Starline (asi/89320) has announced a partnership with uni-ball that marks the Grand Island, NY supplier’s expansion into writing instruments. Starline executives said Tuesday, Aug. 25 that the company will become the exclusive supplier of the uni-ball brand to the promotional products industry beginning in January 2021. 

“Our strategic partnership with Starline provides a compelling new platform to deliver customized solutions utilizing Starline’s unparalleled digital production technologies,” says uni-ball President Mike Parker in reference to solutions like TruColor, Starline’s digital print process. “Our teams are enthusiastically engaged and excited about our future.”

Uni-ball is a leading manufacturer of quality pens and pencils for more than 130 years. Notably, uni-ball holds more than 1,050 patents, including its acid-free Super Ink, an archival-quality pigment ink that offers what the company says is extraordinary levels of resistance to water, chemicals and light.

“Uni-ball is one of the single most respected names in writing instruments worldwide,” said Brian Porter, Starline’s SVP of sales and marketing. “Although this is a new direction for Starline, we feel so strongly about the brand and the quality that it is a very easy decision to make and we’re honored to have been chosen to partner with them.” 

Starline was most recently a Counselor Top 40 supplier in 2018. That year, the company ranked 40^th on Counselor’s list of the largest suppliers in the industry as determined by North American promotional product revenue. This year the supplier was a winner in the Counselor Distributor Choice Awards for flashlights & tools as well as a finalist in two other categories (coolers and sunglasses). Starline also won a 2020 Counselor Promo Campaign Award for Best Use of Social Media.