Bush Industries Announces Design Department Restructuring

Furniture World Magazine

As part of an ongoing strategy to strengthen its product-leadership focused business model, Bush Industries announces the promotion of Joe Ruedinger to the position of Director of Product Design. He previously served as Principal Designer, a position he has held since joining the company in June 2006. "Joe has many years of design experience in the commercial furniture industry, including Steelcase. His core responsibilities will be the day-to-day management of the design team as well as key initiatives to advance the design team's process and collaboration procedures," said Mike Evans, Executive VP of Product Leadership and Global Sourcing. "Joe will also act as the principal designer for our commercial office furniture." Ruedinger will report to John Cooper, Senior VP of Design & Sourcing. Cooper directs the company's global design effort. Cooper has served the home furnishings industry for over 20 years in a variety of design and management capacities, including four years with Bush Industries as Senior VP of Design & Sourcing. He has served two terms on the board of directors of the American Society of Furniture Designers. In addition, he has been a four-time finalist and one-time winner of the Pinnacle Award, the highest furniture design award in the industry. He has also won the ADEX award for design excellence. "John continues to be an invaluable asset to Bush's home furnishings design efforts. He will work with Joe to improve the integration of our China design team with our North American group," Evans said. "John will act as the principal designer for our home furnishings product lines." Bush Industries, Inc. is a leading global manufacturer of ready-to-assemble and OfficeReady™ furniture for home and office whose business model focuses on driving consumer values, driving them though innovative design, and globally sourcing leading products. The company is headquartered in Jamestown, NY, with manufacturing plants and offices in New York State, Pennsylvania, China and Germany.