Sam's Club To Offer Business Loans
Sam's Club, the wholesaler owned by Wal-Mart, has introduced an online pilot program that will offer discounted loans to small businesses. Through an arrangement with lender Superior Financial Group, Sam's Club members can apply for loans of up to $25,000 and receive better terms and interest rates than a bank could normally provide. The loans would be backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

"Access to capital is a major pain point for our members," said Catherine Corley, vice president of membership at Sam's Club. "We believe this pilot program is a step in the right direction to help fuel small business growth."

Sam's Club members who take part in the loan program will receive $100 off the application fee and a 7.5% annualized interest rate, which the wholesaler claims is a 25-basis-point discount. The loans carry 10-year terms and there's no penalty for early repayment. Sam's Club will receive a $50 referral fee for each loan that is funded. "All lenders are trying to make an impact on Main Street, which includes minorities, women and veterans to help create jobs," said Tim Jochner, CEO of Superior Financial. "Sam's Club, together with SBA's premier outreach express loan programs, provides both a unique and powerful opportunity to reach and provide capital along with technical assistance and training."

This is not the first time that a wholesaler has tried offering member customers loans. Costco has made several attempts since 2000 to pair up with lenders, including Key Bank and Capital One, but the programs were not successful.

Sam's, which says nearly half of its members are small businesses, has already done a small test of the S.B.A. loans. As of last week, about 200 businesses had applied, with about 45% being approved, according to Superior Financial. "We're not necessarily trying to be a bank," said Corley. "We're just trying to bring to customers, much as we do with products, the things they need."

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 California port strike that could impact shipments coming into the U.S. and reveal information on an apparel supplier acquisition. Plus, which State of the Industry statistics are we revealing this week? Check out the video to find out.

Click here to see the trends and to watch Counselor PromoGram's Industry Update.

If you have any news you'd like to see covered on Industry Update or in Counselor PromoGram, please send it to newsdesk@asicentral.com.

Zorrel Named Interim Licensee For Rohde Royce
Following the termination of a deal with a prior licensee, Gabrielle Rohde Royce (asi/83278) apparel will temporarily be marketed and sold through Missouri-based supplier Zorrel International (asi/99550), the companies have announced. Until June 30, In Your Face Apparel (IYFA) (asi/62494) had held the license to sell the Rohde Royce line. "It was our decision to terminate the agreement and focus on our core business," says Doug Stayman, president of IYFA. "We had attempted to broaden our customer base with that line, but it was a miscalculation. It's still a great line, though, and it has great upside."

Gabrielle Rohde, vice president of Rohde Royce, says her company is negotiating with a new partner that will be responsible for manufacturing, marketing and directly distributing products to the ad specialty industry. "My goal is to service customers," says Rohde, whose company is best known for its women's corporate apparel. "I'm excited to move forward and freshen the line."

Until a new partner is found, Zorrel will be accepting Rohde Royce orders. "The inventory is still pretty deep," says Sean Mahoney, an executive with Zorrel, which has manufactured Rohde Royce items since 2006. "We will do our best to maintain the value of the label." Once a new partner is found, Zorrel will sell its entire Rohde Royce inventory to that company. "We will have complete control and offer our customers a one-stop shop," says Rohde.

According to Mahoney, Zorrel did attempt to negotiate a long-term licensing agreement with Rohde Royce, but terms could not be reached. Rohde is hopeful a permanent license will be granted to a new supplier soon, but she did not offer a specific timeframe.

Podcast: Drive Traffic To Client Trade Show Booths
On Tuesday's ASI Internet Radio Show, the hosts took questions from callers looking for advice on how they can help clients drive more traffic to their trade show booths. Wondering which products to suggest for a high-level trade show giveaway? Looking for ways to help clients plan their pre-show promotions? Listen now to this clip from the show. 

Click here to listen to the client-trade-show 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, July 13, for our live broadcast from The ASI Show in Chicago. 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.

CA Port Strike Could Affect Shipping
Clerical workers at the large California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach remain on strike today after walking off the job last Friday. The strike is fueling concerns that a prolonged walkout could threaten shipping schedules in the coming days. Because the strike does not involve longshoremen, the port complex is currently open, but the loading and unloading of ships may soon slow unless negotiators make progress toward ending the dispute. "We're very disappointed," said John Fageaux, president of the International Longshore Warehouse Union, which represents the clerical workers. "We should be able to get this thing done."

When the 900-person strike began last week, companies were not able to pick up containers that had been shipped from sites overseas, including China. "It went on for about half a day," says Richard Hennessy, vice president of Bagworld (asi/37980). "We were told it might happen again. It's frustrating. We have a near perfect track record. We got all our orders done last week, but it was really close."

The contract between the shipping companies and clerical workers expired last Thursday and while talks continued throughout the holiday weekend, negotiators seem pessimistic a resolution will be reached quickly. "The union continues to demand featherbedding, which means hiring people and bringing in temporary employees when there's no work to do," said Stephen Berry, lead negotiator for the Harbor Employees Association, which represents the shippers. "It's not acceptable." In a further statement released earlier today, shippers said that under their offer, "America's highest-paid office clerical workers would get guarantees against layoffs and receive pay and benefit increases on top of their current average compensation package of $165,000."

Countering the shippers' claims, negotiators for the clerical workers say they're only asking for employment protections against outsourcing and new technology that could result in job cuts. "The union proposed zero increases on the wages and zero increases on the pensions in an effort to resolve the dispute," Fageaux said. "We're just asking for job security."

The Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, which is the largest in the U.S., supports more than three million jobs and is the landing point for more than 40% of the nation's imports.

Nominations Open For 2010 Counselor Power 50
Counselor is now compiling its Power 50 list for 2010 – our recognition of the industry's most powerful individuals – and we're looking for feedback from you. Click here to see the list of last year's Power 50 and let us know whether you think the members are more or less influential today than they were a year ago.

Plus, this is also the place to nominate new people who you think should be on the 2010 Power 50 list. Scroll to the bottom of the survey to submit new candidates for the Counselor Power 50 list. Please write their name and company in the space provided.

Click here to take the survey and make new nominations.

ASICentral: Top 100 Markets For Ad Specialty Sales
A recent exclusive Counselor study unveiled the best cities for ad specialty distributors to do business in right now. For the interactive online version, we decided to extend the list to the largest 100 markets and give them not only a rank, but a grade too.

Want to know where the best – and worst – cities are for ad specialty sales? Click here.

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: .

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, "Break Into These Five Hot Apparel Markets," we'll unveil five markets that are buying lots of decorated apparel (think: education, high-tech companies, government entities and more), the types of apparel they buy and how to make the pitch and close the sale.

Click here to take the course.

In the News
Bullet (asi/42424) has launched eight new product lines including totes, drinkware, and mobile phone holders.

Halo/Lee Wayne (asi/356000) has announced that it had record attendance at its four-day National Sales Meeting at Rancho Bernardo Inn.

Tranter Graphics Inc (asi/91880) has announced that it can now be found on Facebook.

People on the Move
Points of Light (asi/78825) has appointed Pearson Marketing's Barry Pearson and Mary Beth Pearson to represent the supplier in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.