SAGE (PPAI 100001)—Ben Haynes, promoted to national accounts manager, and Terri Sparkman, promoted to sales development manager
ePromos Promotional Products (PPAI 212648, D11)—Steve Paradiso, promoted to CEO
Geiger (PPAI 105182, D12)—Elizabeth Fagan, director of marketing for the Crestline division
Stran Promotional Solutions (PPAI 161542, D10)—Lisa Fosdick, vice president of client success
Georgia Association Of Promotional Products Professionals (GAPPP)—Lake Tankersley, board president; Brannon Craig, vice president; Sherry Gantt, secretary; Shawn LaFave, treasurer; Alex Bradley, Jessica Miller and Miles Wadsworth, at-large directors; and Michelle Sherwin, CAS, immediate past president / RAC delegate
PromoKitchen (PPAI 652237)—Johanna Gottlieb, chair; Kate Plummer, MAS, vice chair; and Jessica Gibbons-Rauch, CAS; Molly Neises, MAS; and Carson Roncketto, board members
Promotional Products Education Foundation (PPEF)—Janet McMaster, MAS; Sydra Newell, CAS; Rhonda Reilly, MAS; Dustin Wicks and Lindsey Davis, MAS, board trustees
Virginia Promotional Products Association (VAPPA)—Joy Jacobs, president; Andres Blanco, vice president; Andrea Coffman, secretary; Kevin Mullaney, treasurer; Lisa Deane, Mark Thieleke, Pete Strob and Kendra McDougal, MAS, at-large directors; Ron Baellow, RAC delegate; and Craig Dickens, immediate past president
Gold Bond, Inc. (PPAI 113974, S10)—Daniel Pendleton, strategic account manager for the Southeast, responsible for Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi; and Greg Rosner, strategic account manager, responsible for Oklahoma and Texas
J. Charles (PPAI 113624, S6)—Jay Donlin, vice president of sales and marketing
Quinn (PPAI 360359, S6)—Cameron Marr, promoted to sales and marketing specialist; Taylor Pevarnik, sales and marketing specialist; and Melanie Wolf, customer service
Allen Bates, MAS, founder of distributer Second Step Advertising in Wyandotte, Michigan, and Michigan Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA) Hall of Fame inductee, passed away on November 23. He was 67.
Bates founded Second Step Advertising in 1975 and was an active member of MiPPA. He served on all of the regional association’s committees at one time or another, and on its board as a director, vice president and president. He accumulated 11 years of service on the board of directors and had nearly perfect attendance and participation in every MiPPA event. In 2013, Bates was inducted into the MiPPA Hall of Fame. He received his CAS designation in 1991, his MAS in 1996 and was awarded Lifetime Certification in 2012.
Bates’s lifetime of service extended to his community as well. He served as president of the Allen Park Jaycees, as senator for the Michigan Jaycees, on the board of the Southern Wayne County Chamber of Commerce and as an officer for the Wyandotte Business Association.
He is survived by his daughters Alexa and Debbie, and sisters Claudette and Maureen. Memorial contributions to honor Bates’s life may be made as the donor chooses.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
James Khattak is news editor of PPB.