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C&W Cos., an embroidery and screen printing operation based in Rienzi, Miss., saw a record year in '17 for its college business, fueled in part by strong numbers around bowl games and the CFP. The behind-the-scenes firm embroidered gear for 20 bowl games this past season, including all the gear for four CFP teams and the volunteers working the CFP semifinals and national championship. Additionally, 15 bowl-eligible schools hired the company to embellish their bowl game gear. C&W VP Will Carnell said that overall, his family-owned company stitched logos on more than 35,000 pieces of apparel and bags, a 35% increase over last year’s record total. He said the company’s college business -- all handled at its 100,000-square-foot facility located two hours southeast of Memphis -- has more than doubled since '13. Having existing clients Notre Dame and Texas playing in a bowl game helped fuel this year’s growth. Bowl season also is the company’s busiest period, and the embroidery division has approximately 115 employees operating 550 machine heads. Meanwhile, the 15 employees in C&W's screen printing operation decorated more than 15,000 pieces of apparel. That included screen printing for gear for 15 bowl games, including all the CFP work. Additionally, the company did screen printing directly with 14 bowl-eligible schools, as well as Conference USA and the Mountain West. The majority of C&W’s college business comes through a relationship with Performance Award Center, a Carrollton, Texas-based company that serves as a broker between high-end brands and companies that provide gifts and incentives to their employees and partners.
