People To Know

George Ahearn, CEO of GEO Specialty Chemicals, has been named an "Entrepreneur of the Year" in the manufacturing category in an awards program sponsored by Ernst & Young. The program recognizes entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities. Ahearn started Cleveland-based GEO Specialty Chemicals in 1992. The company supplies products for a variety of markets, including coatings.

Buckman Laboratories has named Michael Anstey vice president of Research and Development. Anstey joined the company in 1977 as an area representative in eastern Canada, and later was named Division manager for coatings for all of Canada. He also has held technical and management positions in Asia and Canada.

Solutia Inc. has named Franz-Anton Bind Sales manager, Eastern Europe, for liquid-coatings resins, powder-coatings resins, technical resins, and additives. Bind has held a variety of management positions in the chemical industry in Germany, and joined Solutia in March.

ICI Paints North America has named John J. Haggerty vice president and general counsel, with responsibility for the company's legal and intellectual-property functions. He also joins the company's board of directors and North American Executive Team. Haggerty joined ICI in January 2000 as Group Litigation counsel for ICI Americas Inc. He previously was a trial lawyer with the Dechert Law Firm in Philadelphia.

Sally Hayes has joined Duron Inc. as Market manager for Illinois, with responsibility for marketing and business development in the multifamily housing segment in the Chicago area. Hayes was formerly Market manager for Frazee Paints, and also has held sales and marketing positions in the property-management industry.

The Resin and Additives business unit of Solutia Inc. has named Frank Jakse Market Development specialist for the unit's Additives and Specialty Products line and James Stockhausen Market Development specialist for the Resin and Additives business unit in the Americas. Jakse was formerly responsible for Solutia's New Product and Development process, and has held various research and market-development positions over the last 20 years. Stockhausen assumes responsibility for market-development activities related to the business unit's coatings resin products, and is the product manager for Solutia's Technical Resins business in the Americas. He has held various manufacturing, marketing, technical-service, business-management, and market-development positions over the past 20 years.

Degussa Corp.'s Coatings and Colorants Business Unit has promoted David Kallal to the newly created position of director of Global Accounts, with responsibility for the implementation of long-term planning and sales strategies related to key accounts worldwide.

Kessler Chemical Inc., Bethlehem, PA, has promoted Gary J. Kessler to vice president of Sales and Marketing, with management responsibilities for market planning, product development, and sales to distributors. He joined Kessler, a supplier of chemical intermediates and solvents, in 1995 as a sales representative.

Thomas B. Lamb has joined Huber Engineered Materials, a division of J.M. Huber Corp., as president and sector CEO. He was formerly president of the Customer Solutions Division of Lexmark International, a supplier of printing materials. He was previously vice president and general manager of the Industrial Chemical Sector of General Chemical Corp.

Industrial Environmental Coatings Corp., Pompano Beach, FL, has promoted Michael McGlamry to Customer Service representative, a newly created position designed to meet the needs of an expanding customer base, the company said. McGlamry joined the company seven years ago, and has worked as a plant foreman and field representative. The company is a producer of thick-film epoxy coatings and linings.

Lyondell Chemical Senior Chemist Carmen Rodriguez has received the Philadelphia Society for Coatings Technology's Technical Award, becoming only the 12th recipient of the award since the prize was created in 1973. Marshall Jones, current Philadelphia society president, credited Rodriguez with organizing the most successful Eastern Training Conference in the society's history. The conference offers a variety of training seminars geared to assist chemists who have recently joined the coatings industry.

Thomas W. Rogers, Apollo Colors Inc., has been elected chairman of the Color Pigments Manufacturers Association at the organization's recent annual meeting. Nabil Farkouh, Clariant Corp., and Charles Hoover, Hoover Color Corp., were elected first and second vice chairmen, respectively. New board of directors members are James Kassner, Bayer Corp.; David Thompson, Sun Chemical Corp.; and Russ Clevenger, Lawter International Inc. Phil Webb, BASF Corp., was re-elected to the board, and outgoing Chairman Robert Lane, Shepherd Color Co., continues as a board member. J. Lawrence Robinson was re-elected CPMA president, and was honored for his 25 years of service as the association's top staff executive.

Lyle Schott has joined Spraylat Corp. as Operations manager for the company's manufacturing facility in Gainesville, TX. Schott was formerly vice president of Operations for DuPont Powder Coatings, and started his coatings-industry career in 1973 with The Sherwin-Williams Co. Spraylat also has named Michael T. Morrissey Jr. and Geoffrey A. Souter to the company's Powder Coating Sales Team. Morrissey, who has more than 23 years of experience in the industrial coatings industry, will be responsible for a territory that includes eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. Souter, who has more than 25 years of experience in the industrial coatings industry, will handle the company's Southeast territory of North and South Carolina and Florida and selected OEM prospects.

Tom Ward has joined KTA-Tator Inc. as Business Development manager for the company's northwest and southwest regions, with responsibility for sales and marketing of the company's services in the western United States and for certain projects in China.