Atrium Cos., a major fabricator of vinyl windows and doors, may have a new owner -- garage-door maker Griffon Corp. That's according to a Bloomberg news report today, which quoted lawyers involved in Atrium's Chapter 11 reorganization.

The report says Griffon is competing with two private equity firms, Golden Gate Capital and Kenner & Co., which are working together, and have bid $465 million.

Dallas-based Atrium filed for bankruptcy in January.

A morning news anchor in Spartanburg, S.C., asked readers of his blog today, "What's the worst job you've ever had?"

The anchor, Fred Cunningham, gave a plastics-related answer:

Conveyor belt attaching rubber tubes to plastic caps that are inserted in large bags of milk held inside those huge metal dispensers in cafeterias (That doesn't sound nearly as boring as it really was. I lasted a month.)

"I have a new appreciation when I see someone get a glass of milk at a cafeteria," he wrote.

Interesting topic, and a good ice-breaker for a conversation starter. How many managers out there would be surprised to hear that workers considered their job the worst -- or the best -- that they ever had?

For the record, I'm on Cunningham's side. The worst jobs I ever had weren't the most physically strenuous -- they were the most boring.

I enjoy a good story about a massive construction/renovation project, and this is a pretty good one. Window manufacturer Serious Materials Inc. is working with Johnson Controls Inc. on replacing all of the windows in New York's Empire State Building.

Serious Materials has put together a special Web site devoted to the project. One of the highlights -- the project will not create tons of waste that will head for landfills.

The project calls for reusing all of the existing glass, and creating super-insulating glass units in a dedicated processing space located on site, in the Empire State Building.

The existing glass of the building's 6,514 double-hung windows, more than 26,000 total panes of glass, will be removed from the window frames, separated, and cleaned. New super-insulating IGUs will be produced using the old glass panes, new spacers, suspended coated film, and special gas fill. These new IGUs then will be re-installed.

According to the companies, the new windows will increase the thermal performance of the building's windows by up to four times.

The window upgrade process is one of eight measures that are expected to reduce energy use by 38 percent, save $4.4 million per year in energy costs, and save 105,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the next 15 years.

While Serious Materials makes vinyl windows, the plastics angle here is less obvious. The new windows will feature a layer of suspended coated film, which the company said improves insulation without the weight and design limitations of triple-pane glass.

Bloomberg is reporting that MGA Entertainment Inc., the parent company of rotational molder Little Tikes Co., is considering an initial public offering.

The story quotes MGA CEO Isaac Larian, saying "'The toy market is going to grow very well, and the outlook is fantastic."

Toy companies are reporting strong results. A few weeks ago, Lego A/S said its 2009 profit rose 63 percent, and sales were up 22.4 percent, compared to 2008.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been honored again for its "Chemical Fallout" series, including coverage of bisphenol A safety.

Meg Kissinger and Susanne Rust will receive $10,000 and the Roy W. Howard Award for public service reporting. In a news release announcing the award, the foundation said the Journal Sentinel investigation has "spanned three years and forced federal regulators to reverse opinions and eventually declare bisphenol A ... dangerous to fetuses, infants and children."

This is a repeat win for the duo. Last year, Scripps Howard gave them the Edward J. Meeman award for environmental reporting.

Rust and Kissinger also were finalists for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting for the series.

As I've pointed out in the past, it's worth keeping track of which plastics-related stories win big journalism awards. Those issues tend to stay in the public and legislative spotlight for a long time.

The Journal Sentinel has devoted a lot of reporting firepower to BPA safety, over a long period of time. The effort has drawn attention to an issue that had been simmering on the regulatory back-burner for more than a decade.

I compare this to the Los Angeles Times "Altered Oceans" project, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007. Before that, few people had heard about the marine debris problem.

Since then, the plastics industry has had to spend a lot of time dealing with plastic bag bans and taxes, and growth and competition from biodegradable materials.

I was surprised to see The New York Times report today about "hooping": excercising with a Hula-Hoop. Then I saw the photo of Marisa Tomei.

Tomei is featured prominently in the story, "Hooping Already Has Its Own Jane Fonda," which is about the "growing trend" of using Hula-Hoops as exercise equipment. (There's a Web site, and fitness videos, so it must be a trend. I wonder if there will be a Hooping magazine?)

There's also a photo of an instructor teaching a morning hooping class on the beach in Santa Monica, Calif.

I don't know anyone who hoops, but I imagine it is great exercise. If I had a Hula-Hoop in my office, I'm sure I'd find an excuse to use it a couple of times a day. It could also come in handy for playing ring toss.

Anyway, I'm sure the celebrity endorsement is invaluable, and hooping clubs will soon be popping up all over the place.

There's a lesson here for all the folks who read the Plastics Blog. If you want to get some attention for your proprietary products, just find a photogenic Academy Award winner to endorse them, put together a Web site, and give The New York Times a call... see, marketing is simple!

Last night Plastics News announced the winner of its 2009 Processor of the Year award -- custom injection molder GW Plastics Inc. Here's a fun behind-the-scenes look at our process.

Bill Bregar, our senior reporter who coordinates the project, collects all the POY entries throughout the year, and he eventually visits all the finalists. (Watch for his profile of GW in the March 15 issue of Plastics News.)

But before Bill makes those visits, he gets help from other PN staffers. In a typical year, Bill gives a team of reporters a couple of companies each, and they do background checks on those firms.

This involves talking with company officials, customers, suppliers and industry experts, and looking at OSHA, EPA and other public records.

It's a big project, and one of the things that we've laughed about over the years is that Frank Esposito, PN's other senior reporter, never seemed to research an eventual POY winner.

Maybe it was just luck of the draw. But year after year, Frank's companies never made the final cut. We were beginning to think that giving Frank a company to research was the kiss of death.

Well, I'm pleased to report that the jinx is over. Frank did the first round of research on GW Plastics for this year's award, and the company still managed to win.

Thanks for letting me share this insider story today, highlighting the work that our staff does to make this award possible. Meanwhile, check this link for for more information on our Processor of the Year award. And if you want a look at what makes GW special, check out the videos about all four finalists, which were posted on our multimedia page today.

After a natural disaster, some of the first products that relief workers seek are plastic tarps and bottled water. Igloo Products Corp. doesn't make either one of those -- but the company still managed to find a role in the earthquake relief effort in Haiti.

The Katy, Texas-based company partnered with Dialysis at Sea Cruises, donating several 120-quart coolers to aid in the delivery and storage of heat-sensitive medical supplies.

Igloo, which makes plastic coolers, donated large-capacity ice chests to help ship 11 tons of medical supplies that were provided by Dialysis at Sea, including dialysis machines.

"Many people will need the help of dialysis since most signs of problems to kidneys do not start to show up until 2-3 weeks after an accident has occurred" explained Steve Debroux, president of Dialysis at Sea Cruises. "The Igloo coolers are vital to delivering the temperature-sensitive supplies."

Jim Roberts, president and CEO of Igloo Corp., said the company was "extremely proud to lend a hand during this time of need in Haiti."

Chemical catalysts rarely make big news, but today's an exception. In a paper published in Macromolecules, a journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers at IBM and Stanford University said they have discovered a new way to make plastics that can be continuously recycled by substituting organic catalysts for the metal oxide or metal hydroxide catalysts most often used to make the plastics.

The news is generating headlines, in part because the Associated Press and other wire services jumped on it this morning.

The New York Times Green Inc. blog has a good report on the study, quoting Chandrasekhar Narayan, from IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose, Calif.

Narayan says the catalysts are cheap, and can make polymers that are durable, recyclable, and biodegradable.

"It's really a new class of polymers," he told the Times. "I think it's going to revolutionize synthetic chemistry."

Watch PlasticsNews.com for more information about the technology.

Here's a story I've been watching for (and I assume some Plastics Blog readers have been too): Archer Daniels Midland Co. has started production at its starch-based polymer plant in Clinton, Iowa, according to a report in the Clinton Herald.

Jason Nevel's story says that after four years of construction, the plant may begin shipping commercial goods next month. The newspaper quotes plant manager John Morrison, who said test runs have been conducted since December, and the plant will be in full operation this summer.

At full capacity, the plant will produce 50,000 tons of Mirel-brand polymer annually, using ADM's wet corn mill as a feedstock.

"To be part of a new plant that's first-of-its-kind in the world is really a lifetime opportunity for most of us," said Kevin Moore, ADM bio-products general manager.

The plant will make Mirel for Telles, a joint venture between Metabolix and ADM.