Author: pennadmin

Starting off a new year with prominent tradeshow appearances is pivotal for any brand decorator, especially with new branding to introduce. Penn Emblem started 2020 showing off their new look with one of the biggest and most well-known promotional product tradeshows in the industry, the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas. Alongside many big brands, Penn Emblem exhibited stand out products such as the NAUMD Award Winning, PennFlex™, as well as an up and coming product to watch for – 3D Silicone. A live demo of hat decoration was done at the show along with decorated bag giveaways and brand new sample cards.

No stranger to being an industry leader in innovation and diversity, Penn Emblem also branched off into a new and exciting industry this year – the Outdoors market. The Outdoor industry encompasses activities such as Hunting, Fishing, Archery, Big Game Hunting, Camping/Hiking, RVs/ATVs and more. Penn Emblem serves as a brand decorator for all garment types in a plethora of industries so getting involved with such a broad market with a wide variety of customer’s needs is a natural move in the right direction. Penn Emblem exhibited at the Greater Philly Sportsmen’s Expo in Oaks, PA and showed off some timeless, classic embellishment options such as Leather, American Flags, High Visibility and Custom Embroidery.

Follow @pennemblemcompany on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn for more Tradeshow information, schedules and updated.

 

Penn Emblem is pleased to announce the recent promotion of our new Vice President of Information Technology, Robert Cholodofsky. Rob has served as the Director of Information Technology for the past 3.5 years planning, designing and implementing strategic initiatives to help Penn Emblem achieve its goals. He received his MBA in Computers and Information Systems from Temple University and his Bachelors in Finance from Penn State University. He spent 18 years in his previous position with a Fortune 500 Home Building company where he held the role of VP of IT, giving him further assets and knowledge to bring to Penn Emblem.

Rob has had a plethora of successes since coming to Penn Emblem that have greatly benefited the entire company such as upgrading various infrastructures, virtualizing the corporate data center, implementing a unified communications solution and introducing formal IT Policies. With so much accomplished thus far, Rob still has even bigger goals for the coming months. “I have great confidence and a stellar team that can continue to upgrade our company’s infrastructure and software/systems portfolio”, he says, ”Our manufacturing facilities will be modernized with state-of-the-art technology including next generation ERP systems featuring backend manufacturing, warehouse mobility, general ledger, and CRM functionality. Combined with modern frontend e-commerce capabilities, a new mobile application, and a refreshed public-facing Corporate website, our goal is to put the right tools in place to provide the best user experience for our customers.”

This role has evolved in the last few years with an increasing need for a high business acumen to meet or exceed the requirements of all customers. Rob’s background and experience have given him the tools necessary to successfully meet those needs. The Information Technology department plays a monumental role in Penn Emblem’s bigger picture. With the onset of 2020, Penn Emblem is undergoing a complete rebranding and overall company upgrade that relies heavily on the efforts of Rob and his team to monitor and maintain the growth. Like any good company executive, Rob has nothing but high hopes and expectations for Penn Emblem in the coming years to be the number one brand decorator and nothing less.

Thank you, Rob, for all that you have done and continue to do each day at Penn Emblem. You are an exemplary model of a team player, hard worker and brand advocate. We look forward to seeing what you bring to the table this year and many more to come.

 

Every company aims to prioritize safety in the workplace, but only some truly embed it into the framework of their everyday work and the minds of all employees. Work environments can have many potential hazards and it is every employee’s job to keep each other safe. Penn Emblem’s Mira Loma location took that mission to heart and had an exceptional year for safety in 2018 — upholding rules and standards, staying alert and proactive and always keeping the welfare of the employees at the forefront.

In December, Penn Emblem President, Randi Blumenthal, awarded the Mira Loma plant with the 2018 Safety Award, in recognition of the 2019 results the entire company benefitted from due to their efforts the year prior. A special thank you to safety team leader, Miranda, the safety committee members and to those who continue to give suggestions and recommendations to protect and improve Penn Emblem’s work environment.

 

For National Read a Book Day on September 6th, Penn Emblem’s Corporate office collected 220 gently used books that were donated to Tree House Books and CHOP’s Reach Out and Read Program — both organizations are on a mission to provide books to families and to promote literacy for all ages.

Adult books were donated to Tree House Books, a Giving Library and Literacy Center in North Philadelphia with a dual purpose: to provide free books to the community and spread knowledge and awareness. Their vision is to make sure that everyone has access to books and every opportunity to fulfill their dreams and explore their passion.

Teen/Children’s books were donated to CHOP’s Reach Out and Read program so the healthcare staff can promote literacy to more children, teens and families and give them books to take home, keep and enjoy. More than 200,000 appropriate gently used books for children and adolescents are needed to distribute each year, especially for children ages newborn to 10 years.

President, Randi Blumenthal-Joseph said, “Reading and learning are two of my favorite things – it means so much to be able to give that joy to someone else, especially a child. I am so proud of this team coming together and giving back in this way. A book is such a small thing, but to the person reading it, that book can shape their world.”

Penn Emblem is honored to have been able to contribute to these organizations and look forward to giving back in the near future.

 

Earlier this year, Penn Emblem collected a plethora of gently used towels, sheets and other garments to be donated to local crafters to aid the remaining, young wildlife following Australia’s bush fires. After the overwhelming response Australia wildlife organizations received from generous crafters around the world, they halted production and shipments. With the left-over donated items from Penn Emblem, local partner crafters started using the donated material to instead create face masks for healthcare workers amidst the coronavirus, COVID-19. So far, 20 masks have been created and donated to local Capital Health workers in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. This is the first of Penn Emblem’s efforts in assisting with the safety mask shortage following COVID-19. Currently, they are beginning production of 100% cotton, washable and reusable face masks for sale. In addition, there are charity initiatives in the works.

Penn Emblem – A Deeper Look

Penn Emblem is a full-service branded apparel and promotional product company. We are America’s largest emblem supplier as well as the premiere full-service brand decorator for the rental uniform and promotional product industry. We begin with customer’s initial design concepts and handle the entire process all the way to the final custom decorated products.

Our mission is to deliver high quality products with the same care and attention to detail that we would give to our own family, that will withstand time along side the memories that they are being created for. Whether it be your son’s soccer team logo, your daughter’s girl scout troop accomplishment patches, your company’s edgy rebranding or your local police departments new badges, Penn Emblem is here to help you preserve the memories that may only seem like a stitch in time, but will become a piece of the fabric of your legacy. We are a family company and you will feel that in the work that we produce and the mission in which we stand by.

As your brand decorator, Penn Emblem Company helps brands come to life through innovative embellishment solutions, serving markets such as uniform services, athletic organizations, promotional products, safety and service, military, hospitality, collegiate, ASI, PPAI and more. Penn Emblem’s domestic and international manufacturing capabilities proudly deliver cost-effective solutions such as: custom embroidered, woven, silkscreen, sublimation, and screen-printed emblems, appliques, heat transfers, thermal barcode systems, and mending materials. In addition, Penn Emblem Company offers flame resistant and high visibility decoration solutions that meet regulatory guidelines for uniforms in high risk industries. Penn emblem offers a variety of garment decoration services at multiple convenient locations. Our decoration fulfillment solutions begin with picking the most innovative and cost-effective decoration method for your specific project. From flame resistant and high visibility decoration solutions that meet regulatory guidelines to low-cost screen print options that meet your budget goals, Penn Emblem has a full scope of decoration capabilities to provide premiere solutions for your specific needs.

Our History

For 72 years, Penn Emblem has provided customers with high quality, cutting-edge products. Unlike many other companies, however, Penn Emblem has proudly served those customers through the common thread of family for three generations. In 1947, company founder, Frank Blumenthal, began embroidering emblems out of his garage in Philadelphia, beginning with cotton, oval name tags and American flags for gas station uniforms. In the 1960’s, he brought the first heat sealable emblems to the industry, completely revolutionizing the rental uniform business.

In 1970, Frank’s oldest son, Robert, took the reins, adding new technologies such as screen-printing, to the embellishment industry. For years, Penn Emblem Company cultivated new business through innovative systems and designs, continuously remaining the market leader and industry trendsetter.

In 2010, Frank’s granddaughter, Randi Blumenthal-Joseph, became the third generation of leadership to continue the legacy of quality and innovation, while also shifting the company to become certified as a Woman’s Business Enterprise, to better support clients focused on supply chain diversity, and to proudly represent female leadership. Penn Emblem continues to serve customers worldwide with an ever-growing array of image and identification solutions today under Randi’s leadership and through the fibers of Penn Emblem’s rich history.

Many companies can deliver quality products, but only Penn Emblem Company threads generational pride and heart throughout everything we create, to produce the best representation of your event, company, brand, sport and more. For all types of emblematic identification, Penn Emblem will proudly make the process seamless, from our stitches to yours.

 

PENN EMBLEM | Fundraising for Movember to support Men’s Health

 

The team at Penn Emblem Company came together this November to stand up for Men’s Health — Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer, Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

Throughout the month, various employees grew their mustaches and beards out and collected donations along the way. As outstanding $2,065 was collected and donated to the Movember organization.

Penn Emblem sends tremendous gratitude to all who participated and donated for this cause. Your donation will help Movember fund groundbreaking work in prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide prevention. Movember has “funded more than 1,250 men’s health projects around the world, challenging the status quo, shaking up men’s health research and transforming the way health services reach and support men.” For more information or to get involved go to http://movember.com

 

If you grew up watching futuristic films such as Back to the Future, The Matrix or even Wall-E, you would have thought that by 2020 all companies would already be working virtually from home. With technology allowing for video conference meetings, interaction via social media, emails, scanning, apps for everything and even programs that allow for digital micro-managing, the world has been primed to go completely remote. So why did it take a global pandemic to inspire companies to finally start utilizing all these tools? It’s simple – there was no other option.

Since early March, companies were forced to scramble into ‘disaster mode’, finding alternative means of operation for all streams of their business. The world entered quarantine with their laptops, iPads and cell phones in hand, bracing themselves for what could end up being months of isolation. Essential industries such as food service companies began strictly offering takeout, delivery and curbside pick-up, whereas companies deemed non-essential, such as retail clothing stores, were forced to cease all in-store operation. The rise of technology reached an all-time high this year when companies realized if they were going to keep business thriving, they needed to fully utilize all ways to connect with their employees and their customers daily.

Penn Emblem has been growing its social media and digital platforms steadily over the past few years. As an emblem and identification company, social media provides an incredible location to display product updates and samples. Email is consistently used for promotions and seasonal or holiday highlights and a website is the staple digital hub for any company to capitalize on leads and new business. While these forms of communication were prevalent pre-coronavirus, they became prominent during it and are sure to grow even larger after. “People and businesses must be able to pivot and change on a dime if you want to be around for another generation,” says President, Randi Blumenthal, “technology and social media had to be taken full of advantage of during this time if we wanted to keep moving and providing for our end consumers.”

Penn Emblem was named an essential business during the coronavirus due to its involvement with major industrial laundry companies who were still in operation for industries such as healthcare and food service. A limited number of Penn staff were authorized in the corporate building at once, just enough to allow shipping to be taken care of and orders to be delivered. The manufacturing plants are in full operation with added precautionary adjustments to day to day routines. Management rotated in the office to keep things moving. Daily conference room meetings became video conference calls, where employees could still connect and communicate about important topics from the safety of their own homes. The customer service call center migrated from cubicles to bedrooms. The sales team parked their cars and cancelled their flights to instead “bang the phones” and virtually meet with their clients. Marketing gained some creative real estate by converting their homes and bedrooms into private studios. Some areas of revenue have slowed down due to other companies halting their own business, but Penn Emblem has still been working tirelessly to provide the necessary identification products for essential companies. Business continued as usual, just virtually.

Technology has played a major role in Penn Emblem business these past few months. However, not only has it helped to keep business thriving, it has also been a platform for gratitude and care. Zoom and other video conference tools allow for co-worker check ins to make sure everyone and their families are doing well. Social media has been used for taking as many opportunities as possible to thank essential workers in healthcare, food service, grocery stores, law enforcement, mechanic shops, factories, transportation and more. On a day-to-day basis, it is easy to get caught up in business and transactions and to be focused on the sale. One thing Penn Emblem is taking away from the coronavirus of 2020 is a new level of gratitude and appreciation for the people they do business for and with every day, their customers and employees.

While Penn Emblem is looking forward to things getting back to normal, they are appreciative of the lessons they have learned and what they will take with them into the coming months. They have a brand-new website launching when quarantine fully subsides, new technology being implemented into their offices and plants, new product ideas they are eager to work on and new policies to instill that benefit the company and the employees. The coronavirus may have forced companies into a ‘disaster mode’, but one thing is for certain, the strongest of companies embraced it and came out on top. “Major growth is often disguised as a minor setback”. If there is ever another need for similar action, Penn Emblem will be ready, virtually.

Handling COVID-19 and Quarantine

Amidst chaos, loss, anxiety, injustice, and frustration, how can you possibly stay positive today?

As COVID-19 begins small steps of dissipating, life is reopening slowly and to be honest… some of us are kind of a mess. Being quarantined for 3 months and adjusting our entire way of life was a tough pill to swallow. Of course, there are some people who called it a hoax, and there are some people who were directly impacted, whether by the virus itself or working longer hours, less hours or losing a job. Whichever way the coronavirus impacted you, its safe to assume that the social injustices and atrocities in our cities didn’t make it any better. Although, some justice has been served and some reform is under way, many people who were already shut down due to the virus lost their businesses entirely adding to the economic crisis we were already experiencing. On top of that, millions of Americans who have been stuck in their homes for months glued to the media got peer-pressured into click bait for corrupt journalists adding more fuel to the fire due to the upcoming election.

If that paragraph alone didn’t stress you out, then maybe I am my own in this battle, but if you’ve felt rattled in the past 3 months because of your job, the news, an illness, lack of income, events cancelling, death, racism or the ever elusive murder hornets then hopefully this will help you to chill out.

I’m a list person, are you? It’s okay if you’re not, just take from this what you need.

5 EASY Ways to Stay Positive RIGHT NOW:

1. Read a book.

I know that sounds so cliché, right? Some people haven’t read an actual book since college. Hear me out. I’m not a great reader either, but since quarantine started, I’ve trained myself to dedicate an hour of my night at minimum to not mindlessly sinking into Netflix and Instagram. Not only do you become a better speaker and writer, but you force yourself to TUNE OUT THE WHITE NOISE. I tend to have days where I catch myself on my phone deep in social media feeds WAY too long. By choosing to immerse myself in a good read, I remove myself from the madness and let my brain do its own thinking instead of indulging in other people’s radical opinions (there’s a reason your entire friends list on Facebook aren’t published writers.)

In addition to reading being a great escape, it’s also NECESSARY right now more than ever. While Karen from high school rants about defunding the police based off inaccurate statistics, Uncle Bob is ranting about All Lives Matter based off equally inaccurate statistics. So who’s bandwagon is the best to jump on? The answer is NEITHER. Form your own beliefs and own opinions based off your research, education and understanding. The world does not need more keyboard prophets who regurgitate fake media posts. It needs more thoughtful individuals who have taken the time to see all perspectives and form a valid conclusion from their own heart and their own mind.

2. Get outdoors.

The beginning half of quarantine was kind of a bummer, honestly. Amongst other mor important reasons, the cold weather had us down even further. Once May hit, the heavens opened up and gave us the 75 and sunny weather we were praying for. I’m not going to be the gym rat advocate who guilt trips anyone into getting super physically active and making a life change, but I will say simply spending some more time just out in the fresh air, alone and at peace with yourself and your own thoughts, will do you SO good. I have been walking my dogs at the park around the corner almost every single day. It’s to the point now where my dogs are sitting next to my desk staring a hole through my brain at 4pm every single day like clockwork. We’ve started a healthy pattern! It doesn’t include me running or lifting weights (although that is my end goal), but I have learned to block out the time, make a commitment to move and now other beings depend on me for it. The fresh air and accomplishment of doing something will surely lift your spirits, and if you happen to catch a glimpse of me walking two large dogs on retractable leashes and trying to clean up one of their poops at the same time, then you will without a doubt smile.

3. Spring Cleaning.

If you haven’t already felt the freeing power of purging your closet, cleaning out your garage, making some extra cash off your “basement things you haven’t used in years but like to keep them just incase” collection, then no WONDER you might feel a little down! There is a clean, stress free world of possibilities buried underneath those boxes waiting for you to unearth and experience the invigorating feeling of organization.

Okay maybe it isn’t that euphoric, but honestly for me it is. We, as humans, are usually on the go no stop, every day, all year with little to no time to recuperate and organize our lives at home. This often leads to anxiety, anger, lashing out, migraines and other stress induced illnesses. It’s a  crazy cycle we allow ourselves to stay in, but the good news is you can take steps to prevent it! Here is a list (within a list) of a few things to consider starting with and chipping away at that I promise will make you slowly start to feel weightless:

• Clean out your medicine cabinet.
• Declutter your make-up/cosmetic drawer or containers.
• Re-organize your kitchen cabinets & donate excess canned goods.
• Clean out and organize your fridge.
• Go through your closet/drawers and donate things you have not worn in the last year.
• Go through your garage and sell items your family no longer uses.
• Clean out your glove compartment, center console and trunk.
• Organize your nightstand or any other side table “junk” drawers.

4. Pick up an old hobby.

The reason I say old hobby is because starting a brand new one can be stressful for some people. It takes time and money often to invest in what you need to get started, education, training etc. Although, with the extra time available, there might not ever be a better time to start something new, so if you are okay with everything that comes along with it, go for it! However, many of us have hobbies we used to do that brought us joy and we back-burnered it because we got too busy. Think about what makes you feel alive, what makes you smile, what stimulates you, what makes you feel happy – GO. DO. THAT! And don’t feel embarrassed if you don’t have your interests pin-pointed yet. Life pulls us all in different directions and you might have had your dreams squashed somewhere along the lines to the point where you told yourself to move on. Maybe kids came along, and their hobbies became your hobbies, or so you thought.

Take some time to sit in peace, alone, and think about what lights you up. Is it the feeling of seeing something through that takes a long time like puzzles? Do you enjoy being able to gift somebody something that you crafted? Do you have thoughts swirling in your head that you’d do well to dump on a piece of paper? Whatever it is, now is the time to reclaim your interests and prioritize the happiness they bring you.

5. Self care.

This one might have mixed reviews. I for one have been loving the low maintenance approach to being a female the past 3 months and I know the men in my life are enjoying their ball short and t-shirt aesthetic; however, I know there are some people who don’t feel themselves without their hair, nails, eyebrows and makeup done each day with an outfit to match. Whether you are the former or the ladder, self-care benefits all of us mentally, especially women.

For those who are like myself and are appreciative of rolling out of bed and not having to put on makeup or think about an appropriate outfit, we can all admit that we sometimes feel a little bit self-conscious having not seen the photo ready version of ourselves in a while. Although, I have a new-found appreciation for my natural beauty, it’s honestly just fun and therapeutic sometimes to clean yourself up! Consider doing an at-home weekly date night where you get put together, or now with outdoor dining available, go on a REAL date or family night out – remember those? *visions of someone making your food and bringing it to your table and then cleaning it all up – sigh*

For those who feel less when you aren’t getting yourself ready with a purpose each day, make YOU the purpose. If getting dressed and done up makes you feel good, then there is no reason why not having to go into an office every day should stop you! You don’t do it for your co-workers, you put on your outfit and style your hair every day for YOU, so don’t let this new schedule change that.

Hopefully, these five tips resonate and can help you to block out the negativity in the world and fight for your inner peace. The world might feel flipped on its side, but you don’t have to. Prevent anxiety and other mental aggravators by continuously growing yourself, breathing fresh air, doing something that makes you happy, and cleaning your space and yourself! Above all else, the secret ingredient to all five tips: STEP AWAY FROM THE MEDIA. Ironic coming from your digital media specialist, right? Even I have to admit, it can be severely toxic if you don’t draw some boundaries. Use these tips to snap back to reality and enjoy the rest of your quarantine. Build good habits that matter now so you can carry them with you when “normal” resumes.

STAY POSITIVE!