Masonry Magazine September 1979 Page. 24
People & Events
continued from page 23
McGraw-Hill HomeBook, an annual publication on home improvement distributed through Welcome Wagon and real estate brokers. Retired Navy Rear Admiral Rowland G. Freeman III has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the 11th administrator of the GSA.
Warner Masonry, Inc., Glendale, Ariz., has announced the appointments of Brian Warner, as vice president/general manager; Sharon Snyder, as secretary-treasurer/comptroller, and Johnny Porter, as superintendent. Daniel C. Cammer, architectural engineer for the Brick Institute of America, has been named chief of Building Code Activity, Washington, D.C. The board of General Portland, Inc., Dallas, Texas, has elected James B. Lendrum chairman & chief executive officer, and Scott A. Rogers, Jr. president and a director of the company. Peter B. McCuen has been appointed vice president/marketing & business planning of McGraw-Hill Information Systems Co., New York, N.Y.
The Masonry Institute of Memphis has a new man at its helm. He is Morgan Fields, a Tennessee native who for the past nine years served on the staff of the Brick Institute of America in Atlanta. Vernon "Bo" Bingham has been named manager of the New Orleans district of Associated General Contractors of Louisiana. Anna Halpin, manager of professional marketing programs for Sweet's, has been elected a vice president of the American Institute of Architects and will assume her new post in December.
Congratulations to Robert Schilling, Jr., Inc., Allentown, Pa., now celebrating its 23rd year in the mason contracting business. George K. Sarkisian, president & chief executive office of SARCO Industries, Binghamton, N.Y., has been elected to the board of Keystone Portland Co., also of Allentown. SARCO owns 7% of Keyston's shares and operates nationally through several subsidiaries primarily in the construction and real estate development fields. Joseph A. "Tony" Wintz III, P.E., structural engineer for the Brick Institute of America, has been appointed assistant chief engineer of BIA's engineering and research division.
PLASTICRETE
Plasticrete Masonry Operation Doing Well
NORTH HAVEN, Conn. A progressive and "reborn" company manufacturing concrete masonry products here is alive and well 15 months after a group of employees purchased the financially ailing operation from the family-owned enterprise which founded it 57 years ago. Twelve employees of Plasticrete Corporation and two other "interested parties" bought the entire masonry division from their former employers in June, 1978, and set up a new corporation-Plasticrete Block & Supply Corp. The employee group was able to swing the $2 million purchase by pooling their resources-even by mortgaging their homes, in some cases-and borrowing the balance. Today the company reports it is 36 percent ahead of its 1978 sales figures and is avidly developing new products and strategies. Its officers and two other stockholders pictured here are (from left) Joseph M. Rescigno, vice president; Anthony Del-Grego; John Harding, treasurer, Richard A. Allen, president; Ralph Acampora, and Anthony Rescigno, secretary.
Building Conference to be Held in Minneapolis
The second North Central Building Conference, a trade show featuring educational workshops and a variety of exhibits of building materials, is scheduled for November 27-29 in the Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minn.
Representatives of the building industry from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas, Illinois, Michigan and Nebraska are expected to attend the three-day event. Registration information may be obtained from Trade Shows, Inc., Box 596, Wayzata, MN 55391, (612) 475-2237.
Ibstock-Johnsen Adds to Its U.S. Brick Interests
Ibstock-Johnsen Ltd. has announced a merger agreement with Glen-Gery Corp., Reading, Pa., manufacturer and marketer of brick and concrete block.
Long a major producer of facing brick in the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Belgium, Ibstock-Johnsen entered the U.S. market a little over a year ago through the purchase of Marion Brick Corp., Marion, Ohio. Now, with Marion Brick's seven plants and Glen-Gery's six, the organization is capable of producing more than 500 million brick annually.
Break Ground for New Brick Production Plants
Two prominent brick manufacturers recently broke ground for new plants in Texas and Ohio.
Michigan Brick began construction of a new facility that will be known as Brazos Brick Co., division of Michigan Brick, in Mineral Wells, Texas. Completion of the $8.5 million plant is scheduled for July, 1980, with an expected production capacity of 70 million brick a year.
Belden Brick Co. is building a $10 million plant at the site of the recently acquired Claycraft Co. brick plant in Sugarcreek, Ohio. The facility is expected to be completed in autumn, 1980, and will have a capacity of 42 million brick a year. The plant will produce sand-mold brick, popular for its resemblance to handmade brick of colonial times.
General Portland Has Record Quarterly Income
General Portland, Inc., one of the nation's largest manufacturers of portland cement, has announced the highest quarterly earnings in the company's history.
For the three months ended June 30, 1979, sales were $71.9 million, compared with $69.4 million in the same quarter last year.