BTW News Briefs

Random House's Weisberg Steps Down, Volini Appointed COO

Random House announced this week that Don Weisberg would step down as executive vice president and chief operating officer North America effective February 28 to pursue new professional challenges. Weisberg will continue to serve as a consultant to the company. Edward Volini, who has served as Random's deputy chairman since January 2003, has been appointed to the additional corporate position of chief operating officer, effective immediately. He now will oversee the Random House Sales Group and Random House of Canada, as well as the publisher's Financial, Legal, Administrative, and Human Resources areas.

Three Companies Show Interest in AMS

On January 31, Advanced Marketing Services appeared at a court hearing where it discussed three letters of intent from companies interested in purchasing AMS without Publishers Group West, according to Richard Tauberman, AMS spokesman. One of the three companies will be accepted as a "stalking-horse" bid, he said, at which point, other companies will get a chance to place competing bids on the company. "We're hoping to close the stalking-horse deal quickly." Tauberman would not provide the names of the interested companies.

Idaho Takes Step Towards Streamlined Sales Tax

Idaho has taken another step toward joining the Streamlined Sales Tax Project (SSTP), reported the Oregonian. The House Revenue and Tax Committee voted 9 - 8 last week to further the state's involvement in the SSTP. If the measure clears the House and Senate and is signed by Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter, the Legislature would still need to approve any changes needed in the state's tax code to conform with the simplified taxing regimen, said Dan John, tax policy manager for the state Tax Commission.

Lightning Source Inc. To Establish Third Facility

On January 29, Lightning Source Inc., a provider of demand-based book manufacturing and distribution solutions to the book industry, announced it would establish a third book manufacturing facility in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. The new manufacturing center will be Lightning's second U.S. facility, and third worldwide. The headquarters facility is in LaVergne, Tennessee, near Nashville. The second facility was established in the United Kingdom in 2001 at Milton Keynes, near London. When fully operational, the new Pennsylvania facility will house 16 black and white presses, ten web fed color presses, five sheet fed color presses, and 12 binding lines. Lightning Source Inc., is a subsidiary of Ingram Industries Inc.