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SBR ACQUIRED BY FORTUNE
BRANDS
SBR, Inc., Parkersburg, WV, and Fortune Brands,
Inc., Deerfield, IL, have announced a definitive agreement for Fortune
Brands to acquire SBR through a tax-free merger. The acquisition
includes the home products brands of SBR, which include Simonton
Windows®, SimEx™, Fypon®, Hy-Lite® Products and
Dixie-Pacific™.
Operations will continue as they have in the past at
the SBR home products subsidiaries with no planned employee cutbacks or
facility closings as part of the merger, the company states. Fortune
Brands intends for SBR and each of its subsidiaries to continue running
independently, with support from its $4 billion home and hardware
business that includes Moen, a top faucet brand in North America;
MasterBrand Cabinets, a leading supplier of kitchen and bath cabinetry;
Therma-Tru, a leading brand of residential entry doors; Master Lock, a
world leading padlock brand; and Waterloo, a large manufacturer of tool
storage products.
SBR, Inc. was founded by Sam Ross in 1972 as a
privately-held holding company with a half dozen investors, all of whom
are still shareholders today. Following the belief that companies are
generally more successful when employees have a high level of
ownership, SBR began offering stock to many of its employees in 1981.
Today SBR has more than 300 shareholders, many of whom have accumulated
a sizeable ownership in the company and will benefit from the merger
with Fortune Brands.
STORM CATCHER SCREEN CLEARS FBC STATE APPROVAL
The Florida Building Commission has issued State
Approval #6288 to the Storm Catcher Hurricane Wind Abatement Screen by
Storm Smart Building Systems, Inc., Fort Myers, FL. The approval makes
Storm Catcher the largest manufacturer of state-approved hurricane wind
abatement screens in the United States, the company states.
Storm Catcher has been functioning under Florida
Building Code Approval #FL804 since February 2004, but this additional
approval lends itself to broader engineering standards, allowing for
Storm Catcher to be used on larger openings, while keeping the
standards of strength and durability seen in the original approval.
Storm Smart, the parent company to the Storm Catcher
division, was recently named one of the Ten Largest Manufacturing
Companies in Lee County (FL), according to the Economic Development
Council of Lee County. Storm Catcher restricts itself to manufacturing
and wholesaling wind abatement screens. Its network of more than 150
dealers, however, are scattered across the Southeastern United States.
“We are ramping up production of the Storm Catcher
Screens to an all-time high,” said Brian Rist, president. “With the
addition of a new 18,000-square-foot production facility in the Gateway
area, we strive to keep turn-around time to a minimum.”
ASI ANNOUNCES MANAGEMENT PROMOTIONS
ASI Building Products (ASIBP) has announced several
top management changes. ASIBP is a fabricator and distributor of
exterior building supplies serving Florida, Mississippi and Alabama.
Jeff Wietholter has been promoted to the role of
Divisional Vice President of the North Florida Region. His district
includes the areas surrounding Ocala, Orlando, Melbourne, Daytona,
Jacksonville and Pensacola, FL; Mobile, AL; and Gulfport, MS. He will
manage sales and operations within these areas. Wietholter joined ASIBP
in 2005 as a Regional Sales Manager after working several years with
Alcoa.
Victor Vizcaino has been promoted to Divisional Vice
President for ASI’s Southern region. Vizcaino will manage sales and
operations within the markets of Miami, Pompano, Rivera Beach, Ft.
Myers and Tampa, FL. He originally joined ASIBP in 1996 as Vice
President of Distribution.
C. W. Cookie Brinkman is taking over as the Vice
President of Marketing. In his new post, Brinkman will construct new
programs and tools to help spread a wealth of building supply knowledge
to customers. Brinkman joined ASI in the late 1990s after working with
Alcoa for 20 years.
ALLSTATE TO SPREAD
HURRICANE COSTS
Allstate Insurance Co., Northbrook, IL, says it will
recoup the higher costs of its reinsurance in markets beyond the usual
disaster-prone areas.
In January, the insurance company, hurt by last
year’s hurricanes (see HP, Spring 2006, page 6), stated it was buying
billions of dollars in reinsurance to help cover the cost of future
disaster claims. In March, Allstate said it was planning to file more
then 300 rate proposals across the nation that will take into account
these higher costs.
SIMONTON A SPONSOR OF
WEATHER MUSEUM
Simonton Windows®, Parkersburg, WV, is donating
60 hurricane-resistant StormBreaker Plus™ vinyl windows to protect the
John C. Freeman Weather Museum, Houston, TX, the nation’s first
national museum dedicated to weather.
Located in Houston’s historic museum district, the
Weather Museum is a project of the Weather Research Center. It will be
a facility where people of all ages can come to learn about the
weather, its history and public safety. “Understanding the science
behind weather formation and the ways in which storms develop is
crucial to all of us so that lives and property can be protected,” said
Jill Hasling, executive director of the Weather Research Center.
Founded in 1987, the Weather Research Center manages
a non-profit worldwide forecasting operation and provides
groundbreaking research to scientists around the globe. Meteorologists
work on severe weather advisories, marine forecasts, long-range
outlooks, environmental studies and forensic meteorology services.
SECURITY TOPS COMFORT, DESIGN, FIRE SAFETY IN BUILDING
SURVEY
Security outranked comfort, fire safety,
environmental friendliness and attractive design as the most important
building feature in a survey conducted by the Society for Fire
Protection Engineers (SFPE), Bethesda, MD. The study also found that
almost half of those surveyed felt safer in their homes compared to
public and commercial buildings.
Twenty-eight percent of Americans feel building
security is the most important feature, while 15 percent of respondents
indicated that fire safety is the most important aspect of a building’s
design.
The survey also revealed that 56 percent of
Americans think about fire and the dangers of fire either on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis. A sizeable 44 percent think about fire just
once a year—or less. This finding remains unchanged from 12 months ago
when the same question was asked.
Another noteworthy finding from the survey revealed
that 44 percent of Americans feel safer in their homes when compared to
public and commercial buildings such as schools, churches and offices.
The Society of Fire Protection Engineers points out
that perceptions can be dangerously misleading. For example, tighter
security (locked exit doors) contributed to the deaths of 175
concertgoers at a Buenos Aires nightclub fire in 2004, and because
building regulations have stricter fire safety requirements for public
buildings than they do for homes, more people are more often at higher
risk from fire at home.
The survey was commissioned by the SFPE and
conducted by Synovate, polling more than 1,000 American adults. The
findings have a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
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