CITY OF COMMERCE, CA — The 16th annual Woodworking Industry Conference (WIC) taking place April 25 to 28, 2007, at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club in St.

WASHINGTON – An unseasonably warm December helped boost total housing starts, which includes condominiums and apartments, 4.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.642 million units for the month, according to number released by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Single-family builders, however, broke ground on fewer homes in December.

BATON ROUGE, LA – Louisiana State University’s AgCenter recently received a $790,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy to research new technologies for mixing wood and other natural fibers with commingled waste plastics.

PROVIDENCE, RI – The owner of a furniture factory in Olneyville, RI, has been charged with first-degree arson in an alleged unsuccessful attempt to destroy the building. According to The Providence Journal, Markus Gorkin, owner of United Industries, tried to destroy the factory on Dec. 26 using what investigators called elaborate incendiary devices triggered by timers. The factory was reportedly insured for $4 million.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI –The Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturers Assn. said December orders grew two percent year-over-year to $875 million, a three percent drop from November, according to Reuters. This continues a trend toward slower growth for office furniture orders, an analyst said. The growth of shipments also slowed, increasing only five percent to $1.01 billion compared to 8 percent growth in November.

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WASHINGTON -- The U.S.

CLEVELAND -- Demand for hard surface flooring in China is expected to climb 7.3% per year through 2010 to over three billion square meters, according to a new study, Flooring in China,

WASHINGTON – According to the Composite Panel Assn., producers of MDF in North America reported record shipments in 2006 of more than 2.6 billion square feet of MDF panels (3/4 in. basis). The total increased 7 percent from the previous high of 2.4 billion square feet set in 2004.

GAYLORD, MI – A company that planned to purchase a former Georgia-Pacific particleboard mill to make wood pellets to export to Europe has backed out of the deal. According to the <I>Record Eagle,<I>principals of Upper 40 could not be reached for comment and G-P representatives decline to say why the deal died.