#10 Jonathan Isaacson & Frank Carpenito

Gemline (asi/56070)

2022 Rank: #4

Jonathan Isaacson – Executive Chair

Industry Experience: 35 years

Previous Appearances on Power 50: 17

Frank Carpenito – President & CEO

Industry Experience: 9 years

Previous Appearances on Power 50: 0

A Power 50 mainstay, Jonathan Isaacson is joined this year by Frank Carpenito, the president of Gemline who added CEO to his title in January. Carpenito had been president of Gemline, the industry’s 12^th-largest supplier, since 2019, and had served on the company’s board of advisors five years prior to that. Carpenito also spent about 30 years in consumer products, and has taken an increasingly visible role both at Gemline and within the promo industry.

“Frank will ensure we continue to grow and prosper and consistently exceed the expectations of our distributor partners,” Isaacson said in January when announcing Carpenito’s promotion. For his part, Isaacson is now executive chair of Gemline’s board of advisors. Counselor’s 2021 Person of the Year took an outsized role during the pandemic, effecting tremendous good in the industry, his local community and the world. And it’s true that Isaacson remains a paragon for giving back – the latest example coming just this month when Gemline donated $75,000 toward emergency relief for Israel, announced in a letter to the industry penned by Isaacson. But with less of a need for Isaacson’s extraordinary contributions, he slides six spots on this year’s Power 50 list. (Slightly lower influence scores on the Power 50 also contributed to the drop.) Still, Gemline is thriving; the supplier grew 18% in 2022 and has continued to add retail brands to its offerings at a brisk pace, most recently VSSL and Out of the Ocean, and expanded its Cuisinart and MiiR backpack lines.