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w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m J u l y - A u g 2 014 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 1 1 3 Mercier Offers Disease Analysis Service Mercier Grapevine Nursery has developed a new grapevine disease analysis service. The Mercier Novatech laboratory, an independent entity certified by the French Council Accreditation, has received permission to obtain vine samples from foreign countries in its French lab. The company offers the detection of viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens. For details, see mercier-california.com. PEOPLE AgroThermal Hires Domingos AgroThermal Systems in Walnut Creek, Calif., has added Jason Domingos and JD Farming Inc. to the company's certified application services. Domin- gos is the founder and manager of JD Farming, a vineyard management company. Tubridy Joins Winesecrets Winesecrets has hired Jim Tubridy as the services sales manager at its Sebastopol, Calif., headquarters. Tubridy has 18 years of Fortune 500 sales expe- rience, as well as wine indus- try experience as the business development manager for Sepa- rator Technology Solutions. Saxco Hires Knopka Jr. William N. Knopka Jr. was named wine category sales man- ager for Saxco International LLC in Fairfield, Calif. Previously, he was general manager and vice president of sales and market- ing for Tapp Label Technologies Inc. in Napa. Drync Names Carr COO D r y n c , a B o s t o n , M a s s . , w i n e a p p a n d v i s u a l c o m - merce company, hired Brian C a r r a s C O O . C a r r c o m e s to Drync from Springpad, where he was VP of marketing for the venture-funded Evernote com- petitor. COMPANY NEWS Hello Vino Acquires Corkbin San Francisco-based Hello Vino Inc. has acquired Corkbin, a social networking app for wine enthu- siasts. The Corkbin app adds a social dimension to Hello Vino's wine recommendation engine. The app allows users to gift wines to friends and interact with tastemakers. Corkbin founder Catherine Liao joins Hello Vino as director of special projects. Pall Corp. Acquires Filter Specialists Pall Corporation, a Port Washington, N.Y.-based global filtration, separation and purification company, acquired Filter Specialists Inc. (FSI), a worldwide supplier of filtration products and solutions and based in Michigan City, Ind. Pall will now offer FSI's Poly- weld, Polymicro and BOS filter bags, along with its extensive line of steel and plastic filter vessels. Modern Litho Wins Kodak Award Modern Litho of Jefferson City, Mo., recently received the Kodak Sonora Green Leaf Award, which recognizes companies in the graphic commu- nications industry that have made significant strides in reducing their carbon footprint. Modern Litho recently implemented the Kodak Sonora process-free plate, eliminating the use of chemicals and water to process press plates at each of the company's three locations. Midwest Grower Supply Acquires VMech Oxbo International Corporation has agreed to transfer ownership of its VMech product portfolio to Midwest Grower Supply (MGS) in Stanberry, Mo. MGS has long been a distributor of Oxbo's grape harvesters and vineyard mechanization tools. Byron, N.Y.-based Oxbo will remain engaged during the transaction to transfer assets and information and to assist MGS with launching its new portfolio. Big Bang Launches Management Division San Anselmo, Calif.-based PR and marketing agen- cy Big Bang Communications has changed its name to Big Bang Wine (BBW). The change coincides with the launch of the company's new national sales and distribution management division, designed to help small- and medium-sized wineries market, promote and sell their wines. With the expansion, BBW has hired industry experts Ted Reimer and Anna Heacock.