3M was the highest-ranked company related to window film on the list, making the list at 193. Saint-Gobain, manufacturer of Solar Gard, followed closely behind at 260. Eastman Chemical Co., maker of LLumar Window Film, was ranked 982 while PPF manufacturer Avery Dennison held strong at 1,698.

According to Scott DeCarlo, Forbes staff, the Global 2000 contains “the biggest, most powerful listed companies in the world … Our ranking of the world’s biggest companies departs from lopsided lists based on a single metric, like sales. Instead we use an equal weighting of sales, profits, assets and market value to rank companies according to size.”

Chinese banking companies dominated the top of the list, though other major names, such as Exxon Mobil and General Electric helped round out the top five.

James P. Rogers will continue to serve as chairman and CEO until January 1, 2014. He will then serve as executive chairman of the board. According to a statement from Eastman the transition is part of the board’s normal succession planning process.

“Being CEO of Eastman has been a great honor and truly one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Rogers says. “I am proud of what the entire Eastman team has accomplished over the past several years, and I have complete confidence that the company is well positioned to continue delivering consistent, superior value to our stockholders.

“I am pleased to pass the reins to Mark and our talented team of executives,” Rogers continues. “Mark is a proven leader who has been instrumental in developing and executing Eastman’s strategic plans for growth. I look forward to my continued service as executive chairman and to working with Mark to ensure a seamless transition.”

“I am honored to have been selected by the board of directors to lead Eastman as the next CEO and as a director,” says Costa. “I personally want to thank Jim for all that he has done for Eastman and for his incredible example of real leadership. I especially appreciate the opportunity to continue working with executive vice president Ron Lindsay and the rest of the executive team as we implement Eastman’s growth strategy.”

Costa currently heads the company’s Additives and Functional Products and Advanced Materials segments. He also serves as chief marketing officer and has responsibility for the company’s corporate innovation organization.

Speaking on behalf of Eastman’s Board of Directors, lead director Stephen R. Demeritt says, “Jim has courageously led Eastman through a time of tremendous change and we could not be more pleased with what he has accomplished as CEO. We look forward to his continuing contributions as executive chairman of the board.

“Eastman is fortunate to have a senior leadership team of incredible breadth and depth,” adds Demeritt. “We have tremendous confidence in Mark and the rest of Eastman’s executives to execute the company’s plans for growth and take Eastman to even greater success.”

As for growth in the window film sector of the company, Rogers and Costa both say they foresee further progress.

“Mark is going to be better than me at driving the organic growth,” says Rogers. “He’s very good at … developing products. Over the next few years, organic growth is going to be extremely important. That plays right to his strength … Mark was a leader in the acquisition of Solutia.”

“The integration [of Solutia] is going much better than I expected,” says Costa. “We’re seeing a number of opportunities to accelerate performance … especially in Interlayers and Performance Films. We’re continuing to find significant gains from Performance Films.”

The intention of H.R. 1406 is “to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide compensatory time for employees in the private sector,” according to the legislation.

In essence, the bill would offer employers the flexibility to decide whether to allow nonunion employees to trade overtime hours for time off. To receive the time off, an employee must put in a written request.

Called the “Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013” the bill says, “An employee may receive, in accordance with this subsection and in lieu of monetary overtime compensation, compensatory time off at a rate not less than one and one-half hours for each hour of employment for which overtime compensation is required by this section.”

The bill also says, “No employee may receive or agree to receive compensatory time off under this subsection unless the employee has worked at least 1,000 hours for the employee’s employer during a period of continuous employment with the employer in the 12-month period before the date of agreement or receipt of compensatory time off.”

Moreover, the bill states that an employee cannot accrue more than 160 hours of compensatory time.

The House-approved bill says, “No later than January 31 of each calendar year, the employee’s employer shall provide monetary compensation for any unused compensatory time off accrued during the preceding calendar year that was not used prior to December 31 of the preceding year …”

Moreover, the bill spells out that “the employer may provide monetary compensation for an employee’s unused compensatory time in excess of 80 hours at any time after giving the employee at least 30 days’ notice.”

If an employer decides to discontinue this policy, officials must give employees 30 days’ notice, the bill adds.

“An employee may also request in writing that monetary compensation be provided at any time for all compensatory time accrued that has not been used,” according to the bill. “Within 30 days of receiving the written request, the employer shall provide the employee the monetary compensation due.”

H.R. 1406 also includes a sunset clause, which means that if the bill is approved and enacted, it and the related amendments will expire within five years unless extended by Congress.

“The enhanced technology center is Eastman’s commitment to developing capabilities and growth in Singapore and the region,” says Dr. Gregory W. Nelson, senior vice president and chief technology officer. “It also demonstrates Eastman’s dedication to sustainability and echoes Singapore’s sustainability blueprint for enhanced resource efficiency to help overcome resource limitation for growth.”

“Eastman’s newly completed Asia Pacific Technical Center allows the company to better support its customers’ evolving needs. Through its comprehensive presence in Singapore—from manufacturing to innovation and HQ activities—and by leveraging Singapore’s innovation capabilities and proximity to the consumer, Eastman will be able to develop innovative and sustainable solutions in Asia for Asia,” adds Eugene Leong, director for energy and chemicals at the Singapore Economic Development Board.

The Asia Pacific Technical Center also includes the Solutia Technical Services Team following the $4.8 billion acquisition of Solutia in 2012. The company says in a statement it plans to “further strengthen local headcount in the next few years to grow the Performance Films and Interlayers businesses in Asia Pacific” as part of what it calls “a diversified portfolio strategy for sustainable growth.”

According to the opinion handed down by Judge A. Raymond Randolph, “Under the rule an employer’s failure to post the required notice constitutes an unfair labor practice … And the Board may consider an employer’s ‘knowing and willful’ noncompliance to be ‘evidence of antiunion animus in cases in which unlawful motive [is] an element of an unfair labor practice.’ … The Board, in other words, will use an employer’s failure to post the notice as evidence of another unfair labor practice.

“… Our doubt stems, in part, from a comparison of § 8(c) with the law established under the First Amendment,” continues Judge Randolph in the opinion. “We approach the question by considering some firmly established principles of First Amendment free-speech law. The first is that the ‘dissemination’ of messages others have created is entitled to the same level of protection as the ‘creation’ of messages.”

According to Randolph, allowing businesses to post the rule was not of concern, but rather, requiring and enforcing posting of the rule violated the First Amendment.

“… Of course we are not faced with a regulation forbidding employers from disseminating information someone else has created. Instead, the Board’s rule requires employers to disseminate such information, upon pain of being held to have committed an unfair labor practice. But that difference hardly ends the matter. The right to disseminate another’s speech necessarily includes the right to decide not to disseminate it,” he writes in the opinion.

Subsequently, Judge Randolph concludes that “the Board’s rule violates § 8(c) because it makes an employer’s failure to post the Board’s notice an unfair labor practice, and because it treats such a failure as evidence of anti-union animus in cases involving, for example, unlawfully motivated firings or refusals to hire—in other words, because it treats such a failure as evidence of an unfair labor practice.”

As the motivating force behind the rule, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) would have required the poster to be placed in a conspicuous place within the work environment, informing employees of their right to unionize, and conversely, of their right to not join.

“The poster rule is a prime example of a government agency that seeks to fundamentally change the way employers and employees communicate,” says Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, one of the named plaintiffs in the case. “The ultimate result of the NLRB’s intrusion would be to create hostile work environments where none exist. The U.S. Court of Appeals has rightfully ruled that the NLRB has no authority to enforce notice posting. Stopping the NLRB’s burdensome agenda of placing itself into manufacturers’ day-to-day business operations is essential to preventing further government-inflicted damage to employee relations in the United States.”

Richard Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), issued a statement opposing the ruling, saying, “The Republican judges of the D.C. Circuit continue to wreak havoc on workers’ rights. After attempting to render the [NLRB] inoperable (in the Noel Canning decision), the D.C. Circuit has once again undermined workers’ rights – this time by striking down a common-sense rule requiring employers to inform workers of their rights under federal labor law … The Court’s twisted logic finds that ‘freedom of speech’ precludes the government from requiring employers to provide certain information to employees. This is absurd: when workers know their rights, the laws work as intended.”

The NLRB had not yet released a formal statement at press time.

“Damage from certain kinds of ultraviolet rays is cumulative,” says Dr. Dee Anna Glaser, vice chair of the dermatology department at St. Louis University. “These rays, called UVA rays, penetrate deep into the skin and can silently accelerate the aging process, cause wrinkles and even skin cancer.” Unlike UVB rays which create immediate effects like blistering and burns, UVA rays create long-term damage that is not immediately noticeable, according to Eastman.

“That’s why many people don’t realize their skin is getting damaged from sitting near windows in cars or even at their desks at work,” says Dr.  Glaser.

As part of the Skin Cancer Awareness Month initiative, Eastman is supporting the Skin Cancer Foundation’s Road to Healthy Skin Tour which strives to detect skin cancers early on and educate consumers on the methods of prevention and treatment. Local LLumar window film dealers are available during the tour, which starts May 14 in Hoboken, N.J., and runs through August 30 in Redwood City, Calif., to help explain the benefits of film for consumers looking to have “sunscreen for your car.”

“In many Asian countries, window film is in eight out of 10 cars and is something of a status symbol,” says Mark Gershenson, director, global LLumar brand management at Eastman. “We see a clear need for education in this area in North America. Skin cancer can be prevented and window film is one of the easiest ways to mitigate the risks.”

According to the report, sales revenue for Q1 was $2.3 billion, a 27-percent increase compared with the first quarter of 2012. Q1 included sales revenue from the acquired Solutia businesses. Pro forma combined sales revenue declined 1 percent.

Results from Q1 included sales revenue and operating earnings from the acquired Solutia interlayers and performance films product lines. Pro forma combined sales revenue increased primarily due to higher sales volume of interlayers products, particularly in Asia, attributed to strengthened demand in the transportation market and higher sales volume for Eastman Tritan™ copolyester. Excluding first-quarter 2012 restructuring charges, pro forma combined operating earnings increased to $65 million in Q1 of 2013 compared with $61 million in first quarter 2012 primarily as a result of slightly higher sales volume and increased sales of higher-margin products, including interlayers with acoustic properties, Eastman Tritan™ copolyester, and V-Kool® brand window films, according to a company statement.

Operating earnings in first quarter 2013 were $393 million compared with $264 million in first quarter 2012. Excluding Solutia acquisition-related costs and charges in both periods, operating earnings were $403 million in Q1 of 2013 and $273 million in Q1 of 2012. First quarter 2013 included operating earnings from the acquired Solutia businesses. Pro forma combined operating earnings, excluding Solutia acquisition-related costs and charges, were $403 million in first quarter 2013 compared with $363 million in first quarter 2012. Pro forma combined operating earnings increased primarily due to lower raw material and energy costs partially offset by lower selling prices.

“Our portfolio of specialty businesses continued to deliver strong earnings in the first quarter despite uncertain global economic conditions,” says Jim Rogers, chairman and CEO. “For full year 2013, we remain on track to achieve a fourth consecutive year of double-digit earnings growth while also generating strong cash flow.”

Commenting on the outlook for full year 2013, Rogers says: “We expect our leadership positions in key end-markets, the diversity of the end-markets we serve and our broad geographic footprint to continue to position us well for strong earnings growth. However, global economic uncertainty continues with particular weakness in Europe, and raw material and energy costs remain volatile.”

An approved proposal, CE11-13, will adapt section C101.4.3 (the commercial portion of the IECC), “Additions, alterations, renovations or repairs.” The section of the code contains a list of exceptions noting that “the following need not comply provide the energy use of the building is not increased.”

While the list already contained items such as storm windows installed over existing fenestration and glass-only replacements in an existing sash and frame, Vickie Lovell of Intercode Inc., representing the International Window Film Association (IWFA), proposed that the following exception also be added:

“Existing single-pane fenestration assemblies with surface-applied window film to reduce solar heat gain.”

The proposal was approved with a modification, using the language below, according to Lovell:

Surface-applied window film installed on existing single pane fenestration assembly to reduce solar heat gain, provided the code does require the glazing or fenestration assembly to be replaced.

“Surface-applied window film to existing fenestration has been added to the list because it can enhance the performance of existing single-pane fenestration products for protection from injuries and property damage due to broken glass, reduces ultraviolet transmittance and glare and improves performance when impacted,” wrote Lovell in her proposal. “The foremost benefit of applied window film to existing windows is reduced solar heat gain and reduced energy use.”

She continued, “While roughly two percent of commercial floor space is newly constructed each year, and a comparable amount renovated, the majority of opportunities to improve efficiency over the next several decades will be in existing building stock. Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings through retrofitting and other measures will create a high-volume, low-cost approach to reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions … Allowing building owners to have the option to use window film on existing fenestration in order to improve the energy efficiency will create an incentive for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse emissions.”

Lovell’s proposal was approved as modified for both the commercial and residential portions of the code.

Chute joins Argotec with more than 13 years of experience in extruded films for photovoltaic, automotive and architectural applications. He most recently worked for Specialized Technology Resources Inc., where he was responsible for managing and coordinating pilot plant trials, scaling up to production lines, and transfer and implementation of new products through the company’s worldwide facilities.

Chute will report to David Collette, vice president of manufacturing and technology.

Chute is a 2000 graduate of McMaster University.

Members of the IWFA Members Action Committee at the Western Conference pictured from left: Jim Freeman, Chris Robinson, Patric Fransko, Jack Mundy, Keith Garwood and Paul Tauchar.

The effort, spearheaded by MAC Chair Jack Mundy, and successfully organized by Patric Fransko, Jim Freeman, Keith Garwood, Paul Mello, Sarah Ortiz, Chris Robinson and Paul Tauchar attracted nearly 50 area professionals.

Held at the Sheraton Ontario Airport Conference Hotel, the two-day event kicked-off with IWFA testing for accreditation followed by an evening networking event. Then on Saturday, a full day of learning and sharing were had by all. Topics included new building codes, utility rebate programs, marketing and advertising insights, how to increase your sales in both automotive and flat glass shops and harnessing the power of social media to drive more customers forward.  In addition, attendees received a status update on current IWFA activities and a review of the exciting upcoming IWFC conference.

“We are grateful for the hard work of our committee that made this first regional conference that was held in many years such a success,” said Jack Mundy, chair of the MAC. He also thanked the IWFA staff for their support and Window Film magazine for helping to promote the event.

Those attending the conference had comments as well. “I am thrilled to welcome the IWFA to California and learn more about their efforts to help grow the industry,” said Tim Gordon.

“After the meeting I have a better understanding of what is being done by the IWFA and now feel very positive about the association,” said Peter Maranan.