(PRESS RELEASE) TREVOSE, PA — The Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) has announced the honorees of the 2022 Counselor Awards, including Jim Shannon, CEO of S&S Activewear, the industry’s third largest promotional products supplier with over $1.5 billion in 2021 North American promo revenue, as Person of the Year, and John Lynch, founder of leading European decorator Lynka, as International Person of the Year.
ASI serves a network of 25,000 suppliers, distributors, and decorators in the $23.2 billion promotional products industry. Counselor Award recipients were honored at an awards ceremony during ASI’s 23rd annual Chicago trade show.
“ASI’s Counselor Awards honor the promotional products industry’s fortitude, self-reliance and success, exemplified now more than ever by this year’s honorees,” said ASI CEO Timothy M. Andrews.
In the past 18 months, Shannon orchestrated major acquisitions of former Top 40 supplier TSC Apparel and TSF Sportswear and arranged the sale of S&S to a private equity firm. S&S is also a leader on several major fronts, including sustainability.
In 2021, Lynch sold majority ownership of his Polish-based company, launched a new print-on-demand business, and published a novel. The humanitarian also launched Corporate Aid for Ukraine (CAU), while transporting Ukrainian refugees to shelters and homes of Polish citizens.
ASI’s Counselor magazine also revealed its annual Top 40 distributor and Top 40 supplier rankings – the largest companies in the industry based on 2021 promo revenue.
With $822 million in North American promotional products sales, HALO Branded Solutions remained the No. 1 distributor for the second year in a row. SanMar once again topped the supplier list with an estimated $2.88 billion in sales.
Also honored:
Technology Executive of the Year: Mike Knapick, SanMar CIO
Distributor Entrepreneur of the Year: Lisa Smith, Republic Promos founder
Supplier Entrepreneur of the Year: Amin Siddiqui, imprintID founder
Distributor Family Business of the Year: Barker Specialty
Supplier Family Business of the Year: Shelbyville Pencil Company/Shepenco
Woman of Distinction: Debbie Abergel, Nadel chief strategy officer
Lifetime Achievement Award: Fred Oesen, co-founder of Team Task Force and former ASI Canada VP
Bess Cohn Humanitarian Award: Ben Grossman, co-president of Grossman Marketing Group and SwagCycle founder
Counselor Awards are nominated by industry peers and chosen by an in-house committee. Recipients are featured in Counselor magazine’s annual State of the Industry (SOI) issue.