Top 40 promotional products distributor iPROMOTEu (asi/232119) knows that strong partnerships with great suppliers are essential to success.

That’s why the Wayland, MA-based distributorship recently recognized some of its top partners at an annual kick-off-the-year event in Las Vegas, naming SanMar (asi/84863) its Top Supplier of 2021 and recognizing Jerry Chierchio of alphabroder | Prime Line (asi/34063) as Supplier Representative of the Year. SanMar and alphabroder are the number one and two largest suppliers, respectively, in promo.

During the Supplier Awards Breakfast, iPROMOTEu also presented its Supplier Appreciation Award to Cap America (asi/43792) for the excellent service the Top 40 firm provided last year. Hirsch Gift (asi/61005) earned the award for Breakout Supplier.

Jerry Chierchio of alphabroder | Prime Line won iPROMOTEu’s Supplier Representative of the Year. He’s seen here with iPROMOTEu CEO/founder Ross Silverstein, VP of Vendor Management Joe Hoffman and Director of Vendor Management Mark Aseltine.

The awards breakfast was a “time for us to come together and thank the suppliers for their continued support and contributions to the success of our affiliates,” said Joe Hoffmann, iPROMOTEu’s vice president of vendor management.

This was Chierchio’s second time taking home the top rep honor from iPROMOTEu.

“To win this distinguished award not only once, but twice, is a real honor,” said Chierchio. “This pandemic has been challenging for all of us, so I really appreciate the recognition of the work we’ve been able to accomplish over the past year together. I’m looking forward to another great year in 2022.”

iPROMOTEu’s Top Twenty Preferred Vendors for 2021 were also recognized and honored during the awards breakfast: SanMar; alphabroder | Prime Line; Cap America (asi/43792); Hit Promotional Products (asi/61125); S&S Activewear (asi/84358); Koozie Group (asi/40480); ETS Express (asi/51197); Gemline (asi/56070); HPG (asi/61966); High Caliber Line (asi/43442); Ariel Premium Supply (asi/36730); iClick (asi/62124); Sweda (asi/90305); PCNA (asi/78897); Bag Makers (asi/37940); Garyline (asi/55990); Logomark/Valumark (asi/67866); Innovation Line (asi/62660); Tekweld (asi/90807); and Showdown Displays (asi/87188).

“Last year was certainly a challenging year for suppliers and distributors alike,” said Hoffmann. “More than ever, we relied upon the strong partnership with our vendor community to help grow our affiliates’ business beyond pre-COVID levels.”

In a recent report, iPROMOTEu said that its order volume for 2021 surpassed $180 million. Not only did the 2021 performance best the COVID-affected year of 2020, when iPROMOTEu’s North American promo revenue tallied $165 million, but it also surpassed the total from 2019 ($178 million) – the last year in which the marketplace was not affected by the pandemic. iPROMOTEu ranked 14th on Counselor’s most recent list of the industry’s largest distributors.

According to iPROMOTEu, its distributor network consists of more than 1,100 independent business owners and salespeople throughout the United States and Canada.