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Over the years, people have tended to try to demonize the State-Approved fireworks industry in California as well as, at times, the members of the general public who use these products to celebrate every 4th of July. In the interest of trying to give you a clearer perspective of American Promotional Events, Inc. (TNT Fireworks), who they are, and what they do, we thought it would be helpful to share some background information about them with you.
American Promotional Events, Inc. is not only the state's largest wholesale distributor of State-Approved ("Safe & Sane") Fireworks, but also the nation's leading consumer fireworks company. It is known for its commitment to excellence and the quality of its sales associates. Since entering the California market over 20 years ago, American Promotional Events, Inc., has distinguished itself throughout the state, and more particularly in each of the communities it serves, as a company that is committed to safety, quality and service.
Whether it is helping to develop and implement statewide as well as local fireworks safety and education efforts; working to remove wire-core sparklers from the market in California; toughening local ordinances; or working collectively with the Schwarzenegger Administration, CAL FIRE, the SFM and the local government, law enforcement and fire organizations such as: California State Firefighters Association (CSFA), California Fire Chiefs Association, Los Angeles County Sheriff, San Bernardino County Sheriff, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFL-CIO) and the League of California Cities, to introduce, lobby and gain passage of SB 839 in 2007 --- American Promotional Events, Inc. has established safety not only as a responsibility, but a high priority which it enthusiastically embraces.
American Promotional Events, Inc. has worked and is continuing to work with the Office of the State Fire Marshal to draft, develop and secure passage of tougher statewide regulations to improve the quality and performance standards of the State-Approved Fireworks items sold in California as well as increases in the industry's license fees so as to provide the necessary funding for police and fire departments to crack down on and rid communities of dangerous, illegal fireworks. All of this has been done so as to ensure that families can enjoy safe, 4th of July, backyard fireworks celebrations.
American Promotional Events, Inc. has striven to be true partners in service with each community whose non-profit organizations they serve. They recognize that the current economic times and difficulties are having their impact on the budgets of public sector agencies as well as non-profit community organizations and charities. The local civic organizations that sell State-Approved Fireworks range from service clubs, youth organizations, shelters for battered women, fraternal and veterans organizations, little leagues, school booster clubs, to PTAs and charities. Like many public agencies, these organizations have to face the dilemma of decreasing revenues in the face of the mounting costs of the services they provide to their communities (see brochure at /EDocs/Site60/Community_Brochure.pdf). American Promotional Events, Inc. works aggressively and with every creative ounce of energy possible to maximize these organizations' annual revenues so that they in turn can plow those benefits back into their communities.
What you may not know about American Promotional Events, Inc. (TNT Fireworks) is that it is one of several distinguished corporations owned and/or controlled by the Anderson family of Florence, Alabama. Among the other members of the Anderson Companies are some of the most successful businesses in the United States, including:
· Anderson Merchandisers L.P., the nation's largest distributor of pre-recorded music, movies and books. It services retail stores throughout the United States including all Wal-Marts and Sam's Clubs nationwide.
· Anderson Press, Inc., a privately-held niche publisher serving the following communities: Numismatic and Philatelic, Children's Books, and Memory Preservation. Anderson Press, Inc.'s affiliated companies (Whitman Publishing, LLC; H.E. Harris & Co.; and Dalmatian Press) boast a well-established history.
· Books-A-Million, the third largest book retailer in the nation and the single largest web-based retail competitor to Amazon.com (BOOKSAMILLION.COM) The company presently operates more than 200 stores in 19 states and the District of Columbia.
· Liquid Digital Media, formed in May 1996 by experts in the music and technology industries, it was the first company to deliver secure music over the Internet. It was the first company that had a digital music commerce system featuring copy protection and copyright management, as well as the first and largest digital music distribution network. The company's catalog of music is one of the largest in the world. It continues to provide custom solutions for Internet Media Delivery. Liquid Digital Media delivers access to its large and constantly expanding catalog of over 2.5 million digital music tracks from all major labels and hundreds of independent content aggregators and labels.
· Magazines.com, the oldest, the largest and the most dependable magazine subscription service on the Internet.
In addition, American Promotional Events, Inc. is one of the charter members of the American Fireworks Standards Laboratory (AFSL). This is a fireworks testing and safety lab similar to Underwriters Laboratory (UL) that works to improve and maintain the quality and consistency of the firework products sold in the United States.
When American Promotional Events, Inc. entered the California market over 30 years ago, it made certain commitments to communities that it works with, the State Fire Marshal's Office, local fire departments as well as the non-profit organizations who serve as the retail outlets for its product in California. On November 7, 1990, American Promotional Events, Inc. appeared before the State Board of Fire Services and made two proposals. The first of those was that it would voluntarily withdraw the popular, hand-held firework items known as wire-core or wooden-core "sparklers" and would work with the fire service to amend the state's regulations to remove both of these sparklers from the list of fireworks permitted to be sold and used in California. Their second proposal was that the fire service, the State-Approved Fireworks industry and the over 3,000 non-profit organizations who sell State-Approved Fireworks throughout the State of California in now 296 communities would work together in an aggressive, coordinated safety & education effort. (See summary of California Fireworks Safety and Education Program at /content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=498).
American Promotional Events' efforts to not only withdraw sparklers from the market in California, but to single-handedly work to change the state regulations before the 4th of July 1991 was called "the boldest move in the history of the fire service" by the State Board of Fire Services. The State Board of Fire Services is an advisory board to the California State Fire Marshal that, at the time, met quarterly and provided a state level forum for addressing fire protection/prevention issues of statewide concerns. Its membership was composed of representatives of local and county government, the fire service, labor and management organizations, CAL FIRE, the Office of Emergency Services and the insurance industry. In 1990, after discussing the scope, direction and limits of a statewide safety and education effort, the State Board of Fire Services unanimously endorsed the program and recommended that it be limited to the communities that currently permit the sale and use of State-Approved fireworks (See list divided by county at (/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=508). American Promotional Events, Inc. has kept that commitment and has underwritten the Safety & Education program as well as has provided in-kind resources to the tune of over $750,000.00 every year. That Safety & Education program includes a massive school program that is coordinated and delivered through Revell Communications, between January and July of every year, to over 2,000 schools in over 400 school districts throughout California.
In addition, this program has also included underwriting for the airing of the State Fire Marshal's television PSA's on illegal fireworks (http://drewg.dreamteamtech.com/media/video/DGB_PSA30TV.mov) and American Promotional Events, Inc.'s television PSA (http://drewg.dreamteamtech.com/media/video/CS_PSA30TV.mov) on the responsible use of State-Approved Fireworks on cable systems in those 296 communities. Each and every year, American Promotional Events, Inc. purchases the maximum number of :30-second spots that, along with the "auto fill" provided by the cable systems in those markets, saturate the cable channels in those communities over a 7- day period. (Spots air on such cable networks as ESPN, CNN, A&E, TNT, USA and Nickelodeon.)
