Industry News (Week of 6/19/06)

DOW PMDI FACILITY NOW FULLY OPERATIONAL

The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI, has announced that its polymeric methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (PMDI) facility at Freeport, TX, has completed its start-up phase and is now fully operational. Production at the new 500 million lb. facility will replace PMDI production at the Dow LaPorte, TX, plant, which will be permanently shut down effective immediately. This action represents the final step in the planned closure of the 500 million lb. LaPorte facility announced by Dow last year.

For more information, visit http://www.dow.com .

FEICA ANNOUNCES EUROPEAN ADHESIVES CONFERENCE 2006

The 2006 FEICA European Adhesives Conference will take place Sept. 13-15, 2006, at the Five Star Grand Hotel Huis ter Duin in Noordwjik aan Zee, the Netherlands. Take advantage of FEICA's Early Registration Discount until July 31st. Online registration is available at http://www.feica.com/conferences .

Highlights of this year's conference include:

FEICA FORUM: Reach and Chemistry for Europe - Adapting to the Changing Needs of the Industry

Presented by Judith Hackitt, director Implementation Chemicals for Europe, CEFIC

Formerly the director of the UK's Chemical Industry Association, Hackitt will speak about CEFIC's ambitious response to the new challenges facing the chemical industry, including REACH, the restructuring of industry representation and the opportunities offered for the industry to work more closely together to show commitment to the safe management of chemicals throughout the supply chain.

BUSINESS TRACK: IT Security and Prevention

Presented by Harald Lennemann, chief superintendent, Institute for the Education and Training of the Police Department, Northrine Westphalia

This presentation will explore Internet crime and weaknesses in IT systems that can cause serious damage to company systems, as well as the loss of confidential business and technical information.

For more information, visit http://www.feica.com/conferences .

K-TEK EXPANDS PRODUCT MANAGEMENT TEAM

K-TEK, Prairieville, LA, has announced the expansion of the product management team for the company's complete line of point and continuous-level-measurement products. The product management group now includes Robert Hotard, product manager for Magnetostrictive and Guided Wave Radar Products; Winston Landymore, product manager for Capacitance and Vibrating Fork Products; and Ivo Radanov, product manager for Laser and Ultrasonic Products. Each product manager is responsible for managing the entire life cycle of the product line, including strategic planning, specifying market requirements based on industry experience and contact with customers, and tactical product launch activities.

For more information, visit http://www.ktekcorp.com .

PLASTICOLORS ANNOUNCES NEW APPOINTEES

Plasticolors, Inc., Ashtabula, OH, recently welcomed two new employees to its staff and promoted another. As safety manager, Dave Dennison will be responsible for the effective administration of Plasticolors' safety programs. Regulatory Affairs Specialist Karen Eglinton will be primarily responsible for maintaining air permits, hazardous waste management, and product and raw material regulatory impact reviews, among other duties. And Wendy Games was promoted to the position of Quality Systems specialist. Games has been a Plasticolors employee for eight years and previously served as a quality control technician.

For more information, visit http://www.plasticolors.com .

SOLUTION DISPERSIONS INC. NAMES CHEMCENTRAL CARBON BLACK DISTRIBUTOR

Solution Dispersions Inc., Cynthiana, KY, has announced the appointment of CHEMCENTRAL and CHEMCENTRAL joint venture partners as distributors for their quality lines of carbon black dispersions for all global locations except the United States. Solution Dispersions Inc. has grown from a product offering of 20 distinct products to its current product line featuring over 200 formulations ranging from economical generic carbon black dispersions to highly complex custom formulations specifically developed to satisfy customers' unique requirements.

For more information, visit http://www.solutiondispersions.com .