ARNHEM, NETHERLANDS -- Akzo Nobel, an international organization serving customers with human and animal healthcare products, coatings and chemicals, has acquired Chemcraft Holdings Corp., a privately-owned North American manufacturer of industrial wood coatings.

Oak Park, IL —  Within Your Reach held the Grand Opening for its new showroom on May 5. At the new location, individuals can meet with designers, view color and finish samples and walk through full-scale models for closets, bedrooms, pantries, laundry rooms, home offices, garages and mud rooms.

WAYNE, PA -- Software producer Deacom Inc. has recently tripled its office space in Wayne, PA. The expansion was initiated to accommodate new and anticipated sales and technical staff support of its DEACOM Integrated Accounting and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software System for building component and manufactured housing manufacturers.

ESCONDIDO, CA – Ultra-Flex Moulding Inc., a manufacturer of flexible moulding and architectural details made of polyurethane, appointed Gerie Sabatino to national sales manager. He has 20 years of experience in the polyurethane industries.  

AURORA, IN – Stedman Machine Co. announced the promotion of Dennis Gilmour to president. Gilmour is a veteran of the company; he joined Stedman in 1975 as a sales engineer. Stedman specializes in size reduction equipment.  

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.