Milwaukee Bag International joined PAC Machinery Group as its newest member. It joins Audion Automation, Packaging Aids Corp., and Vertrod. Milwaukee Bag produces a wide range of bags including the Redi Pac™ pre-open bags-on-roll, wicketed bags, flat-side-seal and bottom-seal bags, and header bags.

Cintas Corp. launched a comprehensive air program to bring relief to victims of the tsunami disaster in South Asia. The program, “Operation: Cintas Cares,” will bring more than 150,000 items of clothing to Matthew: 25 Minitries’ tsunami relief initiatives. The clothing donation is valued at more than $2 million. Cintas will also match donations raised by its employees up to $50,000. In addition, the Farmer Family Foundation — established by Richard Farmer, Cintas founder and chairman — will contribure $250,000 to the Red Cross in the name of Cintas.

Urschel International Ltd. Nederland added 50 percent more area to its offices in a recent expansion. The addition creates a total space or more than 10,000 square feet. The expansion creates more office space, a new meeting room, greater stock area, a new entranceway, and a larger demonstration area where customers are invited to observe their products being cut on Urschel equipment.

Eastman Chemical Co. launched Centrus International Inc., a diagnostics business dedicated to providing rapid microbiology testing solutions to food, dairy, meat, and nutraceutical processing, as well as other industrial markets. Centrus manufactures and markets diagnostics systems to rapidly detect microbial contamination in products and raw materials. For food processing customers, Centrus diagnostic systems are designed to provide fast, actionable microbial test results.

Armor Inox of Mauron, France, a producer of cooking, chilling, and automatic handling systems for the ham and poultry industries, appointed Wolf-Tec Inc. as the new exclusive marketer and customer service representative for that market. Wolf-Tec, Kingston, NY, is a manufacturer and marketer of technologically advanced systems and solutions and the marination and curing of meat products.

A new employee training program video, “Controlling Food Allergens in the Plant,” has been developed by Silliker Inc. and the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program (FARRP) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The program delivers the most current industry knowledge to help companies enhance their in-plant allergen training sessions. The video communicates allergen-specific good manufacturing practices, from checking raw material receipt to formulation to cleaning and sanitation practices.

Cloverdale Paint Inc. (CPI) has purchased Canadian Environmental Coatings of Calgary, Alberta, and concurrently signed an exclusive five-year agreement with Enviroline Group to distribute Enviroline coatings and linings in Western Canada. Canadian Environmental Coatings had been the exclusive Enviroline distributor in Western Canada for nearly ten years. It currently operates as a division of CPI.

(Hot_0004.jpg) JohnsonDiversey has launched an exclusive program that aims at significantly lowering food safety risks. Called Hot Spots™, the program helps companies that sell and serve food to match their cleaning and sanitation resources against the areas of greatest food-safety risk. Hot Spots maps high-risk areas throughout individual facilities then provides the data, guidelines, training, and on-line tools to best allocate resources for improved food-safety management. For more information, visit www.johnsondiversey.com

Carbon County Higher Education Center has launched the Integrated Systems Technology workforce training program. The IST program includes certification course modules in electrical systems, robotics, design processes, manufacturing, quality assurance, and enterprise systems. For more information, call the CCHEC at (307) 328-9204.

Blendex Co., dba Blendex Custom Blending, has received one of the Greater Louisville Inc.’s Manufacturing Awards of Excellence, the KMAC Quality Award. In addition, the company is the recipient of Louisville Business First’s “Fast Fifty” award for the second year in a row. The Fast Fifty award recognizes the top 50 fastest-growing, privately-held companies in greater Louisville.

Guelph Food Technology Centre, Guelph, Ontario, has released its 2005 technical services and training programs. GFTC provides technical solutions, training, consulting and auditing to the Canadian food industry in the areas of research and development, packaging, shelf life, food safety, quality, and productivity improvement. Each year, GFTC assists more than 500 companies and organizations and provides training to more than 3,600 people. A PDF file of the entire course calendar can be downloaded at www.gftc.ca

Rexam, the global consumer packaging company, re-launched its Web site. The new site has two main information sections – corporate and business – and offers a greater depth of detail about the company. The site also highlights the role packaging plays in shaping consumers’ experiences.