Supplier Diversity Award

April 27, 1999 -- Rosemont, IL – The Rosemont-based Marketing Innovators, a full-service incentive house and performance improvement company, was named one of the outstanding suppliers of the year for the JCPenney Company, Inc.  Founded in 1978, Marketing Innovators employs a staff of 50 people who work closely with clients, which include both large and small businesses, to improve employee performance and enhance customer loyalty.

Under the leadership of Lois M. LeMenager, Marketing Innovators has become one of the most respected performance improvement companies in the country.  Working Woman magazine recognized Marketing Innovators as one of the largest woman-owned businesses in America, and Crain’s Chicago Business has repeatedly ranked the company as one of the ten largest woman-owned firms in Chicago. Lois LeMenager has also been honored with many awards, including the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 1999 Enterpreneurial Success Award, Venture Magazine’s Entrepreneur of the Year, The Institute of American Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, Sales and Marketing Executives of Chicago’s Entrepreneurial Award, and National Association of Women Business Owners’s Influential Women in Business Award.

In 1980, Ms. LeMenager developed the Freedom to ChooseÒ program with JCPenney.  Out of this partnership, JCPenney Incentive Sales was formed as a full-service division of Marketing Innovators. During this 19-year partnership, LeMenager has been recognized by JCPenney with several awards, including Appreciation Awards for exemplary professionalism, tenacity and dedication.  In 1993, Marketing Innovators was named Supplier Divisional Winner.  This most recent award recognized Marketing Innovators as Supplier of the Year for the JCPenney Stores Division, through the JCPenney Supplier Diversity Award Program, which recognizes outstanding service and value from minority-owned and women-owned suppliers to JCPenney. 

Ms. LeMenager has been an avid supporter of numerous community-oriented projects and organizations.  She has been particularly active in organizations such as Junior Achievement and Students in Free Enterprise, that allow her to positively impact the lives of young people.  Her company was also one of the innovators in orchestrating an application for retail gift certificates beyond the corporate market. Through its non-for-profit Scrip fundraising program, thousands of non-for-profit associations, schools, churches and civic groups have literally raised millions of dollars in the last five years. 

With innovation as its cornerstone, Marketing Innovators works closely with clients to develop performance solutions that recognize and motivate individuals in a variety of ways, including: Sales Incentives, Employee Recognition, Suggestion Programs, Service Awards, Lead/Referral Incentives, Safety Programs, Training, and Business Gifts. As a leader in the incentive industry, the company provides customized program design, creative communications, program management and evaluation, incentive travel and meeting management, plus a variety of awards and incentives.