Mason, OH-based Top 40 promo products distributor Touchstone (asi/345631) has entered into a new joint venture with Veterans4You (asi/351897), a Florida-headquartered federal contractor that specializes in recruitment and retention programs and products for the U.S. military and its primary contractors.
Financial terms of the venture were not released in the Wednesday, Sept. 16 announcement of the partnership.
“We are thrilled to be completing what is essentially an acquisition in principle of Veterans4You to our portfolio of diversified services,” said Touchstone CEO/Founder Derek Block. “We’ve long been intrigued by the government sector and how we can leverage our brand position, our tools, our systems and the sophistication of Touchstone within that space. We are extremely excited about adding the great people of Veterans4You into our culture and also the continued growth opportunities of our own Touchstone colleagues.”
Timothy J. Farrell, a United States Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam and earned two Purple Hearts, founded Veterans4You in 2012. The company is certified as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Florida, New York and many global corporations.
In addition to promotional products that support recruitment, retention, recognition, safety and well-being programs, Veterans4You offers safety disposables like gloves, blankets and coveralls, as well as services like digital marketing and design.
After a five-year hiatus, Touchstone returned this year to Counselor’s list of the 40 largest distributors as determined by North American promotional product revenue. In the five years through 2019, Touchstone doubled its sales, with North American revenue in 2019 reaching $48.5 million. That was good enough to land Touchstone at 36th on the Top 40. In February, Touchstone acquired Arizona-based Freestyle Marketing.
