August 25, 2003

By Joe Coombs

Getting noticed has become more important for members of the corporate world in the past couple of years, due to tough economic conditions. And it's Melinda Farrell's job to bring those companies some attention.

	PROFILE: Melinda Farrell PERSONAL: married, two children CAR SHE DRIVES: Pontiac Transport LAST BOOK READ: "The Power of Now," by Eckhart Tolle LAST MOVIE SEEN: "Finding Nemo" BEST ADVICE RECEIVED: "Be yourself," from her father HER GUIDING LIGHT: To serve our customers and always express

John and Melinda Farrell own and operate ProGifts Inc. in Gainesville. ProGifts distributes promotional items, which typically incorporate company logos and has clients around the U.S. and in several foreign countries.

Farrell and her husband own ProGifts Inc., a promotional items company that specializes in branding the all-important corporate logo on T-shirts, pens, coffee mugs, office supplies and thousands of other products. They've had the business for about four years, and through the Internet have managed to gain some exposure of their own with clients in England, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.

ProGifts is operated from a small warehouse in northwest Gainesville and acts as a distribution business. The company has six employees and doesn't actually affix logos onto promotional items, but works with thousands of suppliers and vendors around the world who provide those products and services.

"We try to act as consultants to our clients," said Farrell, the company's president. "You have to be creative and energetic in this field. We deal with all types of companies, such as pharmaceutical and health care, as well as auto shops and smaller businesses."

And companies can slap their image onto virtually anything. Apart from conventional vehicles like polo shirts and mouse pads, ProGifts' catalog includes candy wrappers, compact disc cleaners, emery boards, Frisbees and "cyber vases," or small plastic containers that hold flowers and can be attached to a computer monitor.

Some of this stuff gets downright unusual.

"One time, we did a direct mailing for a golf event," Farrell said. "We attached a sound chip to the mail tube, and when you opened the tube, you heard a golf swing. That was followed by the sound of a ball rolling into the cup and the crowd cheering."

But the promotional items business isn't all fun and games, Farrell said. Competition can be fierce, and the industry pulled in about $15.6 billion in sales last year, she said.

"We have some local competitors, but we're really up against businesses from around the country, since we have a presence on the Internet," she said.

Farrell has been in the advertising business for about 17 years and worked for a number of years in New Jersey and south Florida. Her last stop was at a company in Delray Beach, where she worked as an independent sales representative for a promotional products business.

She and her husband, John, moved to Gainesville in 1997 and formed ProGifts in 1999. With the help of a loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration, ProGifts got off the ground and picked up some local clients, but the business truly took off after the Farrells purchased a rival company, TWT Advertising.

"The man who owned that business, Larry Edwards, was around here for a long time and everyone knew him," John Farrell said. "He passed away a little while ago, but before he died, he truly helped us make a name for ourselves around here. We picked up his clients, and they came to trust us."

About 30 percent of ProGifts' sales are local, and clients include Shands HealthCare, the University of Florida and Gainesville Regional Utilities. The remaining 70 percent comes from national and international businesses, and ProGifts operates separate divisions for golf trophies, tote bags and "leather desk sets" that include blotters, pen/pencil holders and other accessories.

"We work with so many different types of businesses, and that's what has been so interesting to me," Melinda Farrell said. "I've learned so much about what they do, and who they're trying to target."

A significant part of ProGifts' business is derived from "internal recognition" products, such as company awards, John Farrell said. Corporations have actually cut back on ordering those products in the past two years as they have trimmed expenses, but promotional items have experienced a surge in sales, he said.

"When business is down, most companies are looking for ways to bring that business right back up," he said. "They might not be doing as many internal recognition awards, but they still want to get the word out on the company."