According to Forbes magazine, more than $350 million has been invested in redevelopment in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, and the promise of future growth enticed SAGE Hospitality into the area. SAGE undertook a major renovation of the Westin Cleveland Downtown hotel, which once hosted movie stars, politicians and presidents, to restore it to a four-star destination. [...]

Don’t let workplace stress undermine your operations. Fortunately, headline-making instances of deadly violence are a rare consequence of workplace stress. More often, it simmers just beneath the surface, eating away at morale, productivity and profits. And if you think that workplace stress doesn’t exist in your business, think again. “Emotional pain exists in every organization [...]

Getting creative with textiles When most people walk into a retail store, they see an array of color-popping advertising displays. If shoppers take a closer look, they might notice these backlit displays are not made of film or some sort of vellum, but of a tightly woven, printed fabric. Eric Tischer, president of Randolph, N.J.-based [...]

From a financial standpoint, selling or transferring your business requires setting and communicating a clear set of goals and procedures to avoid risk and possible conflict. Sooner or later, everyone thinks about retirement. For those who own a closely-held or family textile products business, retirement is more than just a matter of deciding not to [...]

By Jeff Rasmussen THE WORLD ECONOMY: KEY STATISTICS It was a recovery year, to be sure, but an uneven global rebound kept the lid on the world economy. For the last three quarters of the year in 2013 and 2014, the U.S. has been an economic island, showing noticeable improvement in comparison to other major [...]

Case studies highlight marine mattress applications. Marine mattresses are rock-filled containers constructed with advanced UV-stabilized co-polymer geogrid materials. Geogrid panels are laced together to form mattress-shaped baskets that are filled with small stones similar to the construction of gabions. They can also be filled with recycled concrete aggregate to form an effective protective layer against [...]

The new versatile die and mold handling transporter from Air Technical Industries can rotate any heavy industrial item, such as a die, mold or a motor, 360 degrees. Equipped with four push-pull arms, the transporter is installed on polyurethane roller bearing wheels and can store, retrieve and transport the die lengthwise for easier maneuverability and [...]

Designtex and textile designer Nancy Giesberger have teamed up to develop Hardwear and Sportswear, the industry’s first extreme performance woven textiles developed specifically for indoor and outdoor stadium seating. The new upholsteries feature PVC-coated yarns that have been re-engineered to clear them of phthalates. An FDA-approved softening agent used in the production of children’s toys [...]

3M™ Controltac™ Print Film 40C is 3M’s first intermediate vinyl film to provide advanced repositionability with air release. Recommended for applications including signs, walls, windows, floors, partial vehicle wraps and trucks, it helps shops reduce excess inventory by replacing multiple rolls with just one film. In addition, its optimized print surface delivers high print quality [...]

Specially designed for the textile industry, the TRU Surface robotic 3-D scanner allows its user to capture the true color, texture and glimmer of any surface. Eliminating the obstacles of 1-D photographs for 3-D products, textiles can now be seen as they respond to movement and light by the tilt of a smart phone or [...]