Senators Introduce Children's Jewelry Legislation
Several prominent lawmakers are trying to stop the use of cadmium in children's jewelry, following reports that Chinese manufacturers are liberally substituting the dangerous metal in place of safer alternatives, like zinc. The legislation, called the Safe Kid's Jewelry Act, would ban cadmium, barium and antimony from jewelry marketed to children ages 12 and under. "It is shocking and unacceptable that Chinese manufacturers are putting a deadly toxic metal that threatens our children's health into jewelry and trinkets," said Senator Chuck Schumer, one of the bill's authors. "It makes your blood boil. This has to end, and end now."

Cadmium, in particular, has been more closely scrutinized since last month, when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) released details of its investigation into the metal's use in Asia. It's believed some Chinese manufacturers are using cadmium as a replacement for lead, which the CPSC has banned in children's jewelry. "We don't use cadmium simply because of the production dangers," says Mario Herrera, president of Jarco (asi/63160). "At high temperatures, cadmium produces toxic fumes. I think this would be a good law. There's no need to take shortcuts."

Last month, the CPSC announced a voluntary recall of 55,000 children's necklaces made in China, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores. According to the CSPC, the necklaces contain high levels of cadmium. "Do not allow young children to be given or to play with cheap metal jewelry, especially when they are unsupervised," warned Inez Tenenbaum, CPSC chairman. "To prevent young children from possibly being exposed to lead, cadmium or any other hazardous heavy metal, take the jewelry away."

Florida Distributor Finishes Super Stretch  
With still days of world championship partying ahead in New Orleans, two weeks of intensive Super Bowl-related work are finally winding down for one Florida distributor. As an official project partner with Reebok, Atlas Embroidery and Screen Printing (asi/126900) recently produced tens of thousands of Super Bowl-logoed apparel items at its Ft. Lauderdale manufacturing site. "We had our five presses running since the AFC Championship game [two weeks ago]," says Adam Cohen, vice president of sales at Atlas. "After the Super Bowl, we ran them until 10:00 [Monday morning]. This has given us a major shot in the arm."

The screen printed apparel, which ranges from short sleeve T-shirts to hoodies, was distributed and then sold at sporting goods stores, hotels and other venues throughout Florida. Atlas printed several designs, including items featuring Peyton Manning and Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. "We had been on their [Reebok's] radar and we got an opportunity to put a bid package together," says Cohen. "We went through an extensive site survey, but it came down to our ability to do the job quickly and efficiently. I'd say we hit it out of the park."

Rather than hire additional temporary workers, Atlas offered its staff of around 60 employees a large amount of overtime hours. "We probably had 60 to 70 hour weeks," says Cohen. "It gave us the chance to give our people big chunks of money in their paychecks to start them off well for the year."

Following this successful run, Atlas is now developing specialty apparel concepts for Reebok for other sports, including NCAA and professional basketball. Already, Atlas works as a prestige partner with Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601), servicing large clients like Coca-Cola, UPS and Google. "We basically work as an in-house ad agency, bringing ideas from the retail side," says Cohen. "We're not just a contract printer. We have these specialty projects as well."

The Joe Show: 2010 New Products
In this episode of The Joe Show, Counselor Managing Editor Joe Haley takes a look at some of the hottest new products that suppliers have released into the market in 2010. Want to show your clients some of the latest industry offerings? Check out this episode of The Joe Show.

New Small Business Lending Program Unveiled
Aiming to loosen the credit market and create jobs, President Obama announced a plan last week that would invest $30 billion in a new small business lending program. The proposal would take money from the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and provide it to community banks, encouraging lenders to help small businesses. "Jobs will be our number one focus in 2010," Obama said, speaking at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire. "We're going to start where most new jobs do – with small businesses. These are companies that begin in basements and garages when an entrepreneur takes a chance on his dream, or a worker decides it's time she became her own boss."

If the program is approved by Congress, it would direct funds to banks with assets of $10 billion or less. Banks that boost lending to small businesses would be rewarded with dividend tax rate deductions for up to five years. The latest Obama proposal follows the introduction of a separate plan that would free up $33 billion to be used for small business tax credits. Under that plan, business owners would receive a $5,000 tax credit for every new worker hired in 2010, with reimbursements for Social Security taxes also granted when employee wages are increased.

Tuesday Morning Radio Show Live On The Air
Every Tuesday morning from 10:30 a.m. eastern time to 11:00 a.m., a team of ASI editors debate the most important topics facing the industry. We also, of course, offer our own off-beat look at the market. This morning, we reviewed the ads from the Super Bowl on Sunday, talked to a company that printed the official winner's shirts from the big game, and offered some e-mail marketing tips for Valentine's Day. Plus, in honor of Valentine's Day, we even took calls from audience members looking for creative ways to show their clients the love.

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, February 16, for our next broadcast. Log on to www.asicentral.com/radio at 10:30 a.m. eastern time and give us a call at 215-953-4979. We want to hear from you!

Take The State Of The Industry Survey
Counselor is currently polling professionals in the industry – both distributors and suppliers – to see how the market did in 2009 and to get impressions on where the industry is headed in 2010. We need your input. Please take some time to click the appropriate link below and complete the annual State of the Industry survey. Your responses will remain anonymous and you'll be helping to create Counselor's annual State of the Industry report.

Distributors click here to take the distributor State of the Industry survey.

ASICentral: Industry's Top 10 Sexiest Products
Looking for a hot idea for a Valentine's Day promotional giveaway or business gift? Look no further! Introducing ASI's inaugural list of the Top 10 Sexiest Promotional Products.

From chocolate lips to red heart USB drives, we've got a top-10 list that's guaranteed to get you in the mood. As an added bonus, don't miss a special Valentine's Day Joe Show video showcasing some of the products. Click here for complete coverage. 

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New Course Available on ASI Education's OnlineLearning Center 
Be sure to register at http://www.asicentral.com/asionlinelearning for some exciting new courses available exclusively to ASI members. Brought to you by ASI Education, Online Learning is the newest and most convenient way for distributors to get educated. Here are some of the courses from our New Distributor Success Track available now:

NEW: Green Apparel From A-Z: Grow Your Eco-Wear Business. Wearables makes up 30% of the nearly $20 billion ad specialty industry annual sales -- and that includes its growing eco-wear subset. In this course, we'll teach you about the most fundamental eco-friendly fabrics, the important global standards and practices, and the tips to help sell eco-wear and improve your business. 
Course Track: New Distributor Success
* Nailing Down the Basics
* Write Your Business Plan
* Marketing Your New Business
* Steps to Selling Success
* Creative Case Studies
* Avoid These First-Year Pitfalls
* Managing Your Business
* Wearables Crash Course
* Building Profitable Client Relationships.
Coming Next Month:
* Social Networking Tactics That Deliver Results

In The News
American Ad Bag (asi/35290) has launched a new eco-friendly line made from 100% bamboo. For more information, go to: www.adbag.com.

Americo Manufacturing Company (asi/35750) has acquired a 152,000 sq. ft. facility in Cartersville, GA, to provide additional space for the company's expanding PromoMatting division.

Evans Manufacturing (asi/52840) has announced that Eric Harmon of Kotis Design (asi/244898) and Dan Barnett of Graphic Imprints are the winners of its beach cruiser bicycles contest. Evans used the prize give-a-way to help promote its new 20 oz. and 28 oz. bike bottles.

Leed's (asi/66887) was honored with the Gold Supplier of the Year Award at the Promotional Product Professionals of Canada Image Awards in Toronto.

Norwood recently hosted its third annual Norwood Edge Golf Invitational for its leading customers at Legacy Golf Club in Henderson, NV. The event's special guest was professional golfer John Cook, who was available for pictures and autographs.

R.S. Owens & Co. (asi/75530) was recently presented with the Supplier Star Award ($2.5 million-$5 million) at the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas, NV.

Starline (asi/89320) has introduced an online multi-function Idea Board. The feature allows distributors to select product ideas, e-mail them in different formats to customers and receive quick feedback. For more information, go to: www.starline.com.

People On The Move
Cedar Crest Manufacturing (asi/44368) has hired Jon Henrickson and Michael Duke (Henrickson Associates) to provide sales representation in CA, OR, WA, AZ, NV, UT, AK and HI.