Walter Kissling, retired CEO of coatings and adhesives manufacturer H.B. Fuller Co., died Jan. 28, 2002, following a battle with cancer. He was 70.

Vantico has appointed Ribelin Sales Inc., Dallas, distributor of epoxy resins, epoxy hardeners, bismalimides, polyimides, diluents, and accelerators.

Degussa Corp.'s Silanes Business Line, Parsippany, NJ, has appointed Baker & Collinson Inc., Detroit, distributor of Degussa's organosilanes product line in the Midwest.

Grace Davison, Baltimore, announced the opening of Technical Customer Service centers in Atsugi, Japan, and Sunde, China, to serve customers in the coatings and digital-printing industries.

Acry-Tech Coatings Inc., Fort Lauderdale, FL, announced the launch of a new toll-manufacturing division.

DuPont Co., Wilmington, DE, announced the launch of a website devoted to the company's history as part of activities related to its 200th anniversary.

Duron Inc., Beltsville, MD, and Professional Paint Inc., a group of paint-manufacturing businesses headquartered in Denver, announced the launch of a marketing alliance to sell paint, wallcoverings and sundries to major national accounts.

To no one's surprise, sales and earnings reports from major coatings manufacturers for the fourth quarter and year 2001 showed the effects of economic weakness in U.S. and overseas markets. But signs that the recession had eased its grip could also be detected in some of the numbers.

Reichhold Inc., Research Triangle Park, NC, has appointed McCullough & Benton, Atlanta, distributor for Reichhold's Global Coating and Performance Resins business in the southeastern United States.

Plasticolors Inc., Ashtabula, OH, has appointed Chemroy Canada Inc. distributor in Canada.