J. Gary Childress has been appointed general manager of the Orton Ceramic Foundation, effective September 4. Before joining Orton, he worked for the Hecla Mining Co. for 15 years. Prior to that, he held sales and engineering positions with ECC, Ferro, Eljer and Drakenfeld. Childress plans to expand Orton's business base by improving market penetration for existing products and by developing new products. He is also interested in growing the business through strategic acquisitions. Orton has also named Thomas McInnerney engineering manager in the company's Products For Firing unit. McInnerney has over 11 years of experience in ceramic engineering. He will be responsible for maintaining the quality of existing pyrometric products and for the development of new production methods.