MONROE, MI – La-Z-Boy Inc. announced that Doug Collier has returned to the company as its vice president and chief marketing officer. Collier joined the company in 2002 as vice president, marketing for La-Z-Boy Residential, and was named CMO in 2004. In 2005 Collier left the company to join Select Comfort Corp. as its CMO.

PHILADELPHIA – Rohm & Haas, a specialty coatings company, announced it will spend half of its $300 million research and development budget on “environmentally friendly technologies.” The company said it will make greater efforts to develop products that reduce formaldehyde content on household items and reduce chemical gas emissions from coatings for bridges. Read more.

DUBLIN, IRELAND – Research and Markets has released two new studies, The Furniture Industry in China and The Furniture Industry in Brazil. Both reports offer a picture of the furniture sector in their respective countries. The reports also provide trends in furniture production and consumption, imports and exports, and prices.

LAVAL, QUE – 20-20 Technologies Inc., together with Virta Corp. — manufacturer of premium office furniture — announced an agreement to link Vitra’s furniture configuration application to 20-20’s office planning software product, CAP Studio. Vitra now supports a direct interface to 20-20 CAP Studio from the Enterprise Configurator of Vitra’s Configuration System.

KENTWOOD, MI – Kentwood Office Furniture, which restores office furniture, has acquired Remark Corp., a Grandville, MI-based competitor in the remanufactured office furniture market, according to The Grand Rapids Press. Kentwood Office Furniture will absorb Remark’s seven employees. Read more.

 

SALT LAKE CITY – Delcam, the developer of the ArtCAM suite of CADCAM software, will present its latest software updates to its customer base at a technical conference held August 19-21 at the Pheasant Run Resort and Spa in St. Charles, IL.

GREENSBORO, NC – Delmac Machinery Group has hired Chris Railey as a field service technician for the Southeast. He will focus on the Busellato line of CNC machining centers and routers.

INDIANAPOLIS –Furniture manufacturer University Loft Co. announced plans to open a new 508,000-square-foot facility in Mt. Comfort, IN this fall. The project is estimated to cost $22 million and has designated 58,000 square feet devoted to showcasing furniture, in addition to 20,000 square feet that will be used to display sinks, tubs and plumbing solutions. Read more.

GREENSBORO, NC – Delmac Machinery Group has added Casadei USA to its product line. Casadei’s range of products covers traditional woodworking machines to specialty panel machines, including: automatic panel saws; wide belt sanders; edgebanders; automatic throughfeed moulders; shapers and sliding table saws.