Hickory Chair Furniture Co. invited all four of its design partners — Mariette Himes Gomez, Alexa Hampton, Suzanne Kasler and Thomas O'Brien — to develop exciting new pieces for a multi-faceted release at the Fall International Home Furnishings Market.

Belgian outdoor furniture manufacturer Royal Botania is pleased to announce the winner of the “Dress Up the D-Lux Contest.” The brand offered its innovative D-Lux chair as a blank canvas for creativity. After reviewing submissions, the company has selected the artwork of Brooklyn-based artist Rebecca Sherman.

The Southern Pine Inspection Bureau (SPIB) is working with the USDA Forest Products Laboratory to verify all data to establish new design values for visually graded Southern Pine dimension lumber, for final consideration by the American Lumber Standard Committee (ALSC) Board of Review.

Drexel Heritage Furniture will introduce its new case goods Options Finishing Program to retailers at High Point Market.

This October at the International Home Furnishings Market in High Point, North Carolina, custom upholstery manufacturer Miles Talbott Furniture will expand their finish options by offering customers a selection of Benjamin Moore paint colors.

Wood contract furniture manufacturer OFS Brands is considering a $9.25 expansion of its North Carolina operations that would bring 188 full time jobs to the High Point area over five years, according to the High Point Economic Development Corp.

A tentative settlement was reached last week in the $20 million lawsuit brought by GreenStone Farm Credit Services, owner of Aacer Flooring and Wolf River Lumber, against Gary Ort et al, former proprietor of the Wisconsin-based companies.

HNI Corp. plans to invest $20 million expanding panel processing and manufacturing in its Muscatine, IA operations. The parent of business furnishings businesses as such Hon, Allsteel, and Paolli, will buy land and spend $14.7 million on equipment.

HNI Corp., fomerly HON, reported sales of $550.9 million third quarter, though net income fell $400,000 to $24.5 million. Summer heat interrupted production, impacting earnings. Capital expenditures doubled to $44 million for the first nine months of the year.

In late 2011, Brazil and Chile sent the first chip vessels to pulp mills in China in over five years. In the past, Japan had been the major destination for Latin American Eucalyptus chips. With Japanese pulp mills paying considerably more than Chinese pulp mills for chips, it is likely that a majority of Eucalyptus chips from Latin America will continue to be shipped to Japan.