Distributor News

I was taking the shuttle bus from an off-site airport parking lot this week when I noticed a large poster on the window of the bus. "Like Us on Facebook! Tweet Us on Twitter! Watch Us on YouTube!" it beseeched travelers. Really? Will someone please tell these people that they're running a parking lot?

I'm not a snarky person, but I watch companies pant, like a dog chasing a truck, to have a big presence on social media, seemingly without pondering whether it's a good investment for them.

PPAI announced that its board of directors has named Paul Bellantone, CAE, as president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2011.

Freedom Graphics, a promotional products distribution company, announced the appointment of Dan Collins as company president. Collins most recently served as the chief operating officer of San Diego-based supplier AddVenture Products. 

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, small businesses create over 90 percent of all net new jobs in America. A recent study from the Kauffman Foundation found that since 1980, businesses less than five years old have created all net new jobs. However, the American Small Business League estimates that small businesses in America received less than three percent of the economic stimulus in 2009.

To Nancy Nord, one of five federal commissioners charged with protecting Americans from dangerous products, there truly is safety in numbers.

The kinds of numbers that Nord is talking about are statistics that balance risks and benefits and can show that she and her colleagues on the Consumer Product Safety Commission are using tax dollars in the most efficient manner.

In St. Louis this week to talk to graduates of a Saint Louis University program on product safety management, Nord said that such analysis is not always performed, and when it isn't, consumers don't get all they should for their money.

A big expansion means good news for the unemployed. One company is bringing hundreds of jobs to the QCA. Monday, 3M broke ground on a new facility at its Cordova site.

Plant managers said the expansion will take a lot of time, money and manpower. The new $$90 million site will manufacture chemicals like the popular Novec product.

"It's used for fire protection. Where you don't want to use water to extinguish a fire, you're protecting high value assets like in a dater center, control rooms, library or museums" 3M specialist Joe Koch said.

Mohawk Fine Papers Inc., Cohoes, N.Y., announced today that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent to buy the business of Bravo Solutions Inc. of Elmira, N.Y.

Sweda Company LLC, City of Industry, Calif., announced the appointment of Kellie Claudio as vice president of sales.

If you are an entrepreneur today, and not using social media to promote your business, you are missing out on a huge opportunity. But, contrary to what most people preach, it isn't entirely free. Most social media outlets don't require a subscription charge, but they certainly require an investment—in people, in technology, your reputation, and your time.

Next week, former President Bill Clinton will be in Chicago with the Clinton Global Initiative to discuss the American economy and what can be done to improve it. In this article he wrote for Newsweek, Clinton discusses 14 points he thinks will help create jobs and a better future for the country. Among his suggestions are improved training and education, energy independence, reduced corporate taxes and more.