Suppliers Archives

This is the first year on the PPAI 100 list for Austin, Texas-based DiamondBack Branding (PPAI 655170, Gold), which has been in business since 2012 and entered the promo industry just 10 years ago. Founder William Lovelace, who started making and selling handcrafted pens in high school, transformed his skills into the business that now sells a wide selection of drinkware, barware, coolers and other gear from Igloo, Yeti, Swig and other top brands.

The company credits partnerships for the growth its experienced over the past year as well as new website implementations. This year, the company also earned A+ Supplier and A+ Decorator ratings from SAGE.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

Tomax (PPAI 113176, Gold) earned just over $10 million in 2024 to snag the No. 100 and final spot on our list. Earlier this year, Tomax, was one of the VIP supplier partners to win a Shining Star Award from distributor AIM Smarter. The privately owned company, located near Los Angeles, California, was founded in 1990 as a source for power banks, Bluetooth speakers, cables, adapters, Qi wireless charging, smart home devices, computer and mobile accessories, and tech gift sets.

The company says what sets it apart from other suppliers is that its primary factories deal directly with the retail channel, which grants Tomax the ability to sell brand quality promo products.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

Fey Promo (PPAI 113944, Silver) was founded by John Fey in 1965 as a small manufacturer of vinyl products. By 1969, it had expanded to producing notebooks and folders, and as the years rolled on, Fey grew its product line by acquiring Reflectix, Molenaar and MagnaTel. Today, the company continues to design, manufacture and decorate products in its facility in Edgarton, Minnesota.

Still family-owned and operated, the company boasts a team of talented professionals who helped it earn a spot on PPAI’s coveted list of the Greatest Companies To Work For in 2023 and 2024.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

FIEL (PPAI 190714, Silver) missed making last year’s list but in 2024 it grew revenues by 11.1 percent to snag the No. 87 spot on this year’s roster. FIEL is an acronym for Fairdeal Import & Export Ltd. in Mississauga, Ontario. For the past 30 years it has been an importer and manufacturer of soft signage display products – tablecovers and runners, retractable pop-up banners, advertising flags – and soft goods such as blankets, towels, bandanas and aprons.

The company’s standard production time is five working days, and it also offers guaranteed one-day, two-day and three-day production SKUs.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

Fossa Apparel (PPAI 330885, Silver), based in Fremont, California, specializes in stylish, retail-inspired apparel. It is a woman-owned and minority-owned company founded in 2007 by Michelle Chen and her parents Judy and Andy. Being recognized as one of PPAI’s Greatest Companies to Work For in 2024 was a huge honor and a highlight of the year, the company says.

Last year Fossa continued to develop its PromoStandards webservices, added Order Status and Order Shipment Notification services, and adopted tools such as Hubspot CRM and the ClickUp Project Management Platform. The company also made a commitment to use PFAS-free water resistance coating exclusively in its products moving forward.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

Since Les Dorfman took over as president of Galaxy – More Than Balloons (PPAI 113835, Gold) the company says that it has taken strides to evolve into a culture that fosters a more caring work environment. Founded in 1990, the Cleveland-based supplier has won PPAI Pyramid awards and has found itself on the PPAI 100 list in large part due to its high marks in Growth and Industry Faith.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

For more than 50 years, IDLine (PPAI 111778, Silver), in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, has been a provider of name badges, buttons, membership cards and similar products. The family-owned company operates with a team of nearly 50 employees.

In 2023 and 2024, it was named one of PPAI’s Greatest Companies To Work For, and last year Lindsay Bons, the company’s senior business development manager, won recognition as a PPAI Rising Star. In technology developments, IDLine also hired an outside firm to support and validate its IT processes in 2024.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

For the past two years, Next Level Apparel (PPAI 272027, Silver) has been rapidly retrenching, first with its March 2023 acquisition of Stedman, a Germany-based manufacturer of premium and casual blank sportswear. Next, in March 2023, it partnered with Grupo M, a leading textile manufacturer based in the Dominican Republic. The company also underwent a leadership restructuring in June 2024 when Joe Simsolo, who originally founded the Torrance, California-based company in 2003, returned as CEO and his son, Eric, was promoted to president.

Last year, the company completed its website/ecommerce transformation and continues its ongoing security audits including pen testing. It has also partnered with Oritain to conduct product verification source testing.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

Opti Print & Fulfillment (PPAI 113581, Silver) continues to rack up PPAI Pyramid Awards in Supplier Decorating for its eye-popping custom lenticular graphics. For its most recent Gold win in 2024, the company created a full-motion, holographic-type magazine cover for publishing giant Meredith depicting the West Virginia outdoors transitioning from day to night. The Dallas-based company started in 1970 as a division of the Atlas Match Company in New York, and then got into the lenticular business.

Since 2021, revenue has grown 184 percent and, according to its website, the company has won more awards than any other specialty printing or lenticular printing company in the world.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category

For more than 40 years, Pinnacle Designs (PPAI 112704, Silver) has been a provider of emblematic jewelry, keytags, bottle openers, magnets and other products to the promo and souvenir industries. In 2024, the San Fernando, California-based company moved its production from China to factories in other countries and, for the first time, offered in-house solutions for rush lapel pin and key chain orders with a one- to five-day turnaround. It also joined forces with the PromoStandards community giving distributor clients access to order status, tracking and invoicing.

Another major change took place in 2023 when Pinnacle Designs transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan. Not surprisingly, in 2024, it was one of 106 companies to earn a spot on PPAI’s Greatest Companies To Work For list.

PPAI 100 Percentile By Category