Counselor® magazine, the most authoritative trade publication in the $23.6 billion promotional products industry, today named the 50 most influential business leaders in the industry, a prestigious and hotly anticipated list topped this year by Marc Simon, CEO of HALO Branded Solutions.
Counselor is published by the Advertising Specialty Institute® (ASI), a membership organization serving 23,500 suppliers, distributors and decorators of logoed promotional products in 55 countries.
For the second time, Simon was ranked number-one in Counselor's Power 50 rankings, the result of a whirlwind stretch of mergers and acquisitions in 2017 and 2018 that positioned HALO as an increasingly dominant player in the promo market. The 66-year-old Sterling, IL-based company, with 1,300 employees, became the third-largest distributor in the industry after reporting 2017 North American promotional products sales of $416.4 million – a 47.5% increase over the previous year.
"Every one of the impressive people on this year's list are inspiring, accomplished leaders," said Timothy M. Andrews, ASI's president and chief executive officer (@Tim_Andrews_ASI). "They're navigating tremendous change and withstanding powerful forces reverberating throughout the marketplace while posting financial gains that are truly impressive."
The annual rankings are determined by surveys of the industry and reviews of company financials, along with input from last year's Power 50 and an influential panel.
The top-ranked executives on the 2018 Counselor Power 50 list are:
- Marc Simon, CEO, HALO Branded Solutions (asi/356000), 2017 rank: 6
- Marty Lott (CEO) and Jeremy Lott, (president), SanMar (asi/84863), 2017 rank: 3
- Kevin Lyons-Tarr, CEO, 4imprint (asi/197045), 2017 rank: 4
- Norm Hullinger, CEO, alphabroder (asi/34063), 2017 rank: 5
- Chuck Fandos, CEO, Facilisgroup, 2017 rank: 1
- Ely Eastman (founder), Taly Eyal (CFO) and Sharon Eyal (CEO), ETS Express (asi/51197), 2017 rank: 18
- CJ Schmidt, president, Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125), 2017 rank: 2
- Greg Muzzillo (founder) and Vera Muzzillo (CEO), Proforma (asi/300094), 2017 rank: 8
- Ross Silverstein, president/CEO, iPROMOTEu (asi/232119), 2017 rank: 10
- Gene Geiger (CEO) and Jo-an Lantz (president), Geiger (asi/202900), 2016 rank: 7
Click here for the entire Power 50 list, along with profiles of each executive.
About ASI
The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI®) serves a network of 23,500 suppliers, distributors and decorators in the $23.6 billion promotional products industry.
