Media, PA—This year, ASD – Answering Service for Directors, the leading call support center for funeral professionals, is celebrating the company’s 50^th anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, ASD will be holding a client cocktail party during the 2022 NFDA Convention. The party will take place on Monday, October 10th from 6:30 until 8:30p at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

AUBURN, Ind. – The Messenger Company, the leading provider of funeral stationery, personalization solutions and insurance funding, is pleased to announce the acquisition of Thumbies® Fingerprint Keepsakes located in Woodstock, Illinois. This new addition to the Messenger family of companies will allow the Messenger team of sales reps to offer the complete line of Thumbies jewelry in their portfolio of products, supporting the needs of funeral home partners across the country. 

KINGSTON, Ontario - YourSocialStrategy.com is announcing a new brand in the funeral industry, FuneralClicks. FuneralClicks is an agency that provides marketing services to funeral homes across North America.

Starmark Cremation Products is pleased to announce that its Nature’s Way® Natural and Terra green burial and cremation containers have been certified by the Green Burial Council.

Inflation is up, the stock market is down and your 401(k) is feeling every bit of that stretch. So how do you keep calm and hold steady when everything around you is spinning out of control? 

ASD’s NEXT STEP Text™ allows funeral homes to immediately provide important resources to families via text message.

Saint Francis Cromo announced in March that they will now be known as “Reliable Funeral Supply, a division of Saint Francis Cromo.” The rebrand also comes with a shift to offering customers the option of ordering directly through Reliable Funeral Supply instead of going through a distributor.

Express Funeral Funding is thrilled to announce the launch of their new website, www.expressfuneralfunding.com. The new platform provides a sleek, leading-edge design, coupled with impeccable functionality and a comprehensive overview of the expansive services Express Funeral Funding offers.

The Messenger Company is pleased to announce the acquisition of Bass-Mollett Publishers. The acquisition brings together the funeral industry’s two leading stationery providers - both of which are OGR supply partners - whose combined product line, personalization options and technology solutions will create the broadest product platforms available for funeral homes.

With last year’s winter COVID spike pushing the entire funeral profession to the brink, ASD – Answering Service for Directors spent the majority of 2021 preparing for the next big wave. For the leading funeral home answering service, planning ahead in the pandemic age requires the company to build up its workforce to ensure the call volume does not exceed staffing levels. After a major company-wide shift toward remote work, ASD is now fully staffed and ready to confront the next potential COVID surge. Despite a recent increase in call volume, over the past 30 days, less than 3% of incoming calls to ASD have been placed on hold.

RICHMOND, Ind. (Nov. 16, 2021) – Starmark, a leading provider of innovative funeral products, is proud to announce that its Artisan Vista cremation container product line has been certified by the Green Burial Council. Starmark joins a number of other funeral and cemetery professionals who share a commitment to creating more sustainable after-death options for families, their communities and the planet.

AUBURN, Ind. (Oct. 27, 2021) - Messenger, a leading provider in funeral stationery, personalization solutions and insurance funding, recognized its top sales representatives with achievement awards during their corporate dinner held in conjunction with the 2021 National Funeral Directors Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

BILLERICA, Mass. (Sept. 21, 2021) – The Dodge Company is pleased to announce the addition of long-time Dodge employee John “Jack” Kleis to its team of sales representatives. Admittedly, it is always good when one can promote from within the company, and so it is with Jack, who says, “It feels like I’ve been apprenticing for this position for 20 years!”

Thumbies’ New Viper and Deception Cigar Cutters add personality to utility with engraved prints from pets and loved ones.

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (Sept. 7, 2021) – Express Funeral Funding (EFF), the industry's largest privately held at-need insurance assignment funding company, is pleased to announce the acquisition of We Fund Funerals (WFF).

KINGSTON, Ontario (Sept. 1, 2021) - Mike Hepburn and his team at YourSocialStrategy.com are proud to introduce their new funeral home digital marketing program, FuneralClicks.com.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (Passages) – Passages International, Inc., has introduced eight new designs to their Journey Earthurn® collection.

Woodstock, IL – May 24, 2020: Thumbies® Inc., creator of one-of-a-kind jewelry and keepsakes worn or carried in memory of a loved one, announces the launch of two new products, designed in the spirit of a life celebrated and of memories kept close. The two new knife options are unique tributes to a loved one and will be available for only $90 through the month of May, to allow for Father’s Day gift orders.

INDIANAPOLIS (May 20, 2021) – The Order of the Golden Rule (OGR), the world’s leading professional association dedicated to making independent funeral homes exceptional, is pleased to welcome Bogati Urn Company as its newest partner.

MEDIA, Penn. (ASD) – Answering Service for Directors recently achieved a significant milestone, recording the 10,000th version update to the company’s answering service system. ASD Vice President and Family-Member Owner Marty Czachor Jr. first custom-designed the company’s state-of the-art telephone answering computer system back in the mid-90s. Since that time, it has been updated 10,000 times with numerous enhancements.