June 6, 2007
For Immediate Release
Contact: Heather Sanderson
847-573-6087, heathers @ overturepromo.com

Media Contact: Kathryn Jordan
847-682-1279, kathrynj @ overturepromo.com

Overture Premiums & Promotions Receives Women-Owned Business Certification

Chicago -- Overture Premiums & Promotions (legal entity: Overture, LLC) is now certified as a Women-Owned Business Enterprise (WBE). The certification is granted by the Chicago-based Women’s Business Development Center which provides local and regional certification processing on behalf of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council.

The value of WBE certification benefits both a certified company and its clients. For Overture, the certification results in automatic vendor approval with more than 1,000 major U.S. corporations that have active supplier-diversity programs.

“Early in 2006 we committed as a company that Overture would attain its WBE certification,” explains Overture Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Heather Sanderson. “We recognized that although Overture is highly recognized for its best-in-class services and has experienced tremendous growth in the past five-years, a number of opportunities were missed because we were not WBE certified.”

“Several of our Fortune 500 clients with established supplier-diversity program were urging us to explore the certification,” explains Jan Pennacchia, Overture Sales and Marketing. “They wanted to use more of Overture’s advertising specialty products and value-added production services for their premium and promotional projects, but couldn’t because we did not meet the requirements of their supplier-diversity initiatives.”

Most corporate supplier-diversity programs require the company or organization make a minimum level of purchases from either certified women-owned businesses and/or certified minority-owned businesses.

“After an intense application process requiring numerous details and hundreds of pages of documentation related to capitalization, control, competency and compensation of the owners and managers,” adds Sanderson, “I’m so thrilled we can tell our clients: You asked us for something you needed, and we performed! That’s our core principle and ‘secret to our success’ – consistently meet or exceed our customer’s expectations.”

“The WBE certification provides us with access to the marketplace from a new perspective,” continues Sanderson. “Our sales team and customer service representatives are excited about the opportunity of establishing new relationships with other organizations that use either WBE or MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) certified vendors.”

“Our Overture team has worked to earn the reputation it has for its consistent performance, customer-centric philosophy and best-in-class service,” closes Sanderson. “We’re invited to pursue opportunities because we are known for our industry knowledge and expertise; use of best-practices; and dedication to providing cutting-edge resources. With our WBE certification, we now can pursue opportunities we’ve previously had to decline because we didn’t meet the organization’s supplier-diversity program requirements.”

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) is considered the nation’s premier organization for women’s business development and provides the WBE certification through its regional affiliates including the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC). As a third-party certifier, the WBENC Women’s Business Enterprise Certification Program is considered in the “gold-standard” for WBE certification.

For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Heather Sanderson directly at 847-573-6087, heathers @ overturepromo.com, or Kathryn Jordan at 847-682-1279, kathrynj @ overturepromo.com. For additional information about WBE certification and supplier-diversity programs, click here. For photos of the Overture Staff, Heather Sanderson, and Overture facility, please click here.

Founded in 2001, Overture Premiums & Promotions offers more than 700,000 advertising specialty and promotional products; comprehensive in-house production and graphics services; fulfillment/distribution coordination; product web site design and management; and event support. Its management team is comprised of some of the industry’s “top-talent” who have more than 25 years experience in the advertising specialty and promotional products market. It is located in Vernon Hills, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago.

Overture Premiums & Promotions, LLC
595 North Lakeview Parkway
Vernon Hills, 60061
Toll-Free: 888-456-9594
847-573-6080