YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Stephanie Shapiro, managing partner of Sherman Creative, holds a pink wristband, specifically designed for Panerathon participants.

It has a patch with the benefitting organization’s logo on one side. Shapiro flips it over to reveal the company took an extra step to add the pink ribbon, breast cancer symbol, on the other side.

“There’s just a lot of creativity and forethought that goes into some items to really get everything out of it,” Shapiro says. “This could have been fine with just the patch, but it’s the extra, the extra that I think goes back to our customer service.”

Making promotions extra special is one of the reasons Sherman Creative is celebrating its 30th anniversary this September. 

That’s three decades of creating custom items for businesses and nonprofit organizations, big and small, in the Mahoning Valley.

Shapiro purchased the business in 2018 from founders Bruce and Carol Sherman, two Youngstown State University graduates who started the company in 1996. After working with Shapiro during the transition, the Shermans retired to Florida.

“I feel like it’s our mission to service the community and we’re good partners with our customers,” Shapiro says.

It’s important to her that Sherman Creative provides better customer service than larger, online competitors. 

Malinda Ferko, Sherman Creative’s customer support specialist, says whether it is tweaking a logo, making sure the product comes out right or backing it up by fixing it if there is an issue, it is all part of the customer experience they provide clients.

“Those little things, working with somebody one on one all the time – not whatever customer service rep you get – are probably a big part of our advantage over the bigger companies,” Ferko says.

After graduating from YSU’s business college and working for several years in the business world, Ferko wanted to create some work-life balance for herself and her three children. She took a break for a couple years before joining Shapiro at Sherman Creative about five years ago.

Ferko says she enjoys the creative process while collaborating with customers, providing them with the right options for their upcoming event or campaign.

“We are small. We are local, but we provide everything and more than the larger companies,” Ferko says. “We work directly with our customers, one on one… You form that relationship with them and an understanding of their needs and their wants and what they may be looking for.”

Shapiro agrees when you build those relationships you want to go the extra mile to make sure each piece is exactly what the customer wants and expects.

Whether it’s a small order of 100 pieces or several thousand, Sherman Creative is able to help long-term customers with large marketing campaigns and new businesses that need to create their first recognizable piece of artwork.

“This business is fun because we’re never doing the same item,” Shapiro says. “There’s a constant change. We’re working with new artwork. We’re working with new templates. We’re working with new products and everything is constantly changing.”

Prior to the pandemic, Shapiro implemented a new online order management system that allows the company to streamline projects among employees involved. That change from purchase orders stacked on the table to the digital format allowed them to keep going when everything went remote in 2020.

Now Shapiro says she is interested in learning how many ways artificial intelligence can further enhance the business.

“There’s a huge learning curve there, but it’s really going to be very beneficial to us,” Shapiro says.  

While trendy items come and go, Shapiro says the best sellers remain the drinkware, pens and apparel.

“Most of our customers want the most impressions out of an item,” Shapiro says. “So if you’re going to pick up a pen everyday and use it, it’s a constant reminder.”

Apparel has trends, like seasonal items, more modern looks or even brand names, according to Shapiro. Totes and grocery bags are popular items that include space for a customer’s logos and allow that customer to provide people with an eco friendly, sustainable giveaway.

Ferko holds up a pencil, another sustainable item, which contains seeds and can be planted after its life as a promotional product is done. 

With shelves of promotional items including chip clips, pens, koozies, cups, stationary items and laptop sleeves, Sherman Creative proves there’s a plethora of ways for businesses to promote themselves. 

According to promotionalproductswork.com, American businesses spend more than $20 billion each year on promotional products. 

Research by Promotional Products Association International found that 99% of people who receive promo products keep them and 83% of people are more likely to do business with the brand on a promotional product they receive.

One of the things Ferko says people, including long-term customers, may not realize is the award products they offer, allowing their customers to thank or honor employees.

“We’re literally a full service distributor of promotional products from awards, yard signs, trade show items and then all the popular items that stay consistent over the years,” Ferko says.

As stress relief balls have come into fashion, Ferko says they have created some fun, custom, memorable shapes including new molds like a penguin.

“Stress relievers come in every shape and form,” Ferko says. “Not only can we make them custom, but they come in the shape of a brain or an eyeball… There’s some odd things out there that you can find to put your logo on if it applies to your business.”

While many smaller items are made in China, Sherman Creative offers plenty of USA-made promotional items, something important to some of their customers. Shapiro would like to see more U.S. manufacturers get into the promotions business.

Sherman Creative also carries a large number of apparel items in red and black, ready for the YSU logos and those of specific departments at the university. 

Sherman Creative is one of three companies YSU works with for their promotional items. 

Another big aspect of being a small and local business is helping the community. One of Shapiro’s efforts is to support the United Way, both through her time and in kind donations. Ferko enjoys participating in the spring planting of flowers downtown with Youngstown Cityscape’s Steetscape program.

Pictured at top: Stephanie Shapiro, managing partner of Sherman Creative, and Malinda Ferko, Sherman Creative’s customer support specialist.