SAAGNY News

Promotions East (and later, Expo East) has been a Promotional Products “must-go” since its inception in Atlantic City as the premier Northeast Tradeshow bringing suppliers and distributors together.  As a staple to thousands of Promotional Products professionals worldwide, Promotions East combines the experience of a national trade show with the atmosphere only a close-knit community can provide.

Historically produced in the summer months, SAAGNY is looking forward to Promotions East returning to SAAGNY and its calendar of premier industry events.  SAAGNY will continue to build upon the tradition of success that Promotions East and Expo East has offered for generations of Promo Professionals. 

“This show has served the northeast region for many years, bringing top-notch exhibitors and quality distributors together, resulting in unparalleled business opportunities,” said Paul Bellantone, CAE, president and CEO of PPAI. “As show manager of Expo East, we saw firsthand the dedication and commitment of the SAAGNY staff and volunteers, and have no doubt SAAGNY will continue to elevate the Promotions East experience. This region will continue to be well-served.”

SAAGNY’s focus at this time is to revamp and renew the Promotions East brand; adapting to new technologies and current realities in large scale industry events. SAAGNY’s mission for 2021 is to re-create Promotions East and provide a product that will maximize the trade show experience for all our Members. 

Paul Sprunk, SAAGNY President, added, “We expect the Promotions East brand to continue to bring a national slate of top-level suppliers and distributors to grow their business within the entire District One community and beyond.”

Look for more announcements in the coming months from SAAGNY on this exciting news.

As some of you know and some of you don’t, Cedar Crest (and the entire Cedar Rapids area including 20 counties) was hit by an severe storm with 100+ mph winds. We lost all power, internet and cell phone service area wide. Both of the electric utilities and all cell phone providers went down Monday about noon. Cedar Crest was not able to contact anyone to let them know what was happening until power was restored this morning. Cedar Crest is not operational yet but they do now have access to their computer system. They are in the process of trying to contact their personnel who most are still without communication capability.

Cedar Crest is in the process of contacting customers who have orders in-house to let them know the status and find out if they still want the orders to ship. UPS and FedEx are only partially operational so shipping service will be questionable until Monday or Tuesday of next week.

Jim Boulet - Sales Manager
jboulet@cedarcrestmfg.com

Cedar Crest Mfg.

Phone -319-363-1643

Toll Free - 877-838-0888

Website: www.CedarCrestMfg.com

Update:  Raining Rose is open as of August 18, 2020.

Raining Rose is currently closed due to a power outage caused by a storm and high winds that hit Cedar Rapids on Monday, August 10^th. Most importantly, our team members are safe. We are assessing damage and working to get power restored as quickly as possible. While there is no timetable yet, we are working with local officials to be up and running as soon as we can.

During the closure, the orders@rainingrose.com inbox will not be monitored. Please direct any questions you have to your dedicated outside sales representative:  

Alyssa Inkrott: ainkrott@rainingrose.com (National Accounts)

John R. B. Cudahy, MAS: jcudahy@rainingrose.com (Northeast)

Jon Hicks: jhicks@rainingrose.com (Midwest)

Quinn Bui: qbui@rainingrose.com (West)

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this.

Click here for the Playbook

Although The SAAGNY Foundation Day of Service at Happiness is Camping was canceled for 2020 – the Foundation Board found a creative way to bring some joy to the children of Happiness is Camping. 

Since in-person camp had been canceled for 2020 – campers were being treated to virtual options throughout the summer. The SAAGNY Foundation arranged for the campers to be treated to a magic show from Michael Kirschner, nephew of The SAAGNY Foundation Trustee Neil Kirschner.  Check him out -  https://thekirschproject.com/

Michael’s show was an interactive experience using mentalism and magic to promote respect and kindness. Michael was gracious enough to donate his time to the children.  The children and their parents and siblings were delighted with the program and the opportunity that the SAAGNY Foundation was able to provide.  Ryan Campbell, Camp Director, commented, “I just wanted to thank all of you for the FANTASTIC magic show! The kids were still talking about it yesterday during activities. Thank you for making our night!!! We can't wait to have you all back at camp in person soon!”

PPAI has named SAAGNY Past President Paula Shulman, CAS, president of Stamford, Connecticut-based PMS Consulting, as recipient of the Association’s 2020 Woman of Achievement award. 

The PPAI Woman of Achievement award recognizes an individual who has led the way in the advancement of women in the industry, exhibited outstanding leadership and made significant contributions to the industry and her community. The PPAI Woman of Achievement constantly strives to go above and beyond. She leads the way by setting the standard of excellence in the industry. She’s an inspiration to others, a role model and mentor. She simply stands out in a crowd.

With a career spanning more than 40 years in the promotional products industry, Shulman was one of the first women to climb the corporate ladder to become the vice president of sales at supplier Prime Line. Shulman is now involved with PMS Consulting and primarily focuses on strategic guidance for trade shows, sales transition, industry events and new product development. She also holds positions on several industry boards.

Not sure who your supplier rep is - SAAGNY is maintaining an updated list - click here.  This will be updated as needed.

The recipient of the 2020 SAAGNY Foundation Scholarship has been selected and is:         

Corey Taft Stern, son of Margot Taft Stern, MTS Promotions

The competition was extremely strong this year, as it is every year, and the judges had a difficult time reaching their decisions. This scholarship is awarded annually.

The Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act Was signed into law.  Below are some of the highlights:

1. Extends PPP coverage period through December 31, 2020.
2. Gives 24 weeks rather than 8 weeks to spend
   1. If business received PPP prior to June 4, 2020 they can retain the 8 week covered period, can elect to do 24 weeks but may need to demonstrate compliance with requirements to maintain employee levels for 24 weeks.
3. No new loans after June 30, 2020.
4. Reduced percentage that must be spent on payroll from 75% to 60% - can spend more on overhead and fixed expenses such as rent and utilities.
5. Extends the Safe Harbor restoration deadline from June 30, 2020 to December 31, 2020.
6. Will not reduce forgiveness based on inability to rehire employees if employer can document:
   1. Written offer to rehire individuals who were employees of the organization on February 15, 2020.
   2. Inability to hire similar qualified employees for unfilled positions by December 31, 2020.
7. Forgiveness will not be reduced for failure to maintain employment levels if organization is able to document an inability to return to same level of business activity that existed prior to February 15 due to compliance with COVID legislation.
8. Loan repayments: extends the deferral period from six months to the time when the SBA compensates the lender for forgiven amounts, except that repayments can be required if the borrower has not applied for forgiveness within ten months of the expiration of the borrower's covered period.
9. Terms of PPP loan extended from two years to five years
10. Can defer social employer Social Security taxes even if you receive PPP loan .