• The supervisory board of Cognis in Monheim, Germany, has appointed Paul Allen, executive vice president Functional Products, to the management board. Allen has been head of Cognis’ Strategic Business Unit (SBU) Functional Products since January 2006, and president of Cognis Corp. in the United States since February 2004.

    Cognis Corp., Cincinnati, also announced that Christopher Toomey has been promoted to regional vice president of the company’s Functional Products division. Toomey was previously Cognis’ business director of Paint, Coatings and Inks.

     

  • Cimbar Performance Minerals, Cartersville, Ga., has hired Marcy Baugh as director, business development, to manage the company’s distributor network and key accounts. Mark Brooks has also joined Cimbar as Southwest regional marketing manager to develop business for its Houston plant.

     

  • The board of directors of Northern Coatings & Chemical Company, Inc., Menominee, Mich., has elected Susan Ellie as vice president of finance and administration.

     

  • Marco Hartmann has been appointed project manager of Process Systems at Malvern Instruments GmbH. He succeeds Oliver Schmitt, who moved to Malvern Instruments’ headquarters in Malvern, UK, to lead the company’s growing process business worldwide.

     

  • PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, has named Patrick J. Kenny to the newly created position of general manager, corporate marketing and construction markets. Kenny has been manager of PPG’s construction market team since 2003, and now assumes the additional responsibility of leading PPG’s corporate marketing initiatives. He will continue reporting to Dick Beuke, vice president of Growth Initiatives.

     

  • Richard P. Muny, CEO of Chemsultants International, Mentor, Ohio, has announced the promotion of Gary A. Avalon to the position of chief operating officer. Reporting to Avalon are: Keith W. Muny, president of ChemInstruments; James Duvall, vice president, Technical Operations; Pasco Santurri, Ph.D., vice president, Fuel Cell Technology; Bonnie Cole, vice president, Financial Operations; and Jennifer Muny Raj, Group Services administrator.

     

  • International Paint LLC, Houston, a division of Akzo Nobel, has hired Kevin Perego to serve as its new Protective Coatings sales zone manager in markets throughout Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Southern Iowa and Central/Southern Illinois.

     

  • Soliant, LLC, Lancaster, S.C., manufacturer of Fluorex® paint film, has named Leonard E. Poole to the position of automotive technical sales manager. Poole brings over eight years of advanced development, engineering and account management experience in the decorative film and insert molding industry.

     

  • Fitz Chem Corp., Itasca, Ill., has hired Matthew Rhead as inside sales and marketing manager.

     

  • H.B. Fuller Company, St. Paul, Minn., announced that Al Stroucken, chairman, president and CEO, has resigned. Succeeding Stroucken as president and CEO is Michele Volpi, currently group president and general manager of the organization’s Global Adhesives business group. Volpi will also join the H.B. Fuller board of directors. Lee Mitau, executive vice president and general counsel, U.S. Bancorp, and independent director of H.B. Fuller since 1996, has been elected non-executive chairman of the board.

     

  • Nicholas Trainer, president of Sartomer Company, Exton, Pa., a division of TOTAL’s Chemicals branch, has retired from the company. Trainer is a member of the board of directors of Sartomer Company, Inc.; Total Holdings USA, Inc.; Cook Composites & Polymers Co.; and, Bostik, Inc.

    John A. “Jack” Potts, senior vice president, business management, sales and marketing for Sartomer, has also retired.

    Dr. Luigi Colantuoni, vice president of TOTAL’s Atotech Far East, was named Trainer’s successor and took over general management responsibility on January 1.

     

  • Smithchem & Young LLC, Montvale, N.J., a subsidiary of Lansco Colors, has appointed Robert Whiteley to the newly created position of vice president, business development. Whiteley came to Smithchem & Young from Ultra Additives/Münzing, where he served as vice president, global sales and marketing. Whiteley is currently chairman of the board of the Metropolitan New York Paint and Coatings Association.