MANAGEMENT CHANGES:

Finish Line Inc. (Indianapolis), a mall-based specialty retailer, has hired Edward Wilhelm as its executive vp and cfo. Wilhelm was previously cfo of book retailer Borders Group Inc. Steven Schneider, who had served as Finish Line’s interim cfo, will remain in his current role as president and chief operating officer.

bhdp (Cincinnati), an architectural firm, has hired Andrew McQuilkin as its retail market leader. McQuilkin was formerly with FRCH Worldwide Design (Cincinnati).

F.C. Dadson (Greenville, Wis.), a developer of retail environments and display programs, has hired Marie VanDrisse as a senior account executive its Display & Exhibit Division.

BUSINESS BRIEFS:

idX Corp. (St. Louis), a fixture manufacturer, announced the openings of two new plants: one in China, the other in the U.S. The company’s new Asian headquarters is near Shanghai and features 135,000 square feet of manufacturing space and 115,000 square feet for warehousing .When fully operational, it will employ 250. In the U.S., the company will open a 435,000-square-foot plant in Columbia, Md. The new plant replaces two existing idX facilities in the Baltimore area, and will employ 250 – double the current level.

Future Lighting Solutions (Montreal) and Khatod Optoelectronic (Milan) have entered a worldwide distribution agreement for Khatod’s line of secondary optics for power LEDs.

OSRAM GmbH (Regensburg, Germany) has extended its existing license with Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd (Taipei, Taiwan) for the manufacture and sales of white and colored LEDs, including conversion technology for all applications.

AWARDS:

Philips Color Kinetics (Burlington, Mass.) has received an award for “Significant Achievement in Solid-State Lighting Research & Development” from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The award recognizes Philips' progress on an 18-month project intended to produce a highly efficient LED PAR lamp.

Martin Professional (Aarhus, Denmark), a lighting manufacturer, announced that its Exterior 1200 Image Projector won the External Luminaires category at the 2009 Lighting Design Awards.