people making headlines

Sidney B. Levinson, retired president of DL Labs and a noted authority on coatings test methods, died March 4. He was 92.

A Rhode Island judge recently postponed until early next year the retrial of a lead-paint lawsuit against former manufacturers of lead paint and pigments, the NPCA reported.

BASF Coatings opened a new production plant in São Paulo, Brazil, for the company's Suvinil architectural-coatings brand, a 6,000-square-meter facility built at a cost of 2 million euros, the company said.

Colwell Industries Inc., a supplier of color-sampling materials, has acquired the color-card operations of Communisis plc, also known as McCorquodale Color Card Co.

Vincentz Network announced program details for the "Smart Coatings III" European Coatings Conference, scheduled for June 7-8 in Berlin.

Dr. Anagnostour, retired professor, and Sidney Levinson, president DL Labs

A new market report from Information Research Ltd. (IRL), London, estimates 2003 coatings demand in the Russian Federation at 880,000 metric tons, with domestic production accounting for 70% of the total and imports supplying the remaining 30%.

Akzo Nobel announced plans to separate its recently launched Nobilas Claims & Fleet Solutions, a business that manages the total auto accident-repair cycle, as a new, stand-alone business unit, effective April 1.

Akzo Nobel announced that Bill McPherson, general manager of the company's Powder Coatings business unit, will be appointed general manager of the Marine & Protective Coatings business unit.