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ASI’s Counselor® Magazine Names 2020’s Most Powerful People In Promo

SanMar’s Jeremy Lott takes the top spot on annual Power 50 list

TREVOSE, PA – November 16. 2020 – The Advertising Specialty Institute® (ASI) today announced the annual Counselor Power 50 list of the most powerful people in the promotional products industry, with Top 40 supplier SanMar CEO/President Jeremy Lott commanding the top spot, thanks in large part to his leadership during COVID-19.

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“This year, a year unlike any other in our industry’s long history, the entrepreneurs and business owners on the Counselor Power 50 list outdid themselves, performing under extreme pressure while surmounting unbelievable challenges to lead their teams forward,” said Timothy M. Andrews, ASI president and chief executive officer. “All of us can learn from their flexibility and determination as we push ahead to recovery in 2021 and beyond.”

Highlighting the most influential movers and shakers in the promo industry, this year’s Power 50 features 10 first-time honorees, as well as the return of two leaders who previously appeared.

The list was unveiled in a video during the ASI Power Summit Live, a virtual webinar featuring a keynote by entrepreneur Peter Shankman, with experts discussing ways top promo end-markets like education, hospitality and trade shows/events are utilizing branded merchandise. A Q&A between Andrews and Geiger CEO/President Jo-an Lantz detailed how one of promo’s biggest distributorships adapted amid monumental challenges posed by the pandemic.

Ascending two places to first on this year’s list, Lott was chosen for the number-one spot in part because of his inspiring and efficacious leadership when SanMar’s promo business virtually disappeared overnight at the outset of the pandemic. Lott powered the supplier’s pivot to personal protective equipment (PPE), leading to contracts to produce about 200 million face masks for the federal government. The agile maneuver helped ensure no SanMar employees were laid off.

The son of promo luminary/SanMar founder Marty Lott, Jeremy’s achievements during the dark days of COVID built upon his already impressive resume, which includes not only running the North American promotional products industry’s largest company (estimated $2.4 billion in 2019 revenue), but also being a guiding light for the industry on corporate social responsibility and sustainability.

Introduced in 2006, the Counselor Power 50 list annually spotlights executives from distributors and suppliers, as well as industry outsiders, who wield considerable power and influence in a global marketplace. Below are the business leaders who command the top 10 slots:

  1. Jeremy Lott, CEO/President, SanMar (asi/84863)
  2. Jo-an Lantz, CEO/President, Geiger (asi/202900)
  3. Marc Simon, CEO, HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000)
  4. Greg Muzzillo and Vera Muzzillo, founder and CEO, respectively, Proforma (asi/300094)
  5. Norm Hullinger, CEO, alphabroder (asi/34063)
  6. Jonathan Isaacson, CEO/Chairman, Gemline (asi/56070)
  7. Matthew Eckhouse and Anne McKeough, VP/General Manager and VP of Global Sales, respectively, Staples Promotional Products (asi/120601)
  8. Sai Koppaka and Alan Tabasky, CEO/President and VP/General Manager, respectively, BEL USA
  9. Philip Koosed, President, BAMKO (asi/131431)
  10. David Nicholson, President, Polyconcept North American (asi/78897)

Selection of the people on the Power 50 list is a combination of votes by last year’s honorees, nominations from industry pros and consideration of accomplishments from the past year.

The full Power 50 article and individual profiles will be the cover story of December’s issue of Counselor magazine.