Organic Cotton Sales Rise Sharply
Sales of organic cotton apparel and home textile products increased 35% in 2009 to $4.3 billion, according to a report released this week. Over the past decade, beginning in 2001, the annual average growth rate for organic cotton sales is 40%. "Many people thought the recession would mean an end to all things organic, but the market reacted in quite the opposite way," said LaRhea Pepper, senior director of the Organic Exchange, which produced the report.

While the list of top organic cotton buyers features retail giants like Wal-Mart and Nike, it also includes industry supplier Anvil Knitwear (asi/36350), which is ranked sixth for the second consecutive year. "More and more people are understanding the role the product plays at the promotional product distributor level," said Anthony Corsano, Anvil president, in an interview this morning with Counselor. "As corporations lay out sustainability philosophies they realize they need to market and put their messages on environmentally friendly product. I'd be very surprised if we didn't make a big jump on the list for 2010. Our business continues to grow."

Organic Exchange, which released the 2009 sales data, projects the global organic cotton market will increase an additional 20%-40% in both 2010 and 2011, resulting in an estimated $6 billion market by next year. "I'm awfully bullish," said John Simonetta, owner of Proforma Green Marketing (asi/300094). "I really think the promotional products industry has been ahead of the curve. As more organic cotton shirts show up in retail, I think it's going to drive demand in our industry."

To get a first-hand impression of the organic cotton market, C.J. Mittica, Counselor staff writer and editor of sister publication Wearables, set off this week to an organic cotton farm in Texas. Click here to check out his video blog report.

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 a trend sure to impact sales of promotional apparel and look at why small-business optimism is on the rise. Plus, what are the best cities for distributors to do business in right now? Check out our report on Counselor's exclusive survey that ranks and grades the 100 largest markets in the U.S. Click here to see the trends and to watch Counselor PromoGram's Industry Update.

Survey: Business Outlook Improving
As 2010 nears its midpoint, a new survey shows small business owners are becoming more optimistic about their future prospects. According to the Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, respondents reported improving sales and economic conditions at the start of the second quarter. "As consumer and business spending appeared to pick up pace, this bolstered small business owners' optimism around their current situation," said Scott Anderson, Wells Fargo senior economist.

In April, the survey's Small Business Index optimism score rose by five points compared to January, yielding a 10-point improvement compared to July of 2009. A separate measure, called the Present Situation Index, also improved in April, jumping seven points. The Present Situation Index is based on six variables, including capital allocation spending and credit availability. "In our latest survey, we see more small business owners describing their cash flows and current financial situation as good and higher percentages seeing an increase in revenues over the last 12 months," Anderson said.

While most index factors improved consistently throughout the first quarter, the survey shows job hiring still lagged behind. According to survey data, 53% of business owners have recently maintained current staffing levels, only hiring as many employees as needed. Additionally, 67% of business owners say they have not increased weekly employee hours, with nearly 20% saying they continue to decrease hours. Business owners cited several reasons for not hiring more workers. Most notably, 65% of respondents said they had concerns about the potential cost of health care.

"Small businesses are critical to the health and strength of our economy, as they employ about half of the private sector workforce and create more than 60% of net new jobs annually in the U.S.," said Doug Case, small business segment manager at Wells Fargo. "This has been a challenging period for small businesses. They are looking for assurance of an economic rebound before staffing for growth."

Podcast: Get Past Client Gatekeepers
On Tuesday's ASI Internet Radio Show, the hosts took questions from callers looking for advice on how they can butter up and win over the gatekeepers at their client companies. Wondering how to get past the gatekeeper to meet with Mr. Big? Listen now to this clip from the show. 

Click here to listen to the getting-past-the-gatekeeper 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, June 8, 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.

Nominate Your Company For The Best Places To Work Contest
For the third year in a row, Counselor is setting out to identify the industry companies that employees simply love to work for. These are the distributors and suppliers that have a loyal work force and that provide a work environment which employees want to go to every morning.

Counselor will be unveiling its second-annual Best Places To Work issue in September, and it will undoubtedly include an elite list of industry companies. Do you want your company to be considered? Getting involved is easy – and it's completely free to participate. The only necessary qualification is that a company has at least 10 employees. To nominate your company, or any others in the market that you think deserve to be recognized, simply click here. Also, there's no risk to participating. Only the honorees – those companies with the best scores from the survey – will be published in Counselor.

ASI Online Learning Center
Did you know you can take self-paced, on-demand courses at ASI Education's Online Learning Center? This is the newest and most convenient way for distributors, decorators and suppliers to get educated. In our newest course for distributors, "Cold-Calling Clinic: Get More Appointments Now," we'll teach you how to use cold calling as an important tool that can take your selling skills to the next level, including five ways to reduce rejection and key tips for connecting with your prospect. Click here to take the course.

Coming next month: Break Into Five Hot Apparel Markets

ASICentral: Take Our Survey … You Could Win $250!
The team at ASICentral.com is currently investigating ways to improve the site through a redesign and would like your feedback regarding our homepage via a brief 10-question survey.

Help us out. Take the survey now and you'll be entered into a drawing to win $250!

Got questions, comments or any type of feedback regarding anything ASICentral, don't hesitate to contact us at feedback@asicentral.com. Also, follow ASICentral at: .

Call For Advisory Board Nominations
The ASI Advisory Boards are for ASI members to help identify challenges and develop solutions in four (4) distinctive areas: 

• Technology & Operations
• Safety & Legislation
• Industry Marketing & Research
• General Industry Issues

Nominations for the 2011 ASI Advisory Boards open tomorrow, Friday, June 4th. Participating in one of the ASI Advisory Boards - sharing your knowledge, experience and insight – can help improve our industry and the way we do business. If you, or one of your peers, are interested in sharing ideas, thoughts and comments to assist in the betterment of our industry…this is a perfect opportunity for you!

Visit www.asicentral.com/nominate to nominate yourself, or a colleague, to participate in one of the 2011 ASI Advisory Boards.

In The News
Bullpen Marketing (asi/150076) has announced that its president, Colin Hageney, has been named the 2009-2010 International Volunteer of the Year by the American Marketing Association.

Castelli (asi/70122) has moved its headquarters and manufacturing operations to a new 35,000 sq. ft. facility, more than doubling its space. The company's address is now: 2080 Brierley Way, Suite 102, Sparks, NV 89434.

Indoff (asi/231011) awarded 41 of its top sales partners with a trip to Orlando in May, recognizing their contributions to the company.

People On The Move
Proforma (asi/300094) has added 11 new owners to its network. They are: Tracey Carr and David Mitchell, Proforma Venture Two Marketing, Peterborough, ON; Samantha Dougall, Proforma Infinite Solutions, Ottawa, ON; James & Doris Hicks, Proforma Quality Imprints Plus, Traverse City, MI; George Jones, Proforma JEL Marketing Solutions, Birmingham, AL; Stuart Krivitzkin, Proforma CP&P, Plantation, FL; Nancy Minton, Proforma Ross Marketing Group, Fulshear, TX; Barbara Sears, Proforma Diamond B Promotions, Katy, TX; Patrick & Trina Soller, Proforma Eversomuchmore, Marysville, OH; Jay Vandervort, Proforma Nextidea Marketing, Albany, NY; Keith Williams, Proforma Impressions Group, Charlotte, NC; Suzanne Witenhafer, Proforma Arrow Solutions, Rockledge, FL.

World Wide Lines (asi/98290) has hired Brett Long as its national sales manager.