Dard Products (asi/48500), a frequent Top 40 company and the winner of the 2001 Counselor Supplier Family Business of the Year award, has been purchased by Illinois-based athletic apparel manufacturer and decorator Official Issue.

Bonni Shevin-Sandy, former president of Dard, told Counselor she sold the third-generation family business to long-time friend Scott Palmberg, owner of Official Issue and sporting goods provider Athletic Specialties. Under Palmberg’s leadership, Dard will remain a promotional products supplier and exhibit at all ASI and industry trade shows (including ASI Show Orlando in January) under the Dard name.

[At left] JoAnn Palandino, National Pen’s SVP of global product development; [At right] Bonni Shevin-Sandy, former president of Dard.

“A lot of our product translates into the promo market, and the promo market is much bigger,” Palmberg told Counselor. “We don’t sell direct – we are committed to the dealer network/wholesale business. By putting these companies together, we’ll be able to offer our clients quick turns, customized designs and many domestic products.”

Palmberg has leased a 57,000 square-foot factory for Dard about an hour outside of St. Louis. He will also be manufacturing Dard items in his primary location in Tyler, TX, where he currently runs the cut-and-sew operation for Official Issue. In addition to taking on some of Dard’s employees, Palmberg will also have Shevin-Sandy consulting for him on a part-time basis.

“She’s the driving force,” Palmberg says. “We’re buying Dard, but we’re trying to tie in Bonni’s expertise and vast knowledge of this business. Whether she trains salespeople, conducts webinars or goes out and meets with customers, we’re grateful to have the opportunity to work with and learn from her.”

The consulting will be part-time because as of Dec. 1, Shevin-Sandy has joined National Pen, owned by Top 40 distributor Cimpress (asi/162149). In her new role as global design director, Shevin-Sandy will be revamping many of National Pen’s products, with a concentration on proprietary items. National Pen has also acquired more than 20 of her patented items, as well as new patented items that will be ready in January.

“National Pen is really aggressive when it comes to intellectual property and product design,” Shevin-Sandy says. “With my global experience, it’s a great fit for me to be working with this amazing team. It’s a totally different professional atmosphere than what I’ve been used to.”

A decorated veteran of the industry, Shevin-Sandy was the first recipient of ASI’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award in 2004. In 2009, she was named Counselor’s International Person of the Year. A frequent member of the Power 50, she made Counselor’s Hot List in 2009 as “The Innovator.”

With reported 2017 North American promotional products revenue of $240 million, Cimpress ranks sixth on Counselor’s latest list of the largest distributors in the industry. National Pen, a long-time Counselor Top 40 distributor, was acquired by Cimpress in 2016.