Products And Services

W.R. Grace & Co. is expanding one of its joint ventures to provide more products and services to petroleum refiners in places such as the Middle East, the Columbia-based chemical maker announced Wednesday. The joint venture, Advanced Refining Technologies, was created to develop and supply hydroprocessing catalysts to refiners. The venture is a partnership between Grace, Chevron Products Company and Kuwait Catalyst Co. Kuwait Catalyst, which provides these catalysts to the Persian Gulf region, is the largest shareholder.

W.R. Grace & Co. is expanding one of its joint ventures to provide more products and services to petroleum refiners in places such as the Middle East, the Columbia-based chemical maker announced Wednesday. The joint venture, Advanced Refining Technologies, was created to develop and supply hydroprocessing catalysts to refiners. The venture is a partnership between Grace, Chevron Products Company and Kuwait Catalyst Co. Kuwait Catalyst, which provides these catalysts to the Persian Gulf region, is the largest shareholder.

After an afternoon of beauty, Celeste from the SPCA gives new meaning to the term glamour-puss.With Americans spending billions of dollars each year on products and services for their pets, we decided to feature four-footed makeovers in this Sunday's Focus Page. Also, a list of the hottest beauty products for pets. Page 6L

Appointments *Paul D. Edmeades, president of Edmeades & Stromdahl Ltd. Architects/Planners in Bel Air, has been named vice chairman of the Maryland State Board of Architects. The board licenses architects in Maryland and issues architectural work permits. *E. Scott Johnson, chair of the intellectual property practice at Baltimore-based law firm OberKaler, was elected chair of the Maryland State Arts Council. His one-year term will end in July. Closings *Northwoods Restaurant in West Annapolis said it will close Aug. 16 after 23 years in business because of the downturn in the economy.

Baltimore-based Vertis Inc., a $2 billion marketing company that delivers advertising products and services, announced yesterday that it has reorganized into six business units. The 10,000-employee company, which has 160 locations in the United States and United Kingdom, now will consist of: Vertis Advertising Production Services, Vertis Retail and Newspaper Services, Vertis Direct Marketing Services, Vertis Media & Marketing Services, Vertis Newspaper Premedia Services and Vertis Digital Production Services.

PeopleLinda Rogers has been named client services coordinator at Paragon Computer Services Inc., an Ellicott City systems integration firm. She will be responsible for client requests for products and services, and for ensuring quality, efficiency and courtesy in client relations.Nancy Aversa, formerly with Senior Connection's Elder Daycare Center, has been appointed recreation director at Harmony Hall Retirement Community, a division of Lorien Health systems. She will be responsible for developing new programs for the Columbia senior community.

Exclusively For Women, "A Day That Inspires," a women's expo featuring products and services women need, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. About 70 vendors will offer products and services with interactive presentations. The first keynote speaker will be Monyka Berrocosa, a Mid-Atlantic advocate for women in business and women and family-centric nonprofits, who will present "Everyday Women Are Empowering" at 11:15 a.m. Jill Moss Greenberg, executive director of the Maryland Women's Heritage Center, will present "Women Leading the Past, Present, and Future" at 1:30 p.m. Seminars will be offered throughout the day. Topics include plastic surgery, finding balance in life, financial independence and finishing rich, living a life of purpose, networking, and becoming a jewelry expert.

TrustWave Corp., an Annapolis-based information-security company, will be acquired by a Chicago company for about $63 million, suitor Patron Systems Inc. announced yesterday. Patron said it was buying TrustWave and another company to help it achieve its goal of becoming a player in the burgeoning market for information-security products and services. "We are really excited about" the buyout by Patron, said Joseph L. Patanella, TrustWave's founder and a veteran of the National Security Agency.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Fair, Isaac & Co., which makes software to assess credit quality, agreed yesterday to buy HNC Software Inc. for about $810 million in stock to gain computer programs that predict consumer trends. HNC shareholders will get 0.346 of a new Fair Isaac share for each share owned, the companies said in a statement. The price is based on Fair Isaac's closing share price Friday of $64.09, and values HNC at about $22.18 a share. Fair Isaac said it will gain products and services for more customers in industries such as financial services, health care, insurance and telecommunications.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. of Rockville said yesterday that it has agreed to license the rights to sell future HGS products in Japan to Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. in exchange for $5 million and a future royalty stream.Human Genome spokeswoman Nancy Broadbent said the products involved have not begun clinical trials. That means they probably are years away from government marketing approval.The deal also provides that Human Genome Sciences will obtain U.S. marketing rights to products that Takeda develops based on the Maryland company's gene sequencing research.

Exclusively For Women, "A Day That Inspires," a women's expo featuring products and services women need, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Ripken Stadium in Aberdeen. About 70 vendors will offer products and services with interactive presentations. The first keynote speaker will be Monyka Berrocosa, a Mid-Atlantic advocate for women in business and women and family-centric nonprofits, who will present "Everyday Women Are Empowering" at 11:15 a.m. Jill Moss Greenberg, executive director of the Maryland Women's Heritage Center, will present "Women Leading the Past, Present, and Future" at 1:30 p.m. Seminars will be offered throughout the day. Topics include plastic surgery, finding balance in life, financial independence and finishing rich, living a life of purpose, networking, and becoming a jewelry expert.

Vertis Communications, the Baltimore printing and advertising company trying to turn around its business amid an industrywide decline, called off a proposed deal yesterday to acquire one of its largest competitors. But Vertis said it was willing to continue further discussions with American Color Graphics in Brentwood, Tenn., which had cautioned that it could face a shortage of cash if the merger does not go through. Vertis executives have said the deal could help them better compete in an industry that has seen its profits fall steadily in recent years.

The chief executive of Vertis Communications, a Baltimore advertising and marketing company, assured analysts yesterday that its turnaround initiatives are showing progress after reporting that its second-quarter loss nearly quadrupled and revenue declined. In a news release late Thursday, Vertis said it lost $19.7 million in the three months that ended June 30. That compared with a loss of $5 million in the second quarter last year. Vertis, a privately held company, announced financial results because its debt is publicly traded.

Deborah Bryan Sales and service associate U.S. Postal Service, Woodstock Salary --$45,000 Age --41 Years on the job --18 How she got started --After graduating from Towson University with a degree in business administration, Bryan went to work at the post office. For the first 15 years she worked in the back, getting mail ready for carriers to deliver. Not quite three years ago, she switched to working the front window at the Woodstock branch. She's currently on a temporary reassignment, working out of the main branch of the Baltimore post office assisting business customers.

David Gibson, commodore of Club Beneteau, sailed last summer from Annapolis to Black Island, N.Y., on a weekend trip. Along the way, he listened to repeated weather broadcasts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, as well as a weather routing service from a private-sector source. "We listened to NOAA the whole way," he said. "I look on the NOAA broadcast as a safety assistance, just like the weatherman on TV. They don't always get it right. No one does. But they provide a particular service for the short-term sailor and the weekend sailor.

Many questionable spending decisions stem from emotional distress and lack of knowledge. That's why many people overspend on funerals and burial services. Few events are as stressful as the death of a loved one, and there are few purchases consumers are so clueless about. "Most adult Americans - I don't care if they have a Ph.D. in economics - know nothing truthful about death, dying and funerals," said Joshua Slocum, executive director of the non-profit Funeral Consumers Alliance in South Burlington, Vt. "It's one of the most misunderstood transactions we ever encounter.

A roundup of new products and servicesKeen screensLawrence Harbin, owner of Galerie 500, a Capitol Hill art gallery, has created a computer screen saver that displays paintings by African-American artists. Art in the Dark is available in Windows, DOS and Macintosh versions at COMPUSA for $29.95. For more information, call (800) 666-4476. Local computer programmer Nancy L. Hunter has created a fashion statement for the on-line age. She has designed 30 different T-shirts featuring net lingo and smileys, which are used to express emotion on the Internet and other on-line services.

First Union Corp. plans to hire as many as 80 people in Baltimore to service small-business customers over the telephone, according to an executive with the company.Gary Will, vice president and site manager of First Union's business banking center at 7 St. Paul St., said he expects to fully staff the operation by next fall."I am interviewing like crazy," Will said. "We hope to add about six to eight people a month."Will is building a staff that will service the bank's small-business customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Connecticut.

Brigette Higgins Cable technician for Comcast Corp. Age: 37 Years in business: 11 Salary: The median salary for an experienced telecommunications technician in the Baltimore area is $52,571, according to salary.com. How she started: Higgins attended a trade school for travel and tourism in Kissimmee, Fla. She worked for a while at a hotel there and other jobs including Circuit City. She soon decided she wasn't an indoor person and returned to Baltimore, where a relative suggested she apply to Comcast.

General Electric Co. has always been the largest individual holding in my portfolio. Should I keep it that way? - G.C., via the Internet This giant conglomerate with 11 operating segments and a history of creating shareholder value continues to offer cause for investor optimism. Profits from its NBC television network and hit movies such as Meet the Fockers and Ray have been strong, as have its health care and transportation division results. Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt predicts that, barring significant increases in raw material prices, earnings could increase as much as 17 percent this year.