MOVERS & SHAKERS

All Fill appoints Sam "Buddy" Pennisi manager of research and development.

Bobst Group USA promotes Doug Herr to national sales manager, Folding Carton business; he has been with Bobst for 29 years.

Dennis McGrew becomes the new president and CEO of NatureWorks LLC, following the retirement of the former president, Kathleen Bader. McGrew had been vp and chief marketing officer.

George Reynolds joins Avery Dennison RFID as vp of sales & marketing; he locates at the company's Atlanta Technical Center.

Eric Beringause joins Alcoa Consumer Products as president of the consumer products business within Alcoa, Inc.; he had been a senior vp at Novartis.

Colder Products promotes Rick Garber to vp of marketing to oversee the co.'s global marketing and sales support. Garber had been the smart technology business unit manager.

Cousins Currie, Ltd. names John Tzanis as general sales manager; Michael Scott is welcomed to the company as manager of export sales.

Dainippon Ink & Chemicals, parent company of Sun Chemical Corp., appoints David Hill as president and CEO of Sun.

DE-STA-CO appoints Scott Peters to director of sales for North America, responsible for development and implementation of sales plans and strategy.

Ken Murtagh has been named regional sales manager of Novapak Corp.

Cryotech Intl. (formerly VBS Intl.) welcomes Vince Avillion as regional sales manager for Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, North and South Carolina and Tennessee.

PolyOne Corp. appoints Dan Kickel as vp and general manager of its Polymer Coating Systems business.

Robert Palmisano joins New Jersey Packaging as sales and marketing manager; he has 19 years experience in printing and packaging.

Amcor Flexibles appoints Jerry Bennish as vp, strategy-Americas; he had been vp-sales & marketing for U.S. healthcare business. Tom Cochran joins Amcor as vp, sales & marketing for the U.S. healthcare market.

Brian Marvelley is the new president and CEO of Battenfeld Gloucester Engineering Co., a plastics extrusion division of the SMS group. Harold Wrede becomes chairman, while also retaining his duties with Battenfeld Chen in China.

SamSys Technologies appoints Tom Dziersk president and CEO; he is a veteran in the bar code/RFID and supply chain industries.

Don Kane joins Curtis Packaging as senior account executive for cosmetics and personal care products.

Alcan Packaging Cebal's Tubes America welcomes its new management team of Jean-Pierre Falies, general manager; Andy Bolto, vp sales and marketing; and Jacques Pidol, director, operations and continuous improvement.

George Dettloff becomes president and CEO of SKF USA, succeeding Sten Malmstrom, who retires after 32 years with the co.

Thomas Lockwood, PhD joins Design Management Institute as president, succeeding Earl Powell who is retiring.

Strong Brands has named Laura Belocas, a veteran in the wine and spirits industry, national marketing director.

i4design, the branding div. of Capps, has hired Jim Goodell as it first-ever CEO. Based in San Francisco, he will also oversee the Chicago and New York operations.

Lacerta Group, Inc. appoints Joseph A. Iannone as regional sales manager.

DMI, a contract manufacturer/packager, promotes Michael Spinapolice, Jr. to vp-product development.

Peter Wood will lead product and market development for Tidland slitting systems and accessories.

ON THE MOVE

Novamelt, which specializes in pressure-sensitive adhesives, is expanding its distribution to include the U.S. The product line had been sold exclusively in Europe.

Bradman Lake GmbH moves to an 1,800-sq-m factory in Dietmannsried, Germany, which includes 1,200 sq m of engineering workshops and 600 sq m of office space.

Eriez is expanding its Erie, PA, plant, which serves as its world headquarters. The expansion should be completed by November.

Phoenix Closures opens a 200,000-sq-ft plant in Newport, TN—its third manufacturing facility.

Barry-Wehmiller Design Group is expanding its pharmaceutical and biotech consultancy operations in the mid-Atlantic region and relocating to a new, larger facility in Philadelphia.

BUYING & SELLING

Captive Plastics, a First Atlantic Capital portfolio co., has acquired Premier Plastics, the plastic packaging div. of Premier Industries.

Daicel Chemical Industries, Ltd. and Topas Advanced Polymers jointly announce the acquisition of the cyclic olefin copolymer (TOPAS®) business of Ticona, a wholly owned subsidiary of Celanese Corp.

Alpha Packaging announces the acquisition of Yorkbridge Packaging Northeast, a PET bottle manufacturer in Bethlehem, PA.

ACCORDS

Teledyne Technologies has acquired Benthos and TapTone. TapTone will operate as an independent business unit of Teledyne and will be known as Teledyne TapTone.

CELEBRATING

Contract Packaging Association announces that it has signed on its 100th corporate member. The association has more than doubled its membership since the beginning of 2005.

HAPPENINGS

Pharmaceutical packaging industry veterans Jeff Scheminger and Ed Mazur, formerly of Lakso/DT Packaging Systems, have formed a new company, LDS Assembly Systems. Scheminger serves as president, Mazur as vp of sales & marketing, and Ken Flinkstrom joins the company as business unit manager of integration and rebuild services.

The Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute has reorganized its internal operations into four business units: Industry Services, Market Development, Member Services and Tradeshows.

Pride Packaging, a minority-owned consumer and industrial packaging products co., opened for business in January at its Bloomington, IL, headquarters. Officers are Orlando Martinez, chairman; Lisa Slater, CEO; Paula Baughman, vp-business development; Jim Morris, executive vp; and Amy Vogel, vp-client services.

Flint Group is the new name for the holding company created by the merger in late 2005 of European-based XSYS Print Solutions and U.S.-owned Flint Ink Corp.

World Wide Packaging, Inc. creates a new Plastic Tube Div., to be headed by Jeffrey Hayet, newly appointed vp.

CALL FOR ENTRIES

DuPont Packaging , in cooperation with Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association in Gloucestershire, England, and Food Products Association in Washington, DC, announces its call for entries for the Nineteenth DuPont Awards for Innovation in Packaging. Entries need not include a DuPont product to be eligible. Entry forms can be found at http://packaging.dupont.com/. Deadline for submission is May 5. Winners will be announced and presented their awards on Friday, Aug. 11 in Philadelphia.