When it landed in Janesville in 2006, Tigre USA could have been considered a start-up manufacturer of molded PVC fittings.
Certainly new to Janesville, the company also was new to North America.
But don't be fooled. The Brazilian company entered the North American market with 70 years of experience as the world's third-largest maker of PVC pipes, fittings and accessories.
That expertise and history have helped the Janesville plant double in size since 2008.
"We arrived in the United States at a time when the housing market was suffering," said Fabricio Rubine, the general manager of the plant on Beloit Avenue. "We were trying to grow the business in a very hostile environment."
In Janesville, Tigre has 47 employees who work across three shifts to make molded and fabricated fittings for plumbing and sewer applications.
The Janesville plant ships to eight warehouses in the United States. Its products are sold through 30 manufacturer's representatives in North America, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Bolivia.
In part, the company came to Janesville because of an initial relationship with Freedom Plastics, which no longer is in business.
Tigre USA has grown because it found innovative ways to stand out from its competition, Rubine said.
As examples, he points to the company's incorporation of manufacturing expertise from Tigre's other facilities and the hiring of experienced leaders.
In addition, he said, the company has made significant investments in state-of-the-art equipment, including a 1,000-ton injection molding machine that is the largest of any at other Tigre plants.
The company has two primary sectors. The above-grade plumbing market is traditionally associated with home and business construction, while the sewer market serves municipal infrastructure markets.
"The housing market is very important to us, and when it comes back we will be in a very good position," Rubine said. "We've been very aggressive since we got here to pursue suppliers and distributors and establish relationships with them."
Specifically, he said, Tigre targets niche markets where it can use its size to be creative and flexible in delivering outstanding products and customer service.
That flexibility is evident on Tigre's production floor, where the company's 16 machines use any of 284 different molds to convert resin pellets into fittings with a scrap rate of less than 1 percent.
Production manager Mike Hicks said a new system has enabled employees to become current with their production quotas while still retaining the flexibility to accommodate special orders that require different molds.
A look at a recent production log shows just three of the plant's 430 or so different products on back order.
"Last fall that would have shown 30 back orders," Hicks said.
That improvement is critical to Dagoberto Darezzo, the plant's logistics manager who choreographs order management, shipping and customer service.
"The easiest thing to do is make a production schedule when you're behind," Darezzo said. "The difficult part is when you're ahead."
That's a challenge employees welcome, even as the production schedule now includes weekend work.
Worldwide, Tigre had 2011 revenues of $1.5 billion. It's in the middle of an aggressive growth plan that aims to double the company's size by 2014.
The expansion plan calls for new products and global acquisitions. It also includes an uptick in business at Tigre's existing 22 plants, including Janesville.
Rubine said he'd love to see the operation and its local employment expand in Janesville.
So, too, would Vic Grassman, Janesville's economic development director.
"It's a company I'm impressed with," he said. "I'm convinced Fabricio really wants to grow the company here and has made significant efforts with the corporate headquarters to see if that's possible."
Tigre USA, he said, has easily met the benchmarks tied to the tax increment-financing district in which it's located.
"This is a very mature market with a lot of competition," said Tim Johnson, Tigre USA's marketing and product manager. "We're still relatively small here, and that puts us in the hustle mode.
2012年4月18日星期三
2012年4月9日星期一
County attorney sues judge-exec in rare move
In a lawsuit filed in Kenton Circuit Court, Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson alleges Kenton Judge-executive Steve Arlinghaus illegally spent public funds renovating county offices – a claim Arlinghaus and his attorney deny.
Arlinghaus says he’s complied with the county’s administrative code, and he accuses Edmondson of giving “conflicting and inconsistent advice on this matter from the very beginning.”
Edmondson is seeking reimbursement of $23,314.47 from Arlinghaus, as well as interest and costs, and reimbursement of 115 hours of paid staff time for claims that he says were illegally paid and presented to Kenton Fiscal Court.
“What prompted this (lawsuit) was the action taken by the judge-executive and the fact that the Fiscal Court refused on several occasions to ratify it,” Edmondson said. “Once that happens, it’s incumbent on me to make sure that the bill does not get paid until the fiscal court authorizes it.”
Edmondson alleges in his lawsuit that Arlinghaus purchased goods and services and ordered county employees to renovate second-floor office space without securing Kenton Fiscal Court’s approval, and later presented claims totaling $11,194.78 for materials already installed, in violation of state law.
Before that, Edmondson said some initial bills totaling $10,583.57 for the second-floor renovation project were paid, but the contract for that work had not been authorized by Fiscal Court, as required. He said the latter payment was brought to his attention after one of the county commissioners raised the issue at a meeting.
In a memo to county officials, Edmondson said Arlinghaus briefly discussed the work with Kenton County Commissioners Beth Sewell and Kris Knochelmann while standing in front of their desks in fiscal court chambers. However, no presentation was made in an open Fiscal Court meeting, and no vote was taken by county officials to do the remodeling or spend county funds on that work, Edmondson said.
The lawsuit also alleges a bill totaling about $1,536 has yet to be presented to Fiscal Court. Arlinghaus said there’s an outstanding bill for about $1,400 for renderings for new entrance doors for the county administration building’s first floor entrances. He said that was a project Sewell and Knochelmann had asked him to look into and that it had nothing to do with the second-floor renovations.
Arlinghaus says he authorized the renovations for security reasons and to improve the work environment for county employees. He and his attorney, Mark Arnzen, say Arlinghaus did nothing wrong. Arlinghaus claims the lawsuit is “to settle a political score,” adding Edmondson supported his opponent in the 2010 judge-executive’s race.
Edmondson, who says he’s never sued a member of Kenton Fiscal Court in his 19 years as county attorney, denied that his motives are political. He says in the lawsuit that state law requires him, in his role as county attorney, to ensure that no illegal or wrongful appropriation of county public dollars is made.
“I’m just doing my job as the statutes have laid out,” Edmondson said. “I’ve tried talking to (Arlinghaus), and I’ve tried talking to the other commissioners to see if there was some way to work this out. I told them if they didn’t work it out in open (fiscal) court (meetings) that I’d have to file a lawsuit. (The fiscal court) could settle this tomorrow by having a meeting and ratifying the expenditures.”
At a special Fiscal Court meeting Wednesday, it was proposed that Edmondson, Deputy Judge-executive Mark Kreimborg and Acting Treasurer Doug Bramlage review and revise the county’s purchasing policies and procedures.
Arlinghaus produced an email from an attorney with the Kentucky Department for Local Government and a letter from a state assistant attorney general that appear to support his claims that he had the authority to do the renovations.
In citing language in Kenton County’s administrative code, the attorney for the Kentucky Department for Local Government wrote: “The county appears to have authorized the judge to exercise authority for purchases under $20,000, with certain purchase orders over $15,000 also requiring pre-approval by the fiscal court. The judge’s authority is not stated as clearly as it could be, but is strongly implied...”
Arlinghaus says he’s complied with the county’s administrative code, and he accuses Edmondson of giving “conflicting and inconsistent advice on this matter from the very beginning.”
Edmondson is seeking reimbursement of $23,314.47 from Arlinghaus, as well as interest and costs, and reimbursement of 115 hours of paid staff time for claims that he says were illegally paid and presented to Kenton Fiscal Court.
“What prompted this (lawsuit) was the action taken by the judge-executive and the fact that the Fiscal Court refused on several occasions to ratify it,” Edmondson said. “Once that happens, it’s incumbent on me to make sure that the bill does not get paid until the fiscal court authorizes it.”
Edmondson alleges in his lawsuit that Arlinghaus purchased goods and services and ordered county employees to renovate second-floor office space without securing Kenton Fiscal Court’s approval, and later presented claims totaling $11,194.78 for materials already installed, in violation of state law.
Before that, Edmondson said some initial bills totaling $10,583.57 for the second-floor renovation project were paid, but the contract for that work had not been authorized by Fiscal Court, as required. He said the latter payment was brought to his attention after one of the county commissioners raised the issue at a meeting.
In a memo to county officials, Edmondson said Arlinghaus briefly discussed the work with Kenton County Commissioners Beth Sewell and Kris Knochelmann while standing in front of their desks in fiscal court chambers. However, no presentation was made in an open Fiscal Court meeting, and no vote was taken by county officials to do the remodeling or spend county funds on that work, Edmondson said.
The lawsuit also alleges a bill totaling about $1,536 has yet to be presented to Fiscal Court. Arlinghaus said there’s an outstanding bill for about $1,400 for renderings for new entrance doors for the county administration building’s first floor entrances. He said that was a project Sewell and Knochelmann had asked him to look into and that it had nothing to do with the second-floor renovations.
Arlinghaus says he authorized the renovations for security reasons and to improve the work environment for county employees. He and his attorney, Mark Arnzen, say Arlinghaus did nothing wrong. Arlinghaus claims the lawsuit is “to settle a political score,” adding Edmondson supported his opponent in the 2010 judge-executive’s race.
Edmondson, who says he’s never sued a member of Kenton Fiscal Court in his 19 years as county attorney, denied that his motives are political. He says in the lawsuit that state law requires him, in his role as county attorney, to ensure that no illegal or wrongful appropriation of county public dollars is made.
“I’m just doing my job as the statutes have laid out,” Edmondson said. “I’ve tried talking to (Arlinghaus), and I’ve tried talking to the other commissioners to see if there was some way to work this out. I told them if they didn’t work it out in open (fiscal) court (meetings) that I’d have to file a lawsuit. (The fiscal court) could settle this tomorrow by having a meeting and ratifying the expenditures.”
At a special Fiscal Court meeting Wednesday, it was proposed that Edmondson, Deputy Judge-executive Mark Kreimborg and Acting Treasurer Doug Bramlage review and revise the county’s purchasing policies and procedures.
Arlinghaus produced an email from an attorney with the Kentucky Department for Local Government and a letter from a state assistant attorney general that appear to support his claims that he had the authority to do the renovations.
In citing language in Kenton County’s administrative code, the attorney for the Kentucky Department for Local Government wrote: “The county appears to have authorized the judge to exercise authority for purchases under $20,000, with certain purchase orders over $15,000 also requiring pre-approval by the fiscal court. The judge’s authority is not stated as clearly as it could be, but is strongly implied...”
2012年3月19日星期一
The new Kings Cross railway station
Let there be light! Let your eye fly upwards and zoom along the white ribs of the new 150-metre-wide canopy – the largest single-span structure in Europe – that soars 20m over the western facade of London’s Kings Cross railway station. Sleek, spare, and modern though it is, I immediately think of the exquisite fan vaulting gracing Gothic cathedrals such as Bath.
Kings Cross is a confluence of overground, underground and rail links. Roughly 90 million people use the station station in the course of a year. Many are Scots: the station is London’s gateway to the north, the southern terminus of the East Coast line. On top of that already heavy burden came the news that London would host the 2012 Olympics, and the decision to create a high speed rail link – the Javelin – between St Pancras and the Olympic village, about six miles to the east. It meant Kings Cross would take on even more traffic as passengers made connections to and from its next-door neighbour.
Finally, as every child knows, this is also the station where Harry Potter and his fellow wizards embark, from Platform 9, for Hogwarts. The enormous popularity of those books and films have turned the station a must-see tourist stop, as well.
Originally built in 1852 by engineer/architect Lewis Cubitt, the original train shed had two platforms – arrivals and departures. Over the years Kings Cross expanded, and saw endless changes, including the arrival of the original Flying Scotsman, the first train to reach a speed of 100 miles per hour. Kings Cross became one of the busiest transport hubs in Europe, but at the same time, the neighbourhood around this Grade I listed station went into decline. Hiro Aso, director of urban infrastructure for the architectural firm John McAslan + Partners (JMP), told one newspaper that an early visit to the site was cut short when two prostitutes wielding baseball bats chased him down the street.
A chunk of the station was destroyed by German bombs during the Second World War, and matters weren’t helped by the construction of unsightly retail space tacked onto its southern facade in the 1970s. Indoors, the concourse was far too small to accommodate hordes of passengers arriving and departing around the clock, the vast majority of whom get there via the Underground.
The regeneration of Kings Cross has been bubbling away since 1997, when JMP won the commission to tackle what’s being called the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. It combines reuse, restoration, and new-build, at a budget of 547 million.
From 1997 until 2005, when plans were finalised and construction could begin in earnest, the firm was busy liaising with its client, Network Rail, and the main stakeholders, including Camden borough, English Heritage, and what was then called Railtrack. Simon Goode, associate director at JMP, explains that there were frequent meetings to determine what was wanted, what was needed, and what was possible. These years were also devoted to making planning applications and identifying engineering challenges and solutions.
One of the biggest questions was where to locate the main entrance concourse. Every possibility was explored. John McAslan, the chairman of JMP, says: “We knew that in order for Kings Cross to increase over next 25 years and beyond, the new concourse needed to be at least three times the size of the current one, to handle the amount of passenger traffic. When we began, Network Rail only had ownership to the perimeter of the station itself. The land where we went on to build the new concourse belonged to someone else and that was a problem, because it was an obvious choice for expanding the station.
“Other options included looking at a way that the tracks could be pushed northwards, to make the south concourse deeper. Another was to create a mezzanine within the train shed, or to build a concourse beneath the platforms themselves. So we had a whole bunch of options, all of which were eliminated for various reasons. For example, pushing the platforms out would have cost 600m or 700m, at least, and created problems upstream along the Regent Canal.”
Kings Cross is a confluence of overground, underground and rail links. Roughly 90 million people use the station station in the course of a year. Many are Scots: the station is London’s gateway to the north, the southern terminus of the East Coast line. On top of that already heavy burden came the news that London would host the 2012 Olympics, and the decision to create a high speed rail link – the Javelin – between St Pancras and the Olympic village, about six miles to the east. It meant Kings Cross would take on even more traffic as passengers made connections to and from its next-door neighbour.
Finally, as every child knows, this is also the station where Harry Potter and his fellow wizards embark, from Platform 9, for Hogwarts. The enormous popularity of those books and films have turned the station a must-see tourist stop, as well.
Originally built in 1852 by engineer/architect Lewis Cubitt, the original train shed had two platforms – arrivals and departures. Over the years Kings Cross expanded, and saw endless changes, including the arrival of the original Flying Scotsman, the first train to reach a speed of 100 miles per hour. Kings Cross became one of the busiest transport hubs in Europe, but at the same time, the neighbourhood around this Grade I listed station went into decline. Hiro Aso, director of urban infrastructure for the architectural firm John McAslan + Partners (JMP), told one newspaper that an early visit to the site was cut short when two prostitutes wielding baseball bats chased him down the street.
A chunk of the station was destroyed by German bombs during the Second World War, and matters weren’t helped by the construction of unsightly retail space tacked onto its southern facade in the 1970s. Indoors, the concourse was far too small to accommodate hordes of passengers arriving and departing around the clock, the vast majority of whom get there via the Underground.
The regeneration of Kings Cross has been bubbling away since 1997, when JMP won the commission to tackle what’s being called the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. It combines reuse, restoration, and new-build, at a budget of 547 million.
From 1997 until 2005, when plans were finalised and construction could begin in earnest, the firm was busy liaising with its client, Network Rail, and the main stakeholders, including Camden borough, English Heritage, and what was then called Railtrack. Simon Goode, associate director at JMP, explains that there were frequent meetings to determine what was wanted, what was needed, and what was possible. These years were also devoted to making planning applications and identifying engineering challenges and solutions.
One of the biggest questions was where to locate the main entrance concourse. Every possibility was explored. John McAslan, the chairman of JMP, says: “We knew that in order for Kings Cross to increase over next 25 years and beyond, the new concourse needed to be at least three times the size of the current one, to handle the amount of passenger traffic. When we began, Network Rail only had ownership to the perimeter of the station itself. The land where we went on to build the new concourse belonged to someone else and that was a problem, because it was an obvious choice for expanding the station.
“Other options included looking at a way that the tracks could be pushed northwards, to make the south concourse deeper. Another was to create a mezzanine within the train shed, or to build a concourse beneath the platforms themselves. So we had a whole bunch of options, all of which were eliminated for various reasons. For example, pushing the platforms out would have cost 600m or 700m, at least, and created problems upstream along the Regent Canal.”
2012年3月14日星期三
Bryan Voltaggio’s home kitchen
The kitchen in Bryan Voltaggio’s previous home was small. It had an electric oven, bisque-colored appliances and such a dearth of cabinet space that most of his cooking equipment was stored in a free-standing cabinet in another room.
The kitchen in his home today? Well, it’s much different.
Earlier this year, Voltaggio, 35, moved his family of four to a five-bedroom house just down the road in Frederick. Not surprisingly, the kitchen was one of the main attractions for the chef.
“I like that it feels like a professional kitchen environment,” says Voltaggio, “and we have space to entertain a lot of people.”
A spacious, 20-by-20-foot room houses multiple rows of dark wood cabinets, granite countertops, a walk-in pantry, a wet bar, a granite-topped center island and stainless-steel appliances, including the high-tech Samsung refrigerator that Voltaggio and his brother, Michael, can be seen pitching in a recent television commercial.
Adjacent and open to the kitchen is a 21-by-11-foot addition, which the previous owners used as a sunroom. But the Voltaggios consider it an additional dining area. A 77-inch white oak table sits in the center, and a wine refrigerator stands nearby.
With the ample space, Voltaggio now has more than enough room to house all of his favorite kitchen “toys,” as he calls them, including a Vitamix blender , a Delonghi espresso machine , a Breville toaster oven and, the most recent addition, an Acrobaleno pasta extruder .
The extra room also makes it easier for him to do something else he loves: cook with his 4-year-old son.
“Thatcher likes to cook more than he likes to eat,” says Voltaggio. “Sometimes I’ll come home and there will be carrot peels on the counter. He won’t eat the carrots, but he’ll peel them.”
To foster his son’s interest in food, Voltaggio includes Thatcher in meal prep.
“Kids love Play-Doh, so why not give them pasta dough?” he says. “Their eating habits will be better if you cook with them.”
Voltaggio says he cooks at home less than one would think. But when he does, it’s typically for crowds. For last month’s Super Bowl, he and his wife, Jennifer, hosted 50 people.
Cooking for large crowds has become second nature to Voltaggio, whose Frederick restaurant Volt has become a popular, hard-to-get-a-reservation-for destination. Besides his cooking , the restaurant’s high profile can be attributed to his appearance on “Top Chef” seven months after Volt opened in 2008.
“I’m glad I did ‘Top Chef,’ ” he says. “I definitely enjoyed the experience, and I can’t deny we are busier because of it. But I was asked to do All-Stars, and I declined because I want to stay in the restaurant. . . . I want to stay close to the stove.”
Back in his home kitchen, Voltaggio is planning a few minor tweaks. He’d like to remove the island and replace it with a U-shaped or L-shaped cookspace. He wants to add a wine cellar in the basement, replace the double oven and microwave, swap out the gas range with an induction cooktop and, maybe, change the ceramic tile backsplash.
The kitchen in his home today? Well, it’s much different.
Earlier this year, Voltaggio, 35, moved his family of four to a five-bedroom house just down the road in Frederick. Not surprisingly, the kitchen was one of the main attractions for the chef.
“I like that it feels like a professional kitchen environment,” says Voltaggio, “and we have space to entertain a lot of people.”
A spacious, 20-by-20-foot room houses multiple rows of dark wood cabinets, granite countertops, a walk-in pantry, a wet bar, a granite-topped center island and stainless-steel appliances, including the high-tech Samsung refrigerator that Voltaggio and his brother, Michael, can be seen pitching in a recent television commercial.
Adjacent and open to the kitchen is a 21-by-11-foot addition, which the previous owners used as a sunroom. But the Voltaggios consider it an additional dining area. A 77-inch white oak table sits in the center, and a wine refrigerator stands nearby.
With the ample space, Voltaggio now has more than enough room to house all of his favorite kitchen “toys,” as he calls them, including a Vitamix blender , a Delonghi espresso machine , a Breville toaster oven and, the most recent addition, an Acrobaleno pasta extruder .
The extra room also makes it easier for him to do something else he loves: cook with his 4-year-old son.
“Thatcher likes to cook more than he likes to eat,” says Voltaggio. “Sometimes I’ll come home and there will be carrot peels on the counter. He won’t eat the carrots, but he’ll peel them.”
To foster his son’s interest in food, Voltaggio includes Thatcher in meal prep.
“Kids love Play-Doh, so why not give them pasta dough?” he says. “Their eating habits will be better if you cook with them.”
Voltaggio says he cooks at home less than one would think. But when he does, it’s typically for crowds. For last month’s Super Bowl, he and his wife, Jennifer, hosted 50 people.
Cooking for large crowds has become second nature to Voltaggio, whose Frederick restaurant Volt has become a popular, hard-to-get-a-reservation-for destination. Besides his cooking , the restaurant’s high profile can be attributed to his appearance on “Top Chef” seven months after Volt opened in 2008.
“I’m glad I did ‘Top Chef,’ ” he says. “I definitely enjoyed the experience, and I can’t deny we are busier because of it. But I was asked to do All-Stars, and I declined because I want to stay in the restaurant. . . . I want to stay close to the stove.”
Back in his home kitchen, Voltaggio is planning a few minor tweaks. He’d like to remove the island and replace it with a U-shaped or L-shaped cookspace. He wants to add a wine cellar in the basement, replace the double oven and microwave, swap out the gas range with an induction cooktop and, maybe, change the ceramic tile backsplash.
2012年3月6日星期二
Mannington Mills buys United Kingdom-based flooring manufacturer Amtico International
In a move that broadens its U.S. manufacturing base and global reach, local flooring manufacturer Mannington Mills announced Monday that it has acquired United Kingdom-based Amtico International, a manufacturer of high-quality luxury vinyl flooring products.
“This is a huge opportunity for Mannington,” said Keith Campbell, chairman of the board of Mannington Mills.
“It’s exciting because it opens up the opportunity for Mannington products to be sold worldwide.”
The purchase price was not disclosed.
Luxury vinyl tile is the fasted-growing segment in the flooring industry both in the residential and commercial markets, according to Campbell.
The acquisition of Amtico will allow Mannington to manufacture luxury vinyl tile in the U.S. It will also open up opportunities for Mannington to sell its products in markets were Amtico already has an established presence including throughout Europe and in the future in emerging markets in South America and along the Pacific Rim, according to Campbell.
“It makes us an international player. It will naturally allow us to expand into Amtico’s marketplace.”
Campbell also said the acquisition of Amtico will also help Mannington better weather downturns in the economy like what the U.S. has experienced in the past few years.
“Companies with a global presence have been able to weather the storm better,” he said.
Mannington has been in the luxury vinyl tile business for more than seven years, but imported the product from China. Monday’s move will allow Mannington to shift production of the tile back to the U.S. at plants currently operated by Amtico in Georgia. Production would also continue at Amtico’s plant in Coventry, England.
“We looked at the (luxury vinyl tile) market increasing and wanted to manufacture luxury vinyl tile ourselves and we certainly wanted to manufacture it in the U.S.” Campbell said.
Campbell said Amtico became available for sale and “we stepped up.”
The acquisition of Amtico makes Mannington the world’s largest manufacturer of luxury vinyl tile.
Mannington Mills one of the largest and oldest flooring manufacturers in the United States. It makes and markets residential and commercial resilient, laminate, hardwood and porcelain tile floors, as well as commercial carpet and rubber.
Amtico will maintain its brand identity and become a Mannington subsidiary. Current operations at all Amtico locations will continue, company officials said.
Mannington was founded in Salem City in 1915 by John Campbell and today Keith Campbell is the fourth generation of his family to run the privately-held company.
Mannington Mills employs more than 1,700 people at its corporate headquarters and manufacturing plant here and at six other sites in the South and in California.
Amtico International, based in Coventry, England is the world’s leading luxury vinyl tile company.
It manufactures luxury vinyl tile in its U.S. and United Kingdom plants and sells around the world under the “Amtico” and “Spacia” brands.
Amtico International, which employs more than 600 people — 200 in the U.S. and 400 in Europe — was founded in 1965 and became an independent business in 1995, owned by its management and outside investors.
“We look forward to being part of the Mannington organization,” said Jonathan Duck, CEO, Amtico International, “and bringing together a wider product range, local manufacturing and excellent design for the benefit of all our customers. This really is a great fit between two companies.”
“Amtico has long been recognized as the design, innovation, and performance leader in the luxury vinyl flooring category,” said Mannington Mills President and CEO Russell Grizzle.
“Its commitment to quality, customer service, sustainability and delivering exceptional value to the market fits seamlessly with Mannington’s core values.”
“This is a huge opportunity for Mannington,” said Keith Campbell, chairman of the board of Mannington Mills.
“It’s exciting because it opens up the opportunity for Mannington products to be sold worldwide.”
The purchase price was not disclosed.
Luxury vinyl tile is the fasted-growing segment in the flooring industry both in the residential and commercial markets, according to Campbell.
The acquisition of Amtico will allow Mannington to manufacture luxury vinyl tile in the U.S. It will also open up opportunities for Mannington to sell its products in markets were Amtico already has an established presence including throughout Europe and in the future in emerging markets in South America and along the Pacific Rim, according to Campbell.
“It makes us an international player. It will naturally allow us to expand into Amtico’s marketplace.”
Campbell also said the acquisition of Amtico will also help Mannington better weather downturns in the economy like what the U.S. has experienced in the past few years.
“Companies with a global presence have been able to weather the storm better,” he said.
Mannington has been in the luxury vinyl tile business for more than seven years, but imported the product from China. Monday’s move will allow Mannington to shift production of the tile back to the U.S. at plants currently operated by Amtico in Georgia. Production would also continue at Amtico’s plant in Coventry, England.
“We looked at the (luxury vinyl tile) market increasing and wanted to manufacture luxury vinyl tile ourselves and we certainly wanted to manufacture it in the U.S.” Campbell said.
Campbell said Amtico became available for sale and “we stepped up.”
The acquisition of Amtico makes Mannington the world’s largest manufacturer of luxury vinyl tile.
Mannington Mills one of the largest and oldest flooring manufacturers in the United States. It makes and markets residential and commercial resilient, laminate, hardwood and porcelain tile floors, as well as commercial carpet and rubber.
Amtico will maintain its brand identity and become a Mannington subsidiary. Current operations at all Amtico locations will continue, company officials said.
Mannington was founded in Salem City in 1915 by John Campbell and today Keith Campbell is the fourth generation of his family to run the privately-held company.
Mannington Mills employs more than 1,700 people at its corporate headquarters and manufacturing plant here and at six other sites in the South and in California.
Amtico International, based in Coventry, England is the world’s leading luxury vinyl tile company.
It manufactures luxury vinyl tile in its U.S. and United Kingdom plants and sells around the world under the “Amtico” and “Spacia” brands.
Amtico International, which employs more than 600 people — 200 in the U.S. and 400 in Europe — was founded in 1965 and became an independent business in 1995, owned by its management and outside investors.
“We look forward to being part of the Mannington organization,” said Jonathan Duck, CEO, Amtico International, “and bringing together a wider product range, local manufacturing and excellent design for the benefit of all our customers. This really is a great fit between two companies.”
“Amtico has long been recognized as the design, innovation, and performance leader in the luxury vinyl flooring category,” said Mannington Mills President and CEO Russell Grizzle.
“Its commitment to quality, customer service, sustainability and delivering exceptional value to the market fits seamlessly with Mannington’s core values.”
2012年2月15日星期三
Olsons ‘take show(room) on the road’
Executive Interiors takes its product on the road, arriving at destinations via a motorbus so customers can view flooring and tile at its destination – not merely in the showroom.
“Anyone can have a flooring business. We cater to the needs of the client,” sales representative Chris Gatewood said the unique marketing niche.
Matt and Alyssa Olson offer all types of flooring, countertops and Amish cabinetry at the showroom at 506 Henrietta North – ceramic, porcelain, tile, carpet, vinyl, stone and wood.
But parked in the garage, is the bus, loaded with samples.
“It’s the nicer of the uglies,” Alyssa joked of the truck they found in Brainerd in 2009, the decision to buy following prayer on the matter – and lunch for the kids.
A home’s lighting is often much different than a showroom’s, Matt explained of bringing samples on site. “This saves time for both.”
Matt’s experience in the industry began 11 years ago, working with Keith Blumberg. He attended seminars to learn the “tricks of the trade.” He began Lakes Area Tile in Park Rapids in 2003, but subsequently moved to Rochester, where he opened a store.
Matt was returning to Park Rapids with samples when the idea of a mobile showroom emerged. “It started from necessity,” he said. “But it’s worked out well.”
The move to Rochester proved pivotal, not from a business perspective, but for the twins Alyssa was pregnant with at the time. Alexander and Aiden, now 4, were not sharing blood and oxygen properly. The Mayo doctors detected the problem and corrected it.
“Meanwhile, the economy dipped,” Matt said. “We still had our home, so we moved back.”
Executive Interiors products are backed by warranty. They offer free estimates, with installation completed on residential and commercial properties – from restaurants to grocery and bookstores, to hotels, apartments and churches. References will be supplied on request.
They also will complete custom showers and concrete countertops. And their service radius ranges from Rousseau to Minot and points in between.
“No job is too small,” Matt said.
“Anyone can have a flooring business. We cater to the needs of the client,” sales representative Chris Gatewood said the unique marketing niche.
Matt and Alyssa Olson offer all types of flooring, countertops and Amish cabinetry at the showroom at 506 Henrietta North – ceramic, porcelain, tile, carpet, vinyl, stone and wood.
But parked in the garage, is the bus, loaded with samples.
“It’s the nicer of the uglies,” Alyssa joked of the truck they found in Brainerd in 2009, the decision to buy following prayer on the matter – and lunch for the kids.
A home’s lighting is often much different than a showroom’s, Matt explained of bringing samples on site. “This saves time for both.”
Matt’s experience in the industry began 11 years ago, working with Keith Blumberg. He attended seminars to learn the “tricks of the trade.” He began Lakes Area Tile in Park Rapids in 2003, but subsequently moved to Rochester, where he opened a store.
Matt was returning to Park Rapids with samples when the idea of a mobile showroom emerged. “It started from necessity,” he said. “But it’s worked out well.”
The move to Rochester proved pivotal, not from a business perspective, but for the twins Alyssa was pregnant with at the time. Alexander and Aiden, now 4, were not sharing blood and oxygen properly. The Mayo doctors detected the problem and corrected it.
“Meanwhile, the economy dipped,” Matt said. “We still had our home, so we moved back.”
Executive Interiors products are backed by warranty. They offer free estimates, with installation completed on residential and commercial properties – from restaurants to grocery and bookstores, to hotels, apartments and churches. References will be supplied on request.
They also will complete custom showers and concrete countertops. And their service radius ranges from Rousseau to Minot and points in between.
“No job is too small,” Matt said.
2012年2月6日星期一
Regency imports ceramic tiles to sustain brand equity
Hyderabad-based Regency Ceramics Limited has started importing ceramic tile products, besides sourcing in part from
Indian manufacturers to ensure continuity in terms of market share and its brand name in the aftermath of the closure
of its factory at Yanam in Puducherry.
The company has declared lockout of the manufacturing facility, along with ancillary units, after it was subjected to
large-scale vandalism on January 27.
“We are importing the products from countries like Italy as well as sourcing them from domestic manufacturers to
sell under our brand name. We have built our brand in the marketplace by putting in a lot of efforts, commitment
towards quality and money over the decades. We cannot afford to lose any of these, including our market share,” GN
Naidu, chairman of Regency Ceramics, told reporters here on Monday.
While the company maintains that the lockout was a temporary measure to facilitate the ongoing police investigation
into the attack and destruction of factory premises, assessment of the damage done to plant and machinery apart from
allowing the situation to get back to normalcy, it is yet to get a clear picture on how much time will it require for
a possible revival of operations at Yanam.
“We have no clue as to whether the machinery can be brought back to original shape and the conditions prevailed in
Yanam are far from normal even today. We are bringing technical experts from Europe to evaluate the status of the
assets at Yanam as the equipment and machinery in the plant were imported from countries like Italy and Spain,”
Naidu said.
Responding to a question, he said the government of Puducherry had not approached the company with any concrete
proposal for facilitating the revival of the plant.
Stating that the hand of outsiders in the attack on the factory and even the killing of the company president
(operations) KC Chandrasekhar on the fateful night was established beyond any doubt, the collusion of a section of
the factory employees in this destruction was also needed to be investigated before restarting the operations,
according to the company chairman.
While reiterating his demand for a CBI probe into the incident, he said that some of the workers were recruited
without their antecedents being thoroughly verified and this had to be rectified. He alleged that the attack was
planned one year ahead.
Though the company initially said that the loss would be about Rs 150 crore, a detailed assessment of damage for
claiming insurance has still been under way.
The production came to a halt ever since about 1,200-odd workers joined the tool-down strike on December 5. Efforts
to arriving at a negotiated settlement under the supervision of Yanam collector fell through on January 3, leading to
a complete stalemate between the management and the workers on demands such as announcement of an interim increment
culminating into large-scale violence on January 27, according to the company management.
The company is suffering Rs 8-10 crore net loss a month due to loss of production, Naidu said. The factory was
running at 60 per cent of its installed capacity of 44,000 square metre a day on account of natural gas shortage
during the past couple of years.
Indian manufacturers to ensure continuity in terms of market share and its brand name in the aftermath of the closure
of its factory at Yanam in Puducherry.
The company has declared lockout of the manufacturing facility, along with ancillary units, after it was subjected to
large-scale vandalism on January 27.
“We are importing the products from countries like Italy as well as sourcing them from domestic manufacturers to
sell under our brand name. We have built our brand in the marketplace by putting in a lot of efforts, commitment
towards quality and money over the decades. We cannot afford to lose any of these, including our market share,” GN
Naidu, chairman of Regency Ceramics, told reporters here on Monday.
While the company maintains that the lockout was a temporary measure to facilitate the ongoing police investigation
into the attack and destruction of factory premises, assessment of the damage done to plant and machinery apart from
allowing the situation to get back to normalcy, it is yet to get a clear picture on how much time will it require for
a possible revival of operations at Yanam.
“We have no clue as to whether the machinery can be brought back to original shape and the conditions prevailed in
Yanam are far from normal even today. We are bringing technical experts from Europe to evaluate the status of the
assets at Yanam as the equipment and machinery in the plant were imported from countries like Italy and Spain,”
Naidu said.
Responding to a question, he said the government of Puducherry had not approached the company with any concrete
proposal for facilitating the revival of the plant.
Stating that the hand of outsiders in the attack on the factory and even the killing of the company president
(operations) KC Chandrasekhar on the fateful night was established beyond any doubt, the collusion of a section of
the factory employees in this destruction was also needed to be investigated before restarting the operations,
according to the company chairman.
While reiterating his demand for a CBI probe into the incident, he said that some of the workers were recruited
without their antecedents being thoroughly verified and this had to be rectified. He alleged that the attack was
planned one year ahead.
Though the company initially said that the loss would be about Rs 150 crore, a detailed assessment of damage for
claiming insurance has still been under way.
The production came to a halt ever since about 1,200-odd workers joined the tool-down strike on December 5. Efforts
to arriving at a negotiated settlement under the supervision of Yanam collector fell through on January 3, leading to
a complete stalemate between the management and the workers on demands such as announcement of an interim increment
culminating into large-scale violence on January 27, according to the company management.
The company is suffering Rs 8-10 crore net loss a month due to loss of production, Naidu said. The factory was
running at 60 per cent of its installed capacity of 44,000 square metre a day on account of natural gas shortage
during the past couple of years.
2012年1月30日星期一
All They Hope for Is Survival
“Zehrunisa Husain was a tear-factory even on good days; it was one of her chief ways of starting conversations,” Katherine Boo writes in “Beyond the Beautiful Forevers,” her exquisitely accomplished first book. Novelists dream of defining characters this swiftly and beautifully, but Ms. Boo is not a novelist. She is one of those rare, deep-digging journalists who can make truth surpass fiction, a documentarian with a superb sense of human drama. She makes it very easy to forget that this book is the work of a reporter.
Half an acre. 335 huts. 3,000 people. And a concrete wall that is supposed to hide them from view: this is Annawadi, the Mumbai slum that comes vibrantly to life in this book’s pages. Ms. Boo says that she chose Annawadi because the scale of this “sumpy plug of slum” bordering a lake of sewage was small, and its location was fraught with possibilities. Annawadi sits beside the road to the Mumbai airport, on “a stretch where new India and old India collided and made new India late.” In 2008, at the time the events in the book unfolded, scavenging and trash sorting were the children of Annawadi’s most promising career choices.
Much of the focus is on Zehrunisa and her oldest son, Abdul. One of Abdul’s brothers dreams of having a “clean job” at one of the nearby hotels. (“He’d heard of waiters who spent all day putting toothpicks into pieces of cheese, or aligning knives and forks on tables.”) But Abdul is more of a pragmatist and has made himself an expert at trading in refuse.
“It was a fine time to be a garbage trader, not that that was the term passersby used for Abdul,” Ms. Boo writes. “Some called him garbage, and left it at that.”
Without condescending to her subjects in the slightest, Ms. Boo explains that dreams of upward mobility are just barely possible in Annawadi. And Zehrunisa’s family has set out to renovate the kitchen of the hut in which they live. The book takes its peculiar title from sunshine-yellow ads for ceramic tile that are painted on the concrete wall that hides Annawadi: the ad series repeats the words “Beautiful” and “Forever.” Behind those “beautiful forevers,” Zehrunisa wants some of that tile for her own.
It is a calamitous desire. And Ms. Boo sets forth the step-by-step process of ruination that it brings. The kitchen wall that is being renovated is shared by two dwellings; on the other side lives Fatima, a one-legged woman.
“Strong in the shoulders, she brought the crutches down hard on neighbors she considered disrespectful,” Ms. Boo writes about Fatima’s formidable temper.
One day, when the wall is being banged on, Fatima erupts in fury. “There is rubble in my rice!” she shouts.
“It’s my wall to break, prostitute,” Zehrunisa shouts back. The fight escalates quickly to what, in the hands of another writer, would be a sickeningly lurid moment, but Ms. Boo presents it with devastating understatement. Fatima becomes so furious that she sets herself on fire. She survives just long enough to lie about what happened. As a consequence, Abdul is accused of murder.
How does Ms. Boo know the details? A staff writer for The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work at The Washington Post, she spent three and a half years in the midst of her subjects. She used written notes, video recordings, audiotapes and photographs; some of the children of the book used her Flip video camera to document events. She also made use of more than 3,000 public records.
The Fatima catastrophe is at the heart of this book. But Ms. Boo never milks her material for pathos; she doesn’t have to. By simply describing Abdul’s experiences at the hands of India’s criminal justice system, she reveals a degree of casual corruption that would stun even the most jaded cynic.
By accepting the amount of sewage, literal and moral, that pervades life in Annawadi, she delivers something much more powerful than an outright indictment. The book’s cover, with an image of abject squalor, does not do justice to its agile prose, wry tone and surprisingly upbeat theatrics. Comparison to Dickens is not unwarranted.
When Ms. Boo finally uses her own voice, at the end of the book, to explain how a fair-skinned blonde from The New Yorker managed to fit into Annawadi so wholeheartedly, she also frames the ultimate question that “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” addresses: why aren’t the slum-dwellers bound together by common interests and common enemies?
Here she crystallizes what she discovered: “Instead, powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what they lacked. Sometimes they tried to destroy one another. Sometimes, like Fatima, they destroyed themselves in the process.”
The book’s relatively fortunate characters, like Asha, a cunningly ambitious woman who realizes it is advantageous to create problems and then be paid to solve them, “improved their lots by beggaring the chances of other poor people.”
“Behind the Beautiful Forevers” needs no heavy hand to pack a wallop. “Food wasn’t one of the amenities at Cooper, the 500-bed hospital on which millions of poor people depended,” Ms. Boo writes with supreme restraint. “Nor was medicine.”
There is only one realm in which her approach loses rigor. She writes about so many scavenging kids, boisterously quarrelsome families and corrupt officials that the book is too crowded. In another setting this might be problematic. In Mumbai it is justified.
Half an acre. 335 huts. 3,000 people. And a concrete wall that is supposed to hide them from view: this is Annawadi, the Mumbai slum that comes vibrantly to life in this book’s pages. Ms. Boo says that she chose Annawadi because the scale of this “sumpy plug of slum” bordering a lake of sewage was small, and its location was fraught with possibilities. Annawadi sits beside the road to the Mumbai airport, on “a stretch where new India and old India collided and made new India late.” In 2008, at the time the events in the book unfolded, scavenging and trash sorting were the children of Annawadi’s most promising career choices.
Much of the focus is on Zehrunisa and her oldest son, Abdul. One of Abdul’s brothers dreams of having a “clean job” at one of the nearby hotels. (“He’d heard of waiters who spent all day putting toothpicks into pieces of cheese, or aligning knives and forks on tables.”) But Abdul is more of a pragmatist and has made himself an expert at trading in refuse.
“It was a fine time to be a garbage trader, not that that was the term passersby used for Abdul,” Ms. Boo writes. “Some called him garbage, and left it at that.”
Without condescending to her subjects in the slightest, Ms. Boo explains that dreams of upward mobility are just barely possible in Annawadi. And Zehrunisa’s family has set out to renovate the kitchen of the hut in which they live. The book takes its peculiar title from sunshine-yellow ads for ceramic tile that are painted on the concrete wall that hides Annawadi: the ad series repeats the words “Beautiful” and “Forever.” Behind those “beautiful forevers,” Zehrunisa wants some of that tile for her own.
It is a calamitous desire. And Ms. Boo sets forth the step-by-step process of ruination that it brings. The kitchen wall that is being renovated is shared by two dwellings; on the other side lives Fatima, a one-legged woman.
“Strong in the shoulders, she brought the crutches down hard on neighbors she considered disrespectful,” Ms. Boo writes about Fatima’s formidable temper.
One day, when the wall is being banged on, Fatima erupts in fury. “There is rubble in my rice!” she shouts.
“It’s my wall to break, prostitute,” Zehrunisa shouts back. The fight escalates quickly to what, in the hands of another writer, would be a sickeningly lurid moment, but Ms. Boo presents it with devastating understatement. Fatima becomes so furious that she sets herself on fire. She survives just long enough to lie about what happened. As a consequence, Abdul is accused of murder.
How does Ms. Boo know the details? A staff writer for The New Yorker and a Pulitzer Prize winner for her work at The Washington Post, she spent three and a half years in the midst of her subjects. She used written notes, video recordings, audiotapes and photographs; some of the children of the book used her Flip video camera to document events. She also made use of more than 3,000 public records.
The Fatima catastrophe is at the heart of this book. But Ms. Boo never milks her material for pathos; she doesn’t have to. By simply describing Abdul’s experiences at the hands of India’s criminal justice system, she reveals a degree of casual corruption that would stun even the most jaded cynic.
By accepting the amount of sewage, literal and moral, that pervades life in Annawadi, she delivers something much more powerful than an outright indictment. The book’s cover, with an image of abject squalor, does not do justice to its agile prose, wry tone and surprisingly upbeat theatrics. Comparison to Dickens is not unwarranted.
When Ms. Boo finally uses her own voice, at the end of the book, to explain how a fair-skinned blonde from The New Yorker managed to fit into Annawadi so wholeheartedly, she also frames the ultimate question that “Behind the Beautiful Forevers” addresses: why aren’t the slum-dwellers bound together by common interests and common enemies?
Here she crystallizes what she discovered: “Instead, powerless individuals blamed other powerless individuals for what they lacked. Sometimes they tried to destroy one another. Sometimes, like Fatima, they destroyed themselves in the process.”
The book’s relatively fortunate characters, like Asha, a cunningly ambitious woman who realizes it is advantageous to create problems and then be paid to solve them, “improved their lots by beggaring the chances of other poor people.”
“Behind the Beautiful Forevers” needs no heavy hand to pack a wallop. “Food wasn’t one of the amenities at Cooper, the 500-bed hospital on which millions of poor people depended,” Ms. Boo writes with supreme restraint. “Nor was medicine.”
There is only one realm in which her approach loses rigor. She writes about so many scavenging kids, boisterously quarrelsome families and corrupt officials that the book is too crowded. In another setting this might be problematic. In Mumbai it is justified.
2012年1月5日星期四
Foreclosure find yields cozy treasure for father, daughter
Most people, unless headed to a specific address, will simply drive past the two-story row houses that line the curb along Fleet Street in East Baltimore. Few are wider than 15 feet; their only mark of individuality is usually found in the variety of front doors. Many of these houses, dating to 1910, are examples of exterior brick restoration, while others still bask in the Formstone glory of 1940's exterior home improvement.
Alex Dyadyura, a computer programmer with Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, purchased one of these houses less than a year ago. Secure in his position after almost three years of service, the time was ripe for moving from his rented house in Patterson Park.
"I got used to this neighborhood and started looking around," said the Ukrainian-born Dyadyura in a soft voice. "And this one came along."
He purchased the foreclosure property for $149,000 and moved into a house already beautifully renovated by the previous owners. It still needed about $10,000 in updates, so Dyadyura and his 19-year-old daughter, Krystyana, who moved from Canada to live with him, painted every interior room, tiled the kitchen, replaced the roof and built a concrete parking pad in the postage stamp-sized backyard.
From the street, the house looks like those flanking it – still dressed in a coat of Formstone, with door and windows trimmed in white. Beyond the front door, the interior measures 13.6-feet wide by 46-feet deep. A living room in the front of the house faces south, while the kitchen, at the rear, faces north. A moderately sized hall separates the two with a staircase to the second level on one side and a full bathroom on the other.
Blatantly contemporary in décor, an overwhelming coziness is achieved through a palate of warm wall colors that surround gleaming oak flooring. In the kitchen, walls are painted a soft shade of pumpkin and framed in a stencil of painted green confetti-like pieces, executed by Dyadyura's daughter, a graphic arts student. Cabinets of cherry wood hang above granite countertops and stainless appliances.
Across the room from the prep area, upholstered high-backed chairs in a geometric design cozy up to a round glass-topped table. A high-topped, dark-stained parsons table, with two bar stools tucked under it, rests in front of the wide kitchen window hung with taffeta like curtains over cream colored shears. Light-colored ceramic floor tile has been laid on a diagonal for interest.
"The living room is my favorite," Dyadyura said, noting that the décor was done by his daughter and Baltimore designer Steve Appel as a surprise.
Painted a warm shade of French vanilla, a contemporary tuxedo-style sofa of olive-colored velour sits against a wall under a stunning, frameless self portrait of his daughter. A large round mirror is hung on the opposite wall, providing a reflection of the neat, minimalistic décor. In one corner, adjacent to a 46-inch wide-screen TV, a barreled armchair is placed at an angle to a three shelved parson's table painted white.
"I actually never moved anything after they put together," he said, adding, "I'm not artistic, I'm functional."
Functionality dictates on the second level where two bedrooms, one in the front, the other in the back, are separated by a hall and center room that his daughter uses as her studio. "This was intended to be my bathroom," says Dyadyura fondly.
The master bedroom contains a black lacquered wood bedroom suite and computer desk. Furnishings, such as a neutral colored brocade bed quilt and flowing shear curtains on the windows, soften the austere look.
Krystyna's bedroom suite at the back end of the second level is a work in progress. Only her bathroom, with walls painted a candy apple green, suggests an artistic decor in the works.
Walking down the stairs to the first level, Dyadyura notes that he carpeted the steps and intends to stain the oak railing. When asked if he plans to remain in his contemporary, compact home, he notes, "I love the location. Here you can walk anywhere, to shopping, restaurants and to park."
Alex Dyadyura, a computer programmer with Johns Hopkins Community Physicians, purchased one of these houses less than a year ago. Secure in his position after almost three years of service, the time was ripe for moving from his rented house in Patterson Park.
"I got used to this neighborhood and started looking around," said the Ukrainian-born Dyadyura in a soft voice. "And this one came along."
He purchased the foreclosure property for $149,000 and moved into a house already beautifully renovated by the previous owners. It still needed about $10,000 in updates, so Dyadyura and his 19-year-old daughter, Krystyana, who moved from Canada to live with him, painted every interior room, tiled the kitchen, replaced the roof and built a concrete parking pad in the postage stamp-sized backyard.
From the street, the house looks like those flanking it – still dressed in a coat of Formstone, with door and windows trimmed in white. Beyond the front door, the interior measures 13.6-feet wide by 46-feet deep. A living room in the front of the house faces south, while the kitchen, at the rear, faces north. A moderately sized hall separates the two with a staircase to the second level on one side and a full bathroom on the other.
Blatantly contemporary in décor, an overwhelming coziness is achieved through a palate of warm wall colors that surround gleaming oak flooring. In the kitchen, walls are painted a soft shade of pumpkin and framed in a stencil of painted green confetti-like pieces, executed by Dyadyura's daughter, a graphic arts student. Cabinets of cherry wood hang above granite countertops and stainless appliances.
Across the room from the prep area, upholstered high-backed chairs in a geometric design cozy up to a round glass-topped table. A high-topped, dark-stained parsons table, with two bar stools tucked under it, rests in front of the wide kitchen window hung with taffeta like curtains over cream colored shears. Light-colored ceramic floor tile has been laid on a diagonal for interest.
"The living room is my favorite," Dyadyura said, noting that the décor was done by his daughter and Baltimore designer Steve Appel as a surprise.
Painted a warm shade of French vanilla, a contemporary tuxedo-style sofa of olive-colored velour sits against a wall under a stunning, frameless self portrait of his daughter. A large round mirror is hung on the opposite wall, providing a reflection of the neat, minimalistic décor. In one corner, adjacent to a 46-inch wide-screen TV, a barreled armchair is placed at an angle to a three shelved parson's table painted white.
"I actually never moved anything after they put together," he said, adding, "I'm not artistic, I'm functional."
Functionality dictates on the second level where two bedrooms, one in the front, the other in the back, are separated by a hall and center room that his daughter uses as her studio. "This was intended to be my bathroom," says Dyadyura fondly.
The master bedroom contains a black lacquered wood bedroom suite and computer desk. Furnishings, such as a neutral colored brocade bed quilt and flowing shear curtains on the windows, soften the austere look.
Krystyna's bedroom suite at the back end of the second level is a work in progress. Only her bathroom, with walls painted a candy apple green, suggests an artistic decor in the works.
Walking down the stairs to the first level, Dyadyura notes that he carpeted the steps and intends to stain the oak railing. When asked if he plans to remain in his contemporary, compact home, he notes, "I love the location. Here you can walk anywhere, to shopping, restaurants and to park."
2012年1月4日星期三
Deadly Backroom Buttocks Plastic Surgery Brings Lawsuits
A Colombian couple, characterized by prosecutors as greedy con artists who preyed on Latino patients, are now facing wrongful death lawsuits from the family of a 42-year-old Las Vegas woman who died in a botched buttocks enhancement procedure in the back room of a tile store.
A lawsuit filed Dec. 22 in Clark County District Court in Nevada on behalf of the husband and two children of Elena Caro seeks unspecified damages from Ruben Dario Matallana-Galvas and his wife, Carmen Olfidia Torres-Sanchez, plus the owners of the now-closed tile store and a beauty salon alleged to have referred Caro to the couple for the fatal surgery.
Caro's daughter, Janet Villalobos, filed a separate lawsuit Dec. 21 against the same defendants.
"They're seeking damages for the loss of their wife and mother," said attorney Kevin Edwin Galliher, representing husband Oscar Canale and the couple's two children. Galliher said he is cooperating with lawyer Michaela Tramel, who represents Villalobos. Tramel didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The Las Vegas Sun first reported the lawsuits Tuesday.
Matallana-Galvas, 56, and Torres-Sanchez, 47, were each sentenced in October to up to eight years in a Nevada prison plus a year in the Clark County jail for involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy and practicing medicine without a license.
Matallana-Galvas said he was a homeopathic physician in Colombia. Torres-Sanchez was a lawyer with the country's attorney general's office. Authorities said they were in the U.S. on tourist visas that have expired, and they will face deportation after completing their sentences.
An autopsy showed Caro died April 9 from an allergic reaction to anesthesia administered before an injection of a gel to reshape her buttocks. Caro received facial injections from Matallana-Galvas a week earlier, with no side effects.
Authorities said Caro was referred by people at the Sinaloa Beauty Salon to Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez, and that the fatal procedure took place in a back room of a Tiles and More store east of downtown Las Vegas.
Attorneys for the defendants were not identified in court records, and Galliher said the defendants were not yet served with the lawsuit.
Matallana-Galvas acknowledged at his sentencing that Caro became ill while he conducted the procedure with Torres-Sanchez assisting.
Authorities said the couple bundled Caro into a car with another woman, but Caro died on the way to a hospital.
A lawsuit filed Dec. 22 in Clark County District Court in Nevada on behalf of the husband and two children of Elena Caro seeks unspecified damages from Ruben Dario Matallana-Galvas and his wife, Carmen Olfidia Torres-Sanchez, plus the owners of the now-closed tile store and a beauty salon alleged to have referred Caro to the couple for the fatal surgery.
Caro's daughter, Janet Villalobos, filed a separate lawsuit Dec. 21 against the same defendants.
"They're seeking damages for the loss of their wife and mother," said attorney Kevin Edwin Galliher, representing husband Oscar Canale and the couple's two children. Galliher said he is cooperating with lawyer Michaela Tramel, who represents Villalobos. Tramel didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
The Las Vegas Sun first reported the lawsuits Tuesday.
Matallana-Galvas, 56, and Torres-Sanchez, 47, were each sentenced in October to up to eight years in a Nevada prison plus a year in the Clark County jail for involuntary manslaughter, conspiracy and practicing medicine without a license.
Matallana-Galvas said he was a homeopathic physician in Colombia. Torres-Sanchez was a lawyer with the country's attorney general's office. Authorities said they were in the U.S. on tourist visas that have expired, and they will face deportation after completing their sentences.
An autopsy showed Caro died April 9 from an allergic reaction to anesthesia administered before an injection of a gel to reshape her buttocks. Caro received facial injections from Matallana-Galvas a week earlier, with no side effects.
Authorities said Caro was referred by people at the Sinaloa Beauty Salon to Matallana-Galvas and Torres-Sanchez, and that the fatal procedure took place in a back room of a Tiles and More store east of downtown Las Vegas.
Attorneys for the defendants were not identified in court records, and Galliher said the defendants were not yet served with the lawsuit.
Matallana-Galvas acknowledged at his sentencing that Caro became ill while he conducted the procedure with Torres-Sanchez assisting.
Authorities said the couple bundled Caro into a car with another woman, but Caro died on the way to a hospital.
2011年12月28日星期三
Family’s new home plea over asbestos
A FORMER soldier fighting a legal battle against a housing association has received the backing of Melton Royal British Legion.
Nigel Grant, of Winster Crescent, Melton, is making a desperate plea to the Loughborough-based De Montfort Housing Society to re-home him and his family from their current property which he claims is ‘covered’ in black mould. He is also concerned about levels of asbestos in the property’s flooring.
At Mr Grant’s request the society has made the decision to rip up all the tiles from the dining room, living room, downstairs hallway and cupboard under the stairs. It also plans to rip out the fireplace, which has patches of black mould, and inspect the living room floor for damp.
However, the association has refused to rehome Mr Grant’s family while work is being carried out for a week from January 9, and once work is finished it will not be providing replacement tiles.
The father-of-three, who served his country in Iraq during 2008, fears his family’s health may be affected if they are forced to remain in the property and is working with the Royal British Legion to try to resolve the issue.
He said: “I have researched the affects of asbestos and mould exposure and am very concerned.
“My children suffer from chronic asthma and my four- month-old son Lochlan has developed a bad cough.
“I am doing all I can to ensure my family has somewhere safe to live but feel like I’m just going round in circles and it’s putting an unimaginable amount of stress on myself and my partner Elaine Godfrey.”
Mr Grant has raised his concerns with Melton Council. Environmental protection and safety manager Victoria Clarke said: “Asbestos should not be removed unnecessarily as it can be more dangerous than leaving it in place. We are therefore liaising with the housing association to ensure the work is carried out safely.”
Said Gurmeet Virdi, director of operations for De Montfort Housing Society, said: “We have discussed with the family whether or not they would prefer to stay in a bed and breakfast at our expense on the first night while the tiles are removed and will carry out air tests to check that it is safe before they move back in.”
Nigel Grant, of Winster Crescent, Melton, is making a desperate plea to the Loughborough-based De Montfort Housing Society to re-home him and his family from their current property which he claims is ‘covered’ in black mould. He is also concerned about levels of asbestos in the property’s flooring.
At Mr Grant’s request the society has made the decision to rip up all the tiles from the dining room, living room, downstairs hallway and cupboard under the stairs. It also plans to rip out the fireplace, which has patches of black mould, and inspect the living room floor for damp.
However, the association has refused to rehome Mr Grant’s family while work is being carried out for a week from January 9, and once work is finished it will not be providing replacement tiles.
The father-of-three, who served his country in Iraq during 2008, fears his family’s health may be affected if they are forced to remain in the property and is working with the Royal British Legion to try to resolve the issue.
He said: “I have researched the affects of asbestos and mould exposure and am very concerned.
“My children suffer from chronic asthma and my four- month-old son Lochlan has developed a bad cough.
“I am doing all I can to ensure my family has somewhere safe to live but feel like I’m just going round in circles and it’s putting an unimaginable amount of stress on myself and my partner Elaine Godfrey.”
Mr Grant has raised his concerns with Melton Council. Environmental protection and safety manager Victoria Clarke said: “Asbestos should not be removed unnecessarily as it can be more dangerous than leaving it in place. We are therefore liaising with the housing association to ensure the work is carried out safely.”
Said Gurmeet Virdi, director of operations for De Montfort Housing Society, said: “We have discussed with the family whether or not they would prefer to stay in a bed and breakfast at our expense on the first night while the tiles are removed and will carry out air tests to check that it is safe before they move back in.”
2011年12月19日星期一
4 Elements HD
For those not satisfied with downloading and playing clever and colourful little games on their phones, now you can download and play them on your console at home. Or, at least you can play 4 Elements. The new block breaking puzzler available on the PlayStation Network.
4 Elements, from developer Boolat Games, is sixty-four levels of high-def brain bending puzzles with a fairy guide, set to a soundtrack of twee fairytale music. And although there is fun, you can’t escape the feeling that you'd get the same fun from a dozen other games on your phone.
Still, like all good puzzle games, 4 Elements HD starts out simple but quickly turns into hours of random controller abuse - or Move controller abuse, if you’re that way inclined. Add to this plenty of muttered profanities, cries of ‘that’s not fair’ and ‘it’s impossible, stupid game’, and you have all the joyous frustrations that are essential to the genre.
The way it works is there are four elements. If you’re an Avatar fan (Aang, not the big blue alternative) you know they are earth, fire, air, and water. You, with the help of your little fairy guide, have to save your kingdom by restoring the power of the 4 elements. And you get to build a picture of a castle as a reward.
At the beginning of each level you get a screen full of little tiles. Your task is to break open a path through the tiles allowing one of the four elements to reach its destination. So you might be getting water to a tree or fire to an alter - you get the idea.
Each of the tiles has a symbol and colour representing one of the elements. What you have to do is find three or more of the same tile in a line. If you click on one, drag the pointer across the others and release, the tiles are destroyed and the water can get that much closer to the tree. Simple enough.
But, like the best games the challenge ramps up quickly, especially when there is no obvious path to follow. What you can do, when you get blocked, is find a line of more then three tiles. Do this and the last in line will explode, taking out all the tiles around it. Even better, the longer the line the bigger the explosion.
As you progress you also get power-ups corresponding to the four elemental colours. Break enough yellow tiles and you can swap two tiles. While other power-ups let you break a tile that you can’t get to, blow up a small area of tiles or rearrange the whole screen.
Add to the mix rocks and ice that block the way, arrows that can clear a path across the whole screen, and enormous levels that you can only see small sections at one time. This can mean that the action gets frantic, as you have to quickly break tiles as you scroll across vast levels. All in all it’s a game that’s enjoyable, clever, and at times surprisingly complex.
But, it’s still a phone app for your console. The story is pointless and the rewards, like adding a fence or sky to the picture of your castle, are a joke. At least I think it’s a joke, because if it’s not - remember there is a fairy guide as well - it makes 4 Elements a game just for seven-year-old girls.
Still, if you like a little Bejeweled, or something like it for your PS3, then 4 Elements is for you. You can blow up blocks, check your scores on the online leader boards and stomp your controller into expensive little pieces of plastic as you time runs out and the sheer mind-melting complexity of the whole thing finally gets the better of you. But, isn’t that the whole point of a good puzzler?
4 Elements, from developer Boolat Games, is sixty-four levels of high-def brain bending puzzles with a fairy guide, set to a soundtrack of twee fairytale music. And although there is fun, you can’t escape the feeling that you'd get the same fun from a dozen other games on your phone.
Still, like all good puzzle games, 4 Elements HD starts out simple but quickly turns into hours of random controller abuse - or Move controller abuse, if you’re that way inclined. Add to this plenty of muttered profanities, cries of ‘that’s not fair’ and ‘it’s impossible, stupid game’, and you have all the joyous frustrations that are essential to the genre.
The way it works is there are four elements. If you’re an Avatar fan (Aang, not the big blue alternative) you know they are earth, fire, air, and water. You, with the help of your little fairy guide, have to save your kingdom by restoring the power of the 4 elements. And you get to build a picture of a castle as a reward.
At the beginning of each level you get a screen full of little tiles. Your task is to break open a path through the tiles allowing one of the four elements to reach its destination. So you might be getting water to a tree or fire to an alter - you get the idea.
Each of the tiles has a symbol and colour representing one of the elements. What you have to do is find three or more of the same tile in a line. If you click on one, drag the pointer across the others and release, the tiles are destroyed and the water can get that much closer to the tree. Simple enough.
But, like the best games the challenge ramps up quickly, especially when there is no obvious path to follow. What you can do, when you get blocked, is find a line of more then three tiles. Do this and the last in line will explode, taking out all the tiles around it. Even better, the longer the line the bigger the explosion.
As you progress you also get power-ups corresponding to the four elemental colours. Break enough yellow tiles and you can swap two tiles. While other power-ups let you break a tile that you can’t get to, blow up a small area of tiles or rearrange the whole screen.
Add to the mix rocks and ice that block the way, arrows that can clear a path across the whole screen, and enormous levels that you can only see small sections at one time. This can mean that the action gets frantic, as you have to quickly break tiles as you scroll across vast levels. All in all it’s a game that’s enjoyable, clever, and at times surprisingly complex.
But, it’s still a phone app for your console. The story is pointless and the rewards, like adding a fence or sky to the picture of your castle, are a joke. At least I think it’s a joke, because if it’s not - remember there is a fairy guide as well - it makes 4 Elements a game just for seven-year-old girls.
Still, if you like a little Bejeweled, or something like it for your PS3, then 4 Elements is for you. You can blow up blocks, check your scores on the online leader boards and stomp your controller into expensive little pieces of plastic as you time runs out and the sheer mind-melting complexity of the whole thing finally gets the better of you. But, isn’t that the whole point of a good puzzler?
2011年12月11日星期日
Clay and canines
You may not see the dog in Wendy Gingell's mural-like "Atlas Unfettered." At first perusal, the assembly of black and white ceramic clay tiles composed of angles, wavy lines, swirls and the repeated use of the word "tree" may seem abstract and chaotic.
Not until you back off from the piece does the wide-eyed image of Atlas -- the artist's real life yellow Lab -- pop into view.
Atlas is more than just the subject and inspiration of the piece, part of an exhibit of new work by Gingell now on display at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. In a way, he's also the reason that Gingell finds herself working in Alaska, the reason why this show is happening where it is.
Originally from Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Gingell went to college in Toronto, planning on majoring in international studies. But she found herself enjoying art classes so much that she just kept taking them "for many, many years."
When she finally got her bachelor's degree, she moved on to Montreal, where she took French and more art classes. Eventually she had to "learn to pay the bills," she said, working in social services for some years to pay off her student loans.
"I finally paid that debt off three years ago," she said, with a note of relief.
In the meantime, among other adventures, she had relocated to Vancouver, met and married Eric Lazo, moved to Guemes Island near Anacortes, Wash., and adopted Atlas and Taupin, a black Lab. Gingell described them as "dropouts from a local assistance (companion) dog program."
She also got into tile. Among the neighbors on the tiny island -- Guemes is off the state ferry grid and depends on a county ferry to connect with the mainland -- was Sue Roberts, an experienced tile artist.
"I helped her with her garden; she let me use her kiln," Gingell said.
They had grown a little bored with the island after finishing a house there, she said. But neither were they chomping at the bit for another move when fate stepped in.
Or rather Atlas did.
"Our dog needed some very expensive knee surgery," she said. More than they could easily afford. But, fortuitously, 11 months ago, Lazo was offered a marketing job in Anchorage.
"We moved so we could afford to have the surgery," she said. "Honestly. And I stayed back there for two months after Eric moved just to help (Atlas) with his rehab after the surgery. That's the kind of people we are."
Arriving in Alaska this year, she wanted to continue with tile work but didn't have access to a running kiln. Instead she spent her time doodling "images of the north, woods, the environment" and baby-sitting the Labradors.
She connected with the local arts community. She found support at the Upstairs Studio in downtown Anchorage and the International. She met other "ceramic, fine arts and craft junkies."
And she won one of the most coveted art awards in Alaska -- a Connie Boocheever Fellowship. The prize, named for the former president of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, is given to people the council considers to be significant "emerging artists" in different disciplines each year. In 2011 it went to visual artists. Other winners were photographers Ben Huff of Juneau and Michael Conti of Anchorage and painter James Adcox of Nome.
The Boocheever Fellowship, which included a cash award of $2,500, made the current show possible.
The show includes a number of functional dishes and bowls -- Gingell said they are microwave safe -- and numerous tiles displayed as wall hangings. Some are single pieces, others use six or nine separate tiles pulled together to form a single picture.
The images include wildly animated faces, anatomical designs and fanciful critters like a narwhal, a walrus with a fish tail and something bug-like.
"I'm always interested in what people tell me they see," she said.
Even when the title suggests a narrative, as in the nine-tile "Parable of the Whale and the Starfish," its specifics are elusive. "I can't tell you what it means," she said.
But the single-tile "Man Attacked by Giant Mosquitoes" is pretty self-explanatory.
And "Atlas Unfettered" is an undisguised tribute to the happy dog's new life on new knees in Alaska.
Gingell said she was "shocked" to win a Boocheever award. But the judges weren't alone in their estimation of her talent. Almost as soon as she arrived, she began displaying her work during the First Friday openings at downtown's Upstairs Studio and, more recently, was included with local clay masters Paul Dungan, Gina Hollomon and Ahna Iredale in a show at 2 Friends Gallery in midtown.
She had her artwork juried into the statewide Earth, Fire and Fibre competition, now on exhibit at the Anchorage Museum, and her tableware is sold in the museum gift shop. Beyond Alaska, she's had work accepted for shows next year at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Wash., and at the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C.
Despite the success and numerous semesters of art classes, she's not shy about being called an "emerging artist." She acknowledged that she still has a lot to learn.
Not until you back off from the piece does the wide-eyed image of Atlas -- the artist's real life yellow Lab -- pop into view.
Atlas is more than just the subject and inspiration of the piece, part of an exhibit of new work by Gingell now on display at the International Gallery of Contemporary Art. In a way, he's also the reason that Gingell finds herself working in Alaska, the reason why this show is happening where it is.
Originally from Gravelbourg, Saskatchewan, Gingell went to college in Toronto, planning on majoring in international studies. But she found herself enjoying art classes so much that she just kept taking them "for many, many years."
When she finally got her bachelor's degree, she moved on to Montreal, where she took French and more art classes. Eventually she had to "learn to pay the bills," she said, working in social services for some years to pay off her student loans.
"I finally paid that debt off three years ago," she said, with a note of relief.
In the meantime, among other adventures, she had relocated to Vancouver, met and married Eric Lazo, moved to Guemes Island near Anacortes, Wash., and adopted Atlas and Taupin, a black Lab. Gingell described them as "dropouts from a local assistance (companion) dog program."
She also got into tile. Among the neighbors on the tiny island -- Guemes is off the state ferry grid and depends on a county ferry to connect with the mainland -- was Sue Roberts, an experienced tile artist.
"I helped her with her garden; she let me use her kiln," Gingell said.
They had grown a little bored with the island after finishing a house there, she said. But neither were they chomping at the bit for another move when fate stepped in.
Or rather Atlas did.
"Our dog needed some very expensive knee surgery," she said. More than they could easily afford. But, fortuitously, 11 months ago, Lazo was offered a marketing job in Anchorage.
"We moved so we could afford to have the surgery," she said. "Honestly. And I stayed back there for two months after Eric moved just to help (Atlas) with his rehab after the surgery. That's the kind of people we are."
Arriving in Alaska this year, she wanted to continue with tile work but didn't have access to a running kiln. Instead she spent her time doodling "images of the north, woods, the environment" and baby-sitting the Labradors.
She connected with the local arts community. She found support at the Upstairs Studio in downtown Anchorage and the International. She met other "ceramic, fine arts and craft junkies."
And she won one of the most coveted art awards in Alaska -- a Connie Boocheever Fellowship. The prize, named for the former president of the Alaska State Council on the Arts, is given to people the council considers to be significant "emerging artists" in different disciplines each year. In 2011 it went to visual artists. Other winners were photographers Ben Huff of Juneau and Michael Conti of Anchorage and painter James Adcox of Nome.
The Boocheever Fellowship, which included a cash award of $2,500, made the current show possible.
The show includes a number of functional dishes and bowls -- Gingell said they are microwave safe -- and numerous tiles displayed as wall hangings. Some are single pieces, others use six or nine separate tiles pulled together to form a single picture.
The images include wildly animated faces, anatomical designs and fanciful critters like a narwhal, a walrus with a fish tail and something bug-like.
"I'm always interested in what people tell me they see," she said.
Even when the title suggests a narrative, as in the nine-tile "Parable of the Whale and the Starfish," its specifics are elusive. "I can't tell you what it means," she said.
But the single-tile "Man Attacked by Giant Mosquitoes" is pretty self-explanatory.
And "Atlas Unfettered" is an undisguised tribute to the happy dog's new life on new knees in Alaska.
Gingell said she was "shocked" to win a Boocheever award. But the judges weren't alone in their estimation of her talent. Almost as soon as she arrived, she began displaying her work during the First Friday openings at downtown's Upstairs Studio and, more recently, was included with local clay masters Paul Dungan, Gina Hollomon and Ahna Iredale in a show at 2 Friends Gallery in midtown.
She had her artwork juried into the statewide Earth, Fire and Fibre competition, now on exhibit at the Anchorage Museum, and her tableware is sold in the museum gift shop. Beyond Alaska, she's had work accepted for shows next year at the Museum of Northwest Art in La Conner, Wash., and at the Smithsonian Craft Show in Washington, D.C.
Despite the success and numerous semesters of art classes, she's not shy about being called an "emerging artist." She acknowledged that she still has a lot to learn.
2011年4月24日星期日
At the booth in Hall 9
The Weidenhammer Packaging Group (WPG, D-68 758 Hockenheim) looks forward to the Interpack 2011 in Dusseldorf, where the packaging specialist for stable consumer packaging, including his new peel-off top closure concept is presented for the composite can. Under the motto "Packed to protect - Styled to sell". Is to be developed for oxygen-sensitive contents as further development of the composite can, which is produced under clean room conditions with the concept of the market, this is the closure with an easy-to-open membrane with a ring pull or flat tab that is similar to the current market caps of metal cans. The new plastic cover care for high gas and oxygen impermeability.
At the booth in Hall 9, Stand D-31, the visitors also expects the "OvalCan" that, by its extraordinary - will stand out format in the selection of innovative plastics solutions, has Weidenhammer emphasized the benefits of specific scattered parts of two-component injection - since oval. to facilitate the dosage and make the composite can packaging for ready-made solution, such as the sugar mill.
The products manufactured by the Weidenhammer Plastic Packaging Plastic containers are suitable for food in and out of the refrigerator and freezer counter. When processing the in-mold labeling technology is used. Take place packaging production and decoration in one step. One example is the "sausage mills" of the Rügenwalder mill, which are now available in stores in plastic cups from Weidenhammer.
At the booth in Hall 9, Stand D-31, the visitors also expects the "OvalCan" that, by its extraordinary - will stand out format in the selection of innovative plastics solutions, has Weidenhammer emphasized the benefits of specific scattered parts of two-component injection - since oval. to facilitate the dosage and make the composite can packaging for ready-made solution, such as the sugar mill.
The products manufactured by the Weidenhammer Plastic Packaging Plastic containers are suitable for food in and out of the refrigerator and freezer counter. When processing the in-mold labeling technology is used. Take place packaging production and decoration in one step. One example is the "sausage mills" of the Rügenwalder mill, which are now available in stores in plastic cups from Weidenhammer.
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