I contacted Sarah Van Gorp from the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board in regards to the Free Marketing Material as a followup to my posting here back in November. Here is Sarah's response:

"Sorry this process has taken so long. We had some changes in staff so I'm actually no longer working with the soy candles project. Elaine Kenney (ekenney@iasoybeans.com) now handles all the soy candles marketing activities.

After years of hearing from many of my colleagues that they had received cease and desist letters from Yankee Candle's lawyers, I felt rather discounted by the candle giant for omitting me. But today, that all changed.

Be on the alert all this month for opportunities to showcase your Chandler Guild member business as part of National Crafts Month. Too often the word 'crafts' is associated with simplistic, do-it-yourself hobby activities. This domain of crafting is all well and good. But we forget that most manufacturing before the Industrial Revolution was home-based and done through craft-scale production processes.

Hi! I generally make container candles and I'm curious about what others here do to prepare their candles for shipping? Is it wise to add something to the wax to harden it so the candles don't crack during shipping? What shipping method do you use? I'm interested in any ideas I can get!
Thanks,
Amanda Drew
Alight Soy Candles

We have Display SoyBeans for sale.... 5 lbs for $5.00 plus $5.00 shipping and handling.

If you need beautiful soybeans that will help your customers see the purity of your soy products send us an email at airy@mebbs.com or give us a call at 319-438-6081 or 319-350-9956. Thank You.

I asked Sarah for an update on the Free Marketing material from the Iowa Soybean Promotion Board.

Here is her response (reprinted with her permission):

"We are in the process of working on our soy wax agreement. After that is complete I will email the wax agreement to everybody. The wax agreement will say that a candle manufacture has to use at least 70% of soybean oil in their candles. After that is signed the manufacture will be able to order marketing materials on line. We are still in the process of creating some of the materials. We hope to have everything available by January."

Hi Everyone,

Curious to know what everyone is doing with your candle businesses to prepare for the holidays?
We're going to introduce candle baskets and some new projects that were working on that are not quite perfected.
What are some of your favorite holiday scents?
Has anyone been doing local craft fairs? How did you do?
Just want to keep in touch and help everyone stay motivated.

Hi everyone,

I am in the process of forming my Welcome Letter to those organizations that choose to use my candles for their fundraising efforts. Before I rack my brain figuring out what to say, I was wandering if anyone has a standard letter that they use and if they would be willing to share it.

Thanks,
Gwen

Hi,

I am looking for someone or a company that will make a professional fundraising form for my business. I would like to give my business to another small business owner. Does anyone out there have connections to a printing business?
If so, please provide the contact information.
Thanks,
Gwen

Dear Soy Candle Manufacturer,

The Iowa Soybean Promotion Board is a farmer-driven board, whose objectives include increasing demand for soybeans. Soy candle wax has the potential to use up to 100 million bushels of soybeans, and soy candle manufacturers are key partners in reaching this soybean usage goal.