Trevelyan Acquires Two Manufacturers
In an effort to diversify its product lines, Toronto-based Trevelyan Limited (asi/92035) has acquired Waterleaf Studios Inc. (formerly asi/95418) and Key West Marketing, both manufacturers of award and certificate frames. Financial terms of the purchases were not disclosed. "Their strongest time for sales is between March 1st and July 1st, while that's our weakest time for selling our leather items," says Lake Trevelyan, president of Trevelyan Limited. "This helps us balance out our staff, attract people to the company and offer items at expanded price points."

According to Trevelyan, limited staff from Waterleaf and one principal from Key West have joined the leather manufacturer, while operations have been consolidated. "Everything will be done from our site," Trevelyan says. Combined, Waterleaf and Key West have generated annual sales of over $4 million. Trevelyan's yearly revenues are around $3 million.

According to Trevelyan, the purchases were made possible through a financial investment from Magnus Pen Corp. (asi/68529), creating a loose partnership with the goal of mutual growth. "We'll be separate companies, but there are some synergies there," says Trevelyan. "We can work together on marketing campaigns and share multi-line reps in some cases."

Video Report: Industry News Of The Week
Every week, Counselor PromoGram offers a video news report that highlights the industry's top stories. Called Industry Update, each episode details the most important trends and news items impacting the ad specialty market.

In this episode, we discuss one large distributor acquisition and one supplier's vow to rebuild after a devastating fire. Plus, good news: Small business hiring is on the rise. Click here to check out the trends and to watch Counselor PromoGram's Industry Update.

Small Business Hiring Increases
For the second consecutive month, small business hiring and salary levels rose nationally, according to data from the Small Business Scorecard survey, released by research firm SurePayroll. Additionally, small business optimism improved dramatically in February, with 61% of respondents having a positive outlook on the economy.

"Truth is, while the numbers are telling us we've bounced off the bottom and are now heading in the right direction, only the actions of the small business owners will demonstrate when we're completely out of the water," said Michael Alter, president of SurePayroll.

Nationwide, small business hiring increased 2%, while by region, the West saw the most improvement at 2.2%. Hiring spiked significantly in California and Illinois, while falling in Colorado and Pennsylvania. Salaries rose very slightly, up 0.2%, but broke a consistent downward trend, possibly triggering salary stabilization amid renewed confidence from business owners.

"When they're feeling positive, we'll see their safe-bet decisions, such as hiring contract workers rather than adding full-time employees, turn into more aggressive actions, such as adding headcount and making capital expenditures," Alter says. "We'll see paychecks holding steady, without erratic dips or slight increases. We'll also see our optimism levels return to 2007's highs of nearly 80%."

Podcast: Grow Your Business With Green Products
On Tuesday's ASI Internet Radio Show, the hosts took calls from audience members looking for ideas on how to expand their sales with eco-friendly products. Looking for ways to convince clients to go green? Listen to this interactive podcast.

Click here to listen to the eco-friendly sales segment from Tuesday's show.

If you'd like to check out a recording of the whole online radio show, go to www.asicentral.com/radio. And, don't forget to join us next Tuesday, March 16, for our next broadcast. Log on to www.asicentral.com/radio at 10:30 am eastern time and give us a call at 215-953-4979 or e-mail us at radio@asicentral.com to participate on the show. 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: Hottest U.S. Sales Regions
Of the four major U.S. regions (Northeast, South, Midwest, West), which do you think did the best in overall promotional products sales in 2009? What were their top markets and hottest items?

Get answers to these questions and more. Plus, check out our cool, interactive map feature in this month's Advantagesmag.com.

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New Course Available On ASI Education's Online Learning 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.

NEW: Social Networking Tactics That Get Results
Social networking for business? Lots of businesses are using social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn; creating videos and podcasts; and using blogs to connect with prospects and clients. We'll cover all of these cool, social media tools in this course, so when you're done, you'll have an overview of which ones might be right for promoting your business. Register now!

Coming Soon:

In The News
Above All Advertising Inc. (asi/30437) has introduced a new line of inflatable message beacons. For details, go to: www.abovealladvertising.net.

Carrigar (asi/44080) is relocating to a larger office. Effective March 15, the company's new address will be: 743 Alexander Road, Suite #9, Princeton, NJ 08540. To contact the company, call 1-866-331-0624.

Commotion Promotions Ltd. (asi/166010) has been honored with the 2009 Best of Business Award (advertising specialties category) by the Small Business Commerce Association.

Crystal D (asi/47759) has launched a "WOW Moments" contest on its Facebook fan page. For submission instructions, go to: www.crystal-d.com.

Numo Manufacturing (asi/74710) is offering distributor salespeople 25 free Pocket Coolie can holders to use as self promotion items. Offer is limited to the first 1,000 distributor salespeople who place an order and the promotion begins on March 15. For more information, go to: www.numomfg.com/Order-Form/Free.

Prime Line (asi/79530) has expanded its offering of writing instruments, providing more than 100 new items and colors. For more information, go to: http://www.primeline.com.

Selco LLC (asi/86230) recently was presented with a plaque of gratitude from the Brian LaViolette Scholarship Foundation in recognition for a donation of watches.

Sweda Company LLC (asi/90305) has announced that it won 2009 awards for Supplier Excellence, Customer Service Rep of the Year, and Multi-Line Rep of the Year from eCompanyStore (asi/185782).

People On The Move
Adventures In Advertising (asi/109480) has hired Kirk Ross as business development sales manager.

Ariel Premium Supply (asi/36730) has announced that Joe Warmbrodt will serve as supervisor of its restructured sales department.

Dunbrooke (asi/50930) has hired Diane Leslie to provide representation for the company in southern California, southern Nevada and Hawaii in both the promotional products and decorator markets.

Every Promotional Product (asi/190571) has hired Karen Pollack as a sales representative.

K&R Precision Corp. (asi/63770) has added the following to provide sales representation: Jennifer Mason (ME, NH, VT, NY, NJ, MA, RI, CT, PA); Marty Guthrie (FL); Mark Chipchase (WV, VA, MD, DC, NC, SC); Jim Miller (TN, GA, AL, MS); Dale Moravec (MI, IN, KY, OH); Karobyx (WI, IL, MN, ND, SD); Cochran Sales (TX, OK, AD, LA); Lewie Hunt Agency (KS, NS, IA, MO); Langton Promotional Sales (WY, UT, AZ, CO, NM); Taggesell Mrkg. Group (CA, NV).

Quint Co., parent company of Quintco Imprints (asi/303148), has named Edward H. Howell, Jr. as president.

Sweda Company LLC (asi/90305) has announced the hiring of Kellie Claudio as its new director of business development.