5Star Awards Inc., suppliers of quality awards and gifts, has announced the hiring of Pamela Dempsey as production manager. This latest development caps a very busy year for the company in which it expanded its square footage twice, added new equipment and services, and nearly doubled its sales.

Dempsey has an extensive background in the graphic arts industry. Her graphic communications career started in screen printing, and broadened into flexographic and offset printing, with the majority of her career spent in digital offset printing. In her new role, she will supervise the graphics, laser and sandblasting areas at 5Star Awards.

“Pamela’s creative, mechanical and technical aptitudes are the perfect match for 5Star’s commitment to customer satisfaction and employee growth,” said Lisa Higginbotham, co-owner.

In January 2015, 5Star Awards took over the front of the adjoining office suite at 100 Woodwinds Industrial Court and expanded by adding a 900-square-foot showroom featuring many samples of crystal, glass, plaques and apparel items. In September, the company added another 450 square feet, bringing the total square footage to 3,350.

These expansions allowed 5Star to reallocate its undersized showroom space to additional manufacturing. The company added a third Trotec 80-watt laser engraver, allowing it to expand its wholesale contract laser-cutting division. It also added a professional paint booth, and plans for 2016 include adding a fourth laser cutter and a large-format UV printer, which will allow for full-color decoration in-house on glass and acrylic awards.

“In 2015, we have had the most amazing growth in our 16 years of business, and this has allowed us to both expand our in-house capacity as well as adding staff,” stated Higginbotham. “The biggest learning experience for us has been fine-tuning our niche services, which are both high-end corporate awards and contract laser cutting for wholesale clients. Identifying our areas of expertise has resulted in almost doubling our sales for the year.”

For more information on 5Star Awards, visit www.5starawards.net or call 1-800-553-0133.