Pageant benefits Brownsville economy
The Miss USA pageant is helping to support the Brownsville economy, even if neither Donald Trump nor any of the contestants ever set foot in the town. Trump and the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) are partners in the Miss Universe Organization, the parent company of the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA and the affiliated state contests.
Randy Sanders of Low Hill in Washington County has been producing the Miss Pennsylvania USA and Miss Teen Pennsylvania contests for a decade. He also handles the pageants in West Virginia and Indiana. He was on hand last Friday in Baltimore to encourage his three winners as they competed for the Miss USA title.
“I was there to be a support system, along with their families, for those three winners. I was their go-to person,” Sanders said. “They just need a smiling face once in a while.”
In addition to supporting “his” contestants, Sanders also supports the local economy. Sanders said his company sends out about a million and a half mailing pieces a year, all of which go through the Brownsville post office and most of which are printed at Tru Copy Printing in Brownsville.
“We do a tremendous amount of printing, letters and invitations from Mr. Trump. We call them the Trump inserts. It means quite a boost to the business,” said Ray Koffler, who owns Tru Copy. “We’re printing four pageant books. We do the complete layout and design and printing. The pageants last until Thanksgiving.”
Sanders said he offers consulting services to his colleagues in other states, including printing and sending out letters to contestants. Sanders said he mailed 1.2 million pieces out of the Brownsville post office in 2005. That is nearly equal to all of the letter-size mail delivered by the Brownsville post office in a year. According to Brownsville Postmaster Stan Angel, the facility delivered just over 1.5 million letters last year.
“We definitely welcome their business and do everything we can to accommodate them, whether it’s extra trays or whatever,” Angel said.
Angel said Sanders and Associates handles all of the preparation, including labeling, sorting and bundling the letters for shipment.
Koffler said he has been working with Sanders for about three years, gaining for the local company more of the printing contract each year.
“We started out small. We started out printing just a couple orders of envelopes, maybe 200,000-300,000,” Koffler said.
This past year Koffler printed 1.5 million envelopes and letters, 100,000 Trump inserts and the programs for four pageants.
“Every piece of business retains or adds an employee. If he grows, we’re going to grow,” Koffler said.