Bayer MaterialScience has named Peter Vanacker head of Industrial Marketing and Innovation. Joachim Wolff, Ph.D., takes over Vanacker’s previous role as head of the Polyurethanes business unit.

The Emulsion Polymers business of Celanese Corp. recently announced plans to move to a state-of-the-art facility in the greater Cincinnati area.

WACKER recently announced it has commissioned a compounding plant at its joint venture site Wacker Metroark Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. near Kolkata, India, for the manufacture of ready-to-use silicone elastomers.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu recently announced a series of new manufacturing job training partnerships using the Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Training and Education Resource (NTER).

Evonik Industries recently announced it will build a plant in Marl, Germany, to produce functionalized polybutadiene.

The Automotive Division of Sika recently announced several personnel appointments.

Arkema recently announced it has combined the assets of its existing Arkema Emulsion Systems with those recently acquired from TOTAL to form Arkema Coating Resins.

E.W. Kaufmann Co. recently announced it has been recognized by Cognis Corp. (now part of BASF) as top recipient of its Distributor Operational Measure of Excellence (DOME) Award.

OMNOVA Solutions Inc. recently announced net income of $6.2 million for the second quarter ended May 31, 2011, compared to net income of $15.1 million for the second quarter of 2010.

PPG Industries recently began operations at a new facility in the Zhangjiagang Yangtze International Chemical Industrial Park, Jiangsu Province, which is its first resin production plant in mainland China.