victoria.kickham@reedbusiness.com

The December 26 earthquake and Indian Ocean tsunamis that devastated parts of Southern Asia and Africa have caused individuals and corporations around the world to open their wallets in an effort to help. Industrial and consumer product maker 3M Corp., of St. Paul, Minn., is one American firm that's stepped up to the plate, announcing on Jan. 4 that it would donate $1.5 million in cash and products to help with the relief efforts.

The donation includes a $500,000 grant to match employee contributions to the American Red Cross, CARE and UNICEF, and $1 million in products needed by relief organizations. By early January, product donations had included medical tapes, bandages, monitoring electrodes, surgical masks, respirators and packaging tape.

Other companies are doing their part to help, as well. Textron, Inc. donated $250,000 to the American Red Cross's tsunami relief efforts, in addition to a $250,000 grant for a dollar-for-dollar match of employee contributions to the organization. Dana Corp., another industry manufacturer, contributed $100,000 to the American Red Cross to support the humanitarian relief and recovery efforts.

By early January, donations from around the world totaled $3 billion. The 9.0 magnitude earthquake sent waves crashing down on coastal communities from Southern Asia to Africa, and had claimed 150,000 lives. The death toll was expected to climb even higher.

Cooper Wiring Devices completed its move from Long Island City, N.Y., to expanded headquarters facilities in Peachtree City, Ga...Buying group NetPlus Alliance launched a new publication, Supply Line magazine, for member distributors and participating suppliers...Manufacturer RBC Bearings Inc. completed its move to new headquarters facilities in Oxford, Conn...Distributor Precision Industries opened a branch in Albany, Ga... Muenz-Engineered Sales Co., Atwood Industries, and Cornell Supply joined the IndustrialSupplyPlus division of distributor alliance IBC...Cutler Industrial Sales, Inc. of Islip Terrace, N.Y., is the new territory representative for Chicago Hardware & Fixture Co. for the New York Metropolitan, Long Island, Northern New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Conn., areas...

Tool and security products maker Stanley Works acquired ISR Solutions, Inc., which designs, installs and maintains electronic security systems for government and commercial customers. The acquisition adds more than 200 sales and service personnel to the company's Stanley Security Solutions unit...Motion control technologies and systems maker Parker Hannifin acquired Trilogy Systems Corp., a maker of linear motors. Trilogy will join the Parker Automation Group's Electromechanical Automation Division, based in Rohnert Park, Calif...The Home Depot Canada announced plans to acquire Litemor Distributors, Canada's largest national commercial lighting distributor...Manufacturer Lincoln Electric agreed to purchase J.W. Harris Co., Inc., a maker of brazing and soldering alloys. The deal is expected to close by the end of the first quarter.

Three of Airgas Inc.'s specialty gas facilities earned ISO 17025 accreditation from the American Assn. of Laboratory Accreditation, and five of the distributor's plants earned ISO 9001:2000 certification from Quality Management Systems Registrars, Inc...Distributor C.H. Briggs received an honorable mention in the Customer Relationship category of the Cisco Growing with Technology Awards 2004...Bill Ellis, Nashville branch manager at Lewis Supply Co., Inc., won the first ever A-D MVP Award for the Industrial Supply Division of Affiliated Distributors. The award recognizes an individual who personifies the leadership qualities essential to membership in A-D, a distributor alliance.