Scott Parrish and Bruce Baker, incoming and outgoing presidents, respectively, of the Industrial Distribution Assn., showed their best sides at the reception that closed the ASMMA/I.D.A. Spring Convention in Hawaii in late May. The two bare-chested presidents donned grass skirts and smoked cigars as they worked the room. We understand that modeling contracts could be in the offing ... In another convention highlight, outgoing ASMMA president Jim Packard didn't let a malfunctioning teleprompter deter him from delivering a memorable speech. Packard revealed that ASMMA had officially changed its name to the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Assn. (ISMA) ... Congratulations to George Hayward, of United Sales Associates, who was inducted into the National Industrial Glove Distributors Hall of Fame this year. Hayward is a well-known and respected executive in the safety equipment business and founder of United Sales Associates, one of the largest manufacturers' representative firms in the industry ... Ralph Nappi of the American Machine Tool Distributors Assn. presented an excellent re-cap of trends in the machine tool business during the AMTDA convention in Bermuda ... The Timken Co. sponsored Team Rahal whose driver, Kenny Brack, won at the Firestone Firehawk 500 at Twin Ring Motegi Raceway in Japan.

J & L Industrial Supply opened its new Central Distribution Center in Elk Grove Village, Ill. ... the Premier Alliance Partnership was formed by AutomationSolutions, MDSI, AlterSys, Inc., Fuji Electric and Granite Microsystems, Inc. ... Avon Bearings Corp. completed an addition to its Avon, Ohio, manufacturing plant ... the Houston, Texas-based distribution and marketing group Edge Marketing & Procurement celebrates its 10th year ... Delphi opened a high-tech precision injection molding center in Cortland, Ohio ... Baldwin Supply Co. has opened a new branch in Sioux Falls, S.D. ... Columbus McKinnon closed its Forrest City, Ark., plant ... MagneTek Lighting Products changed its name to Universal Lighting Technologies ...

FCx Performance acquired Simone Engineering ... Vallen Safety Supply Co., Ltd. acquired Kimrik Safety Equipment, Inc. ... Ingersoll-Rand Co. acquired National Refrigeration Services, Inc. ... Portafab Corp. acquired the manufacturing operations of Cupples Products, a unit of CH Holding USA, Inc. ... CTS Corp. and Pentair, Inc. jointly announced a cooperative partnership alliance ... Leitz Metalworking Technology Group purchased Bilz Tool Co., Inc. ... Industrial Supply Solutions, Inc. acquired Mill Creek Supply, Inc. ... Illinois Tool Works Inc. agreed to purchase The Texwipe Co. LLC ... Danaher Corp. announced its intention to acquire Lifschultz Industries ... BF Goodrich Co. agreed to acquire Dana Corp.'s Glacier Industrial Bearings ...

Arca Xytec Systems, Inc. was awarded the Ford Motor Co. Q1 award ...Harrington Hoists and Cranes named Bret Lussow sales representative of the year and Rebecca Eggleston manufacturer's representative of the year ... Lincoln Electric was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the 400 Best Companies in America and received the NorTech Innovation Award for its Procut® line of plasma cutting equipment ... Quality Mill Supply received the Loctite E-Nitiative Award ... Motion Industries received a General Motors 2000 Supplier of the Year Award ... Yale Material Handling achieved Yale Dealer of Excellence Award ... Thompson Precision Ball Co. received SEI Brakes, Inc.'s Award of Achievement.