Roll goods producer Suominen Corporation has made several changes to its group organization and management. In the first, Heikki Bergholm, who was president and CEO of the company until May 2006, was succeeded by Kalle Tanhuanpää. Also, effective next month, Petri Rolig has been appointed vice president and general manager of flexible packaging. Juha Henttonen, currently holding this position, will then work on projects within the group.
    In another recent change at Suominen, Esa Palttala, executive vice president of the wipes and nonwovens business area, retired at the end of July. Vice president Pekka Rautala, general manager of the wet wipes business unit, and vice president Sakari Santa-Paavola, general manager of the nonwovens business unit, will report to Kalle Tanhuanpää, president and CEO of Suominen as of August 1.

W. Lee Nutter, chairman, president and CEO of Rayonier, Jacksonville, FL, plans to retire in mid-2007 after 40 years with the company. Mr. Nutter has been in his current position since 1999 and president and a director since 1996.
     In a statement, the Rayonier board of directors said, “Rayonier and its shareholders have benefited greatly from Mr. Lee’s outstanding leadership and will continue to do so until his well-deserved retirement next year. We respect Mr. Lee’s decision and very much appreciate the generous advance notice he has provided, which will allow the board to carefully consider who is best qualified to build on his legacy and Rayonier’s history of financial excellence.” The board has indicated it will consider both internal and external candidates.

Maxcess International, Oklahoma City, OK, has recruited Lee Nanney to provide local sales and support for Fife, Magpowr and Tidland customers in Illinois. Mr. Nanney has extensive experience in web handling to help converters optimize their manufacturing processes. Mr. Nanney brings more than 10 years of experience and knowledge in web handling, including converting and textiles, where he maintained a successful track record in providing outstanding customer service and support.

Joel Robinson has joined NDC Infrared Engineering, Irwindale, CA,  in the role of product engineer. Mr. Robinson will help manage new product development as well as provide support for existing products. This function is expected help streamline development as NDC strives to ensure that customer needs are met through rigorous specification, definition and guidance to the most stringent requirements. Prior to this position, he served as an applications engineer and then product manager for Honeywell Measurex, where he helped commercialize new service products for paper gauging systems.

D. Keith Osteen has joined Smith, Johnson & Associates, Turnersville, NJ, as a principal. Mr. Osteen was welcomed into the firm in late July and is reportedly already contributing to a number of projects. Mr. Osteen has more than 30 years experience in the nonwovens industry; the last 15 years with Kimberly-Clark Corporation in various research and engineering director positions in product and technology development, nonwovens technology and personal care materials development.
    
FiberLok, Fort Collins, CO, recently named Cary Bergeron IT manager. “Our rapid growth creates a constant need for streamlined IT and communication solutions,” said Brown Abrams, co-founder and CEO of FiberLok. “Ms. Bergeron will serve as a resourceful problem solver, crucial to FiberLok’s successful expansion of Lextra around the world.” Prior to joining FiberLok, Ms. Bergeron was senior systems administrator for Dako Colorado, a manufacturer of cancer-diagnostics products.