 215-953-4979 to hear your voice on the air.

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Union Forced To Pay Cintas Employees $5 Million
Approximately 2,000 Cintas (asi/162167) employees have been awarded $5 million in damages in a class-action lawsuit against union organizer UNITE HERE for illegally obtaining their personal information. The U.S Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia upheld a lower court ruling that found UNITE in violation of the Drivers' Privacy Protection Act when they collected license plate numbers from employees – and their friends and family members - at Cintas' Emmaus, PA, facility in order to obtain home addresses and other personal information.

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The Joe Show: Poker Products
In this episode of The Joe Show, Managing Editor Joe Haley shows off some products to bet on. Take advantage of today's hottest gaming trend and offer some of these poker-related products to your clients. So, ante up your chips and see what Joe is dealing today.

Click here to watch this poker products edition of The Joe Show.

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Prime Line Hosts Congressman
United States Representative Christopher Shays (D-CT) recently visited Prime Line's (asi/79530) headquarters in Bridgeport, CT, to learn more about the ad specialty industry. Shays was welcomed by the company's Chairman Bob Lederer, Vice President of Operations Jerry Russo and Executive Vice President Jeff Lederer, giving the Congressman a behind the scenes look at how the industry operates.

Jeff Lederer, who said it was an honor to have Shays visit the facility, took part in giving Shays an in-depth tour of the facility, showing each high-tech machine in action and showing the process of imprinting products as a whole from start to finish.

After staying for a couple of hours, Shays also talked with Prime Line employees, gaining a better understanding of the company's impact on the community. "Prime is a very important community leader," Jeff Lederer said. "We support local sports teams and have a close knit group that cares about the work they do. [Shays] gained insight about the promotional product industry as a whole."

UPS Announces Finance Service For Importers
UPS Capital, the financial services arm of ASI's shipping affiliate UPS, announced that it is now offering a new service to help smaller companies finance their import transactions. Called UPS Capital Cargo Finance, the service enables U.S. importers to use their in-transit UPS shipments as collateral for loans, reducing the need to rely on paper-intensive letters of credit to finance international trade transactions.

UPS Capital Cargo Finance is designed for U.S. companies with annual revenues up to $50 million that import 1-to-10 ocean or air freight containers of goods per month. Here's how it works:

• A U.S. importer places an order for goods with an international supplier.
• Once the supplier fulfills the order and the bill of lading covering the goods is in UPS's possession, the importer pays 50% of the cost to UPS Capital and UPS Capital then pays 100 percent of the cost of the goods to the international supplier.
• The U.S. importer then pays back UPS Capital according to the terms of the loan (usually within 60 days).

For more information on the new service, go to www.upscapital.com.

Annual Sales Compensation Survey Revealed
Within the September issue of Counselor, we're publishing the results of our annual Sales Compensation Survey, which analyzes the latest trends in industry pay for salespeople. Wondering what the average distributor sales rep is making this year? How about the types of benefits that distributor organizations are giving to their employees?

Calling All Creative Motivational Tactics
Counselor is getting to work on our November issue, which we are calling the Motivation Issue. We are looking to feature the most unique motivational programs at your companies – ones that have spurred your salespeople to increased success and greater revenue. As long as it's successful, no program is too wacky or creative for this article.

Wearables Apparel Design Awards
Wearables magazine is looking for the best apparel and accessories for its annual Apparel Design Awards competition. Distributors and suppliers are invited to nominate their favorite industry suppliers' products in numerous categories. We also want to hear about your favorite supplier for the Wearables Reader's Choice Awards. Please click here for details.

In The News
Aprons Etc. (asi/36558) has launched a new logo for 2009, the company's 24th year in business.

Brand Fuel Promotions (asi/145025) is celebrating 10 years in business. The company, which was started in 1998 by partners Danny Rosin and Robert Fiveash, now has 32 employees and $7 million in annual sales.

Continental Clothing Co. (asi/46410) has partnered with Carbon Tee Shirt Company to giveaway "carbon-friendly, climate-neutral T-shirts" at the 2008 Emmy awards.

Corvest has announced a sales and marketing partnership with Paramount Apparel (asi/75945), supplier of headwear.

Ellen's Silk-screening, Embroidery and Promotional (asi/187020) owner Ellen Daigle has been honored by the National Association of Women Business Owners with induction into the Millennium Hall of Fame.

iPROMOTEu (asi/232119) announced that it added 12 new distributor affiliates in August. The new affiliates represent more than $1.5 million in annual sales volume.

Premium (asi/79370) is offering three-day shipping rates through FedEx to anywhere in the continental U.S. at five-day rates.

Prime Line (asi/79530) executive vice president Jeff Lederer has been appointed to serve on the committee board for the International Partnership for Premiums & Gifts.

Proforma (asi/300094) was named the 2008 Grand Award Winner in the Complex Self-Promotion campaign by the PEAK Awards for its four-week "It's only Natural" direct mail campaign.

Proforma Albrecht & Co. (asi/116308) was named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing companies in the private sector.

Proforma Promotion Consultants' (asi/300274) owner Steve Garst was named Proforma's Franchisee of the Year at the International Franchise Association's (IFA) Ninth Annual Franchise Appreciation Day in Washington, D.C.

UPS, an ASI affiliate, announced that it has restored package delivery service on a limited basis to most geographic areas touched by Hurricane Ike.

People On The Move
Dunbrooke (asi/50930) has named Dee Bennett of Bennett Sales as outside sales rep for Southern TX; Andy Bennett of Bennett Sales as outside sales rep in Northern TX and OK; Joe Privitera as the inside sale rep for CO; and has hired Shaun Wilson as outside sales rep for VA, WV, MN, ND, SD, WY, MO, ID and OR. The company has also promoted Tammy Flippo to inside sales manager for Dunbrooke Buying Groups and sales rep for AR and NM.

Greater China (asi/58135) has added Kelly Borre to its sales team.

Samco Manufacturing Co. (asi/84820) hired John Jordan as vice president of marketing.

The Vernon Company (asi/351700) has hired Maureen Helm as an account representative in its central region.

World Emblem (asi/98264) has hired Andrew Azadi as its new sales manager for Canada.

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TONY ROBBINS TO HEADLINE ASIORLANDO — THE FIRST NATIONAL EVENT OF 2009!
Registration is now open for ASI Orlando (January 3-5 at the Orange County Convention Center), the first show of the year and largest event on the East Coast. Featuring more than 800 leading suppliers, dozens of free cutting-edge education workshops, around-the-clock networking and two free inspiring Keynotes — including one by Tony Robbins, the world-renowned authority on the psychology of leadership — ASI Orlando will be bigger and better than ever!
ASI distributor and decorator members can enjoy free admission, two free Gala tickets to Universal Studios and even a free hotel room. Deadlines apply so register today for ASI Orlando at www.asishow.com. Or, call 877-ASI-SHOW will any questions.

ASI ADVANTAGES ROADSHOW IS VISITING CALIFORNIANEXT WEEK, SEPTEMBER 22-26!