Distributor News

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Washington, announced the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art scientific testing and product evaluation facility in Rockville, Md., on Monday.

To help small businesses interested in exporting goods and services abroad, the Small Business Administration has released the Export Business Planner, a free tool available for download on its website. The planner allows small businesses to determine their readiness for exporting and then customize the document while navigating the export process.

The planner features a compilation of export research and information, including links to websites, video profiles, training podcasts and trade statistics. Users can also access customizable worksheets, which provide templates for developing an export business plan, conducting global market research, calculating cost and sale projections and goal setting.

Detectives with the Lafayette Police Department in Louisiana say they have issued an arrest warrant for the arrest of Melissa M. Arnaud for Theft by Fraud over $300.00. Police say Arnaud is alleged to have sold advertisements under the company name of "Eagles Direct Marketing & Advertising Specialties."

Police say she failed to produce the advertisement products after receiving the money from the victim. Melissa M. Arnaud was arrested by Lafayette Police in November of 2010 while conducting business under the name of "A Little Something Extra" and scammed several businesses in the same manner, according to officers.

Bank loans outstanding to small businesses declined by 2.4 percent, or $15 billion, in the first quarter of 2011, the Small Business Administration’s Advocacy Office reported.

"Loans outstanding to small businesses continued to decline amid an improving economy. While the rate of decline appeared to slow in the last quarter of 2010, it has turned down slightly in the first quarter of 2011. Remarkably, nominal small business loans outstanding as reported by the Call Reports have declined to levels below those reported in June 2006," the SBA's report said.

CafePress Inc., parent company of industry supplier CafePress Pro, announced Friday that it has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission a registration statement on Form S-1 for a proposed initial public offering.

Thad Coffman has joined The Novelty Advertising Co. as national sales director for the promotional product distributorship. He represents fourth generation leadership at Novelty Advertising Company. Coffman's responsibilities will be to recruit new sales representatives and manage current reps from as far away as Hawaii, Myrtle Beach and Texas. He has years of sales and management experience from Harley-Davidson and The Limited Brands to 3rd Party Logistics and Supply Chain Solutions.

Affinity Express Inc. released the results of its survey of small- to medium-sized business (SMB) customers to measure their use of online advertising and marketing tactics.

Around 70 companies responded to the survey and 63% have used online advertising or marketing for their business. Website and landing pages is the most commonly used tactic used by 77% of respondents, with email marketing following closely (73). Half of respondents use social media marketing (50%) and around one-third use search engine optimization (31%) and online catalogs (27%). Channels like display ads (23%), blogging (23%), search ads (19%), and mobile (15%) are less explored.

Altitude Group today released an update on the offer they received for their promotional marketing division, which Promo Marketing first reported on in May.

Vice president of field sales for Norwood & BIC Graphic Dave Saracino discussed the recently launched "Ask Dave" video series at PROMOTIONS EAST 2011.

Experts worry that the risk of falling into another recession has increased, according to a CNNMoney economic survey.

To be sure, economists still place long odds on that worst case scenario. But the odds are a lot less long than they were just a little while ago.

A CNNMoney economic survey of 16 leading experts found they think there is about a 15 percent chance of a new recession. That's about double the chance they believed existed at the start of the year.