For the Week of January 20th

Management Changes:

WD Partners (Columbus, Ohio architecture and engineering firm) has hired Dave Crawford as director of construction services. Crawford will be responsible for developing new business. He most recently oversaw design and construction for several Limited Brands stores, including The Limited Express, Structure, Lane Bryant and Lerner New York.

Suss Woodcraft Intl. (Lasalle, Que., store fixture and architectural woodwork manufacturer and distributor) has appointed Paul Nichols as sales and marketing manager and Tony Nathanson as manufacturing and facilities manager.

MasterBuilt Cos. Inc. (Fairfax, Va., design and manufacturing company) has named Valerie Edgerly as director of business development. Edgerly is responsible for increasing public awareness of the company and for developing strategic partnerships.

The Phillips Group (TPG, Melville, N.Y., architecture and design firm) has named Helen Venticinque director of operations for TPG Long Island.

Business Briefs:

Transformit (Gorham, Maine, tension-fabric structure design, manufacturing and rental company) has opened a facility in Braunschweig, Germany, to service its European customers by storing and shipping rental properties. Lina Newhouser will manage the division's rental services from the company's Maine headquarters.

Näss Fresco Finishes (Chicago fresco finishing products manufacturer) has appointed Architectural Systems Inc. (ASI) as its East Coast sales representative. ASI will service customers from its showroom in New York's Chelsea Design Center, 150 W. 25th St., Eighth Floor.

Interbrand's (New York brand consultancy) 3D/Environmental Design Group was honored by the Long Island chapter of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) with a 2002 Special Award. The award recognizes the company's lighting design for the Fleet Financial Center in the Met Life Building in Manhattan.

The International Association of Lighting Designers (Chicago lighting design trade association) has elected five new members to its board of directors. The appointees are: Charles Stone II, partner, Fisher Marantz Stone (New York), president; Michael Souter, lighting designer, Luminae Souter Associates (San Francisco), director of membership; Jeffrey Miller, director of lighting design, NBBJ (Seattle), director of external affairs; Robert Prouse, Brandston Partnership Inc. (New York), director of education; and David Bird, founder, Vision Design Studio (Melbourne, Australia), director at large.

Canon Merchandising (Rosemount, Minn.) has been established as a corporate holding company for Cannon Equipment (Rosemount, Minn., wire and metal retail fixture manufacturer), Display Technologies (College Point, N.Y., retail merchandisers designer and manufacturer), and DCI Marketing (Milwaukee p-o-p marketing company). Alan Katz, former vp of sales for Display Technologies, has been named vp, corporate strategic development for Cannon Merchandising, and Wayne Whitney, president of Cannon Equipment, will serve as ceo.