Johnson Refrigerated Truck Bodies announced recently that it has become a non-union company. On Dec. 11, the National Labor Relations Board certified and confirmed the results of a decertification vote that took place in October. Johnson says nearly two-thirds of the production plant employees in Rice Lake, Wis., voted against having Teamsters continue as the collective bargaining representative, essentially creating a non-union shop. Johnson, a union company for more than 40 years, overcame a labor dispute in 2005, with a considerable rebound in 2006.

Flowserve Corp., a provider of fluid motion and control products and services, has opened a new administrative headquarters for its Flow Solutions Europe, Middle East, and Africa operations. Located in Essen, Germany, the facility houses a Quick Response Center that provides local sales, service, support and manufacturing of seals and associated products, and a Learning Resource Center (LRC) that offers best-practices maintenance training programs for pumps and seals for employees and customers.

APV is re-launching its identity using a new value slogan and adding the tagline, “the people behind your performance” to its existing logo, after listening to feedback from customer surveys. As part of a global re-launch campaign, the company will use a new APV slogan and Value graphic on all internal and external communications.

Flexible packaging company Curwood, Inc., has been named Supplier of the Year 2006–Primary Packaging by Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.

China’s recent entry in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has made it possible for a company to set up a fully-owned subsidiary in China, and Perten Instruments has now completed all steps. Perten Instruments Beijing, a fully owned trading company, has been formed to replace the present representation office Perten Instrument (ASIA) Ltd.

The newly formed Global Organization of EPA and DHA Omega-3 (GOED Omega-3) elected the following members to its Board of Directors: Philip Fass, Martek Biosciences; Thomas Grys, Denomega; Baldur Hjaltason, EPAX; Ian Newton, Ceres Consulting; Robert Orr, Ocean Nutrition Canada; Bob Rasmus, Lipid Nutrition; Olav Sandnes, Marine Nutraceuticals; David Shannon, Croda Inc.; Richard Weis, OmegaPure. Robert Orr, of Ocean Nutrition Canada, was elected chairman and Thomas Grys, of Denomega, was elected vice chair.

Flavor manufacturer D.D. Williamson received the first annual Kosher Compliance Award from the Louisville Vaad Hakashruth for its outstanding commitment and adherence to Kosher guidelines and standards.

Vigilistics, a company serving the dairy and food processing industries with real-time operations intelligence software, announced its acceptance as a member of the Rockwell Automation Encompass program. The Encompass Program is a product referencing program designed to identify, qualify, and jointly market third-party manufactured products that complement the breadth of world-class products developed by Rockwell Automation.

Correction: An item in the December issue noted that the new facilities of Forbes Chocolate are 1.5 miles from the company’s former location. They are actually 15 miles apart.