AWARD NOMINATION
Industry Game Changer Award
Nominee: Connie Jones, Founder & Owner | Rimco Marketing Products
In an industry often defined by the next trend, the next product launch, and the next disruptive platform, the most meaningful game changers are sometimes the ones who never made noise about it. Connie Jones, founder and owner of Rimco Marketing Products, built something rare: a specialized, trusted, 40-year institution that became indispensable to the most discerning brands in the world. Quietly, deliberately, and without compromise.
Building a Niche Before “Niche” Was a Strategy
When Connie founded Rimco in 1984, the promotional products industry was largely a commodity business. Anyone could sell a pen or a polo. Connie saw something different. She recognized that the hospitality sector (resorts, timeshares, and fine dining) required a partner who understood brand standards, presentation quality, and the guest experience, not just a vendor who could fill an order.
She built Rimco into the go-to source for custom owner kits for the resort and vacation ownership industry, along with premium binder and menu covers for restaurants across Orlando and the nation. These aren’t flashy product categories. They are foundational touchpoints in a guest’s experience with a brand. Connie understood that before anyone was using the language of “brand experience” or “touchpoint strategy.”
The Proof Is in the Portfolio
The measure of a true game changer isn’t just what they built. It’s who trusts them with their brand. Connie’s client roster reads like a who’s who of global hospitality excellence: Marriott, Hilton Grand Vacations, Four Seasons, and Ritz-Carlton. These are organizations with the resources to work with anyone. They choose Rimco, and have continued to choose Rimco, because Connie delivers something no catalog or online platform can replicate: deep understanding, consistent execution, and a relationship that feels like a true partnership.
When a client calls, brand standards aren’t negotiable. Every product that leaves Rimco’s hands reflects the level of care those brands demand, and the level of trust they’ve placed in Connie to protect what they’ve spent decades building. That is not a relationship you earn once. You earn it every single day.
Redefining What “Game Changer” Means
The promotional products industry celebrates disruption. But disruption without staying power is just noise. Connie Jones changed the game by demonstrating what a specialty distributorship could look like when built on expertise rather than volume, on relationships rather than transactions, and on a deep belief that branded merchandise is an extension of a client’s brand promise, not just a giveaway.
For four decades, she has set a quiet standard that many have tried to follow: know your client’s business better than they expect you to, protect their brand standards with the same care they do, and show up reliably, professionally, every time. That model of deep vertical specialization in hospitality branded materials is now widely imitated, but Connie Jones was doing it when it had no name.
The Industry Game Changer Award was created for people who changed the trajectory of the industry. Connie Jones didn’t do it with a press release. She did it with 40 years of extraordinary work, work that earned the trust of the most brand-conscious organizations on the planet and proved that in this industry, true expertise is the most powerful differentiator of all.
Rimco Marketing Products | Orlando, Florida | Est. 1984
