The Colorizer Group and Color Guild International announced an agreement to combine their purchasing functions in a new, stand-alone organization.

PHOENIX — The Colorizer Group and Color Guild International, two cooperative-purchasing organizations serving regional paint and coatings manufacturers, announced an agreement to combine their purchasing functions in a new, stand-alone organization. The groups said the move increases their buying power in negotiating prices and terms on raw materials, containers, and other supplies and services. The agreement calls for Color Guild’s purchasing unit to be spun off as a stand-alone, member-owned, self-governing entity.

The agreement follows a series of meetings between representatives of the two groups and the development of the plans for the new purchasing unit by a committee headed by Larry Larison, CEO of Columbia Paint & Coatings of Spokane, WA. Color Guild President Gene Fortson, CEO of Sterling Paints of Little Rock, AR, said the new central purchasing office represents companies with combined annual sales of more than $3 billion, a total that “makes our group one of the most significant purchasing entities in the coatings industry.” That buying clout “will help our members stay competitive with large national and multinational companies,” he said. Larison said the new purchasing unit is in the process of recruiting an executive director, with the search process being led by Jim Awalt, CEO of Monarch Paint Co., Houston.

Larison said Color Guild and Colorizer Group will remain separate corporations that function primarily as developers of color systems and related marketing and merchandising programs. More information on the organizations and membership can be obtained by contacting Guild CPO/Color Guild International at 303/751.5330 or Tim Mielcarek, Colorizer Group president, at 608/834.8844.