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Paul Bellantone of Promotional Products Association International, Kirby Hasseman of Hasseman Marketing and Communications and Mayor Mark Mills at a ceremony Friday in Roscoe Village to help kickoff National Promotional Products Work Week. Mills presented a key to the city on a plaque and received a blanket with the Born in Ohio logo.(Photo: Leonard Hayhurst/Tribune)

COSHOCTON Coshoctons status as the birthplace of promotional marketing led to a special education event by the Ohio Promotional Professionals Association (OPPA) on Friday.

The daylong Born in Ohioevent started with Mayor Mark Mills presenting a key to the city to the OPPA and Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) at the Roscoe Village Visitors Center to kickoff National Promotional Products Work Week. Mills was given a blanket with the Born in Ohio logo on it, which was designed by Coshocton High School student Lydia Jay.

Youre more than just an occupation or an industry. Youre basically our legacy here locally and its very special to welcome you here, Mills told attendees. Its very sentimental, the connection of what you do every day having started here.

More than 75 participants from all over toured the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, road the Monticello III canal boat and had networking at the Warehouse Restaurant and Hay Learning Center in small groups. An open house homecoming was held in the afternoon at the Warehouse as well.

Kirby Hasseman, of Hasseman Marketing and Communications, said Coshocton is considered the birthplace of what is today a $25 billion promotional advertising industry. History states that printer Jasper Meek partnered with Cantwell Shoes to distribute burlap book bags to local students with Buy Cantwell Shoes printed on them. The press used is on display at the Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum.

Henry Beach followed Meek and the two were printing store names and brands on products such as marble bags, buggy whips, card cases, fans, calendars, cloth caps, aprons, hats for horses and much more. The Beach Company is still in operation and prints branded calendars.

Im proud of the fact that our company and our community has really been built around promotional products, Hasseman said. During a time when a lot of the economy has been struggling that we can give it kind of a rebirth here in Coshocton County, kicking off a national event here, celebrating that whole thing, means the world.

The Born in Ohio logo created by Lydia Jay of Coshocton High School that pays tribute to the first promotional marketing materials created in Coshocton.(Photo: Leonard Hayhurst/Tribune)

Donated by OPPA were 100 bookbags with supplies to students at Coshocton Elementary School, foster children through Coshocton County Job and Family Services and First Step Family Violence Intervention Services. This included masks and hand sanitizer with the Born in Ohio logo.

Kyle McGovern, president of the OPPA, said hand sanitizer was a promotional product in the past, but its really exploded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. And face coverings were non-existent as a promotional product before. He said the industry is starting to pick up again as businesses do too.

We didnt react to everything, we just sort of adapted. We werent like when is this going to end. But, how do we live with it, just move forward with it and do the best of our ability to make life normal again, McGovern said.

Part of that normalcy is getting back to in-person events such as the one on Friday, where social distancing and wearing masks was observed. McGovern said its about doing everything safely.

Its all about relationships in this industry. Being in front of a screen talking to somebody isnt nearly as good as being in person in a more intimate setting, McGovern said.

Kyle McGovern and Dawn Browne of the Ohio Promotional Professionals Association, Mayor Mark Mills and Paul Bellantone of the Promotional Products Association International at a ceremony Friday morning where the promotional marketing organizations received they key to the city on a plaque and Mills was given a blanket with the Born in Ohio logo.(Photo: Leonard Hayhurst/Tribune)

Paul Bellantone, president and CEO of PPAI, said that National Promotional Products Work Week is about celebrating and recognizing the power of logoed products and what brands mean to communities, companies and how people are attracted to brands. With that, he couldnt think of a better place to kick off the week than Coshocton.

Its nice to be able to get back to the roots. When I think of a birthplace, I think of it more like a tree. Over time you get these seedlings, so many companies that were formed by companies that started here in Coshocton, Bellantone said.

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Coshocton honored as birthplace of promotional marketing - Coshocton Tribune