• Owens Corning closed a stone-manufacturing plant in Navarre, Ohio ,on Dec. 21, furloughing 145 employees. Production will be moved to plants in Napa, Calif., and Chester, S.C. Weaker sales, caused by a downturn in the U.S. housing industry, is cited as the reason for the closing.

• The Gallegos Corporation received a 2007 safety award from the American Society of Concrete Contractors for the third year in a row. The Vail, Colo., fabrication and masonry contractor’s OSHA-recordable injury rate was 3.03, compared to the national average of 6.0. This translates to 13 injuries per 856,104 hours worked for the 600 employees working across the Western United States.

• Bonsal American names Peter Golter as senior territory sales manager for its ProSpec® commercial brand, responsible for concrete repair and restoration products in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin. The Charlotte, N.C. company also names Jim Partridge as ProSpec territory sales manager in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington; Carrie Wells as ProSpec area sales manager for Oklahoma and Texas;  and Frank Hughes as ProSpec territory sales nanager for Maryland, central and southern New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. 

• McShane's Nursery and Landscape Supply of Salinas, Calif., purchases the major assets of Antolini and Company Stone and Masonry Supply of Santa Cruz, Calif., in September. Jon Troutner, Antolini’s owner and general manager, will continue with McShane’s.