Airgas, Inc. agreed to settle litigation brought by Praxair. The suit alleged interference with Praxair's right of first refusal regarding National Welders Supply Co., Inc. In the settlement, each party denied wrongdoing or liability and Praxair agreed to the early termination of its right of first refusal, which was scheduled to expire in 2006.

IDI Independent Distributors Inc. welcomed four new distributors: industrial supplies and power transmission/bearing distributors Carleton Industrial of Hartland, New Brunswick; GLM of Baiecomeau, Quebec; and Coquitlam, British Columbia-based Raeside Equipment; and hydraulic systems distributor Lifco Hydraulics of St. Catharines, Ontario.

New York City-based electrical and mechanical industrial supplies distributor Argo International celebrates its 50^th anniversary this year. Founded by chairman John Calicchio as a maritime industry supplier, the company expanded into industrial markets and developed a broad geographic scope. The company has 10 locations in the U.S. and 17 in Europe, Asia, Canada, Mexico, and Latin America.

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Wolseley plc acquired waterworks and wastewater distributor Clayton Acquisition Co. ... GE Supply, a business unit of General Electric Co., purchased the assets of Questron Technology Inc. ... entrepreneur Cedric D. Beckett acquired Strong Tool Co. from Kennametal, Inc. ... Franklin Electric agreed to acquire Intelligent Controls ... Edgen Corp. acquired Service Industrial Supply Co. ... Rockwell Automation agreed to acquire the Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. controller division to form Rockwell Samsung Automation.

Richard H. Uber was named a Gold Award winner in Cooper Industries ' Volunteer Spirit Awards program for his efforts with the Montgomery County Habitat for Humanity. Cooper donated $5,000 to MCHFH ... Motion Industries Inc. received a 2001 Silver Alliance Supplier Award from Vulcan Materials Co. ... Waukesha Tool & Stamping, Inc. received the 2002 Ulbrich Award for Competitive Excellence in Product Development from the Precision Metalforming Assn. ... The 2001 Frost & Sullivan Market Engineering Leadership Award went to MSA Instrument Division.

Send Update information to associate editor Richard Trombly, 275 Washington St., Newton, Mass., 02458; call (617) 558-4289; fax to (617) 558-4327; or e-mail rtrombly@reedbusiness.com.

Nearly 60 golfers participated in the Young Executives Forum golf tournament during the of ISMA/I.D.A. annual convention in Denver, May 4-6. YEF committee organizers were Dawn Dalldorf, Scott Heller and Walter Kaihatu. The winning team consisted of Bill Erkenbrack and Joe Bidus of Harrington Hoists, Denny Denholm of B&J Industrial and Jack Keough, Industrial Distribution.

At the NAHAD convention, held May 8-12 in Palm Springs, a proposal to change the name of the association and allow manufacturers as voting members stirred much controversy. A ballot was mailed to voting members following the convention and a decision is expected sometime this summer.

Congratulations are in order for John Nations, chairman of Bearing and Drives, Macon, Ga. and G.W. Elftman, president of General Bearings Co., Vernon, Calif., who were recognized at the Bearing Specialists Assn. annual meeting for perfect attendance over the 36 years of BSA annual conventions. The meeting reflected BSA's international makeup, with 12 countries represented at the convention held April 14-17 at the Breakers in West Palm Beach.