Lowe's new Iris Smart Home solution is slated to be available in Lowe's stores and through Lowes.com in mid-2012.

Iris is described as an affordable system that will give homeowners the ability to control and interact with their homes from anywhere. Energy and technology company Genability will be used by Lowe's in its new cloud-based smart home solution called Iris.

Marysville, Ohio-based Scotts Miracle-Gro will collaborate with Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI) on research and development in natural plant protection products. 

"We are excited about this new partnership with MBI because we believe it will lead to improved products that enable gardeners who choose natural options to get great results," said Bruce Caldwell, Scotts Miracle-Gro's Global R&D Leader. 

Reaching out to home microbrewers, Milwaukee-based Perlick Corp. launched the patent-pending Stainless Steel Perl Faucet as the new standard on all residential beer-dispensing units.

Tech provider eCommerce Industries Inc. (ECI), a leader in industry‐specific information technology solutions, arranged for Jim Morris to deliver the keynote address at Connect Conference 2011, a national users’ meeting for their software solutions. 

The conference will be held Nov. 1 to 3, 2011, at the Renaissance Worthington Hotel in Fort Worth, Texas.

Tony Callahan, the former senior VP national purchasing, planning and design for Beazer Homes, has left the Atlanta-based home-building firm to form his own consulting firm. The Callahan Consulting Group (CCG) specializes in helping building product and residential construction companies lower costs and lead times, while managing risk throughout the supply chain.

Gloucester, Mass.-based Rule is promoting greener gardens through a new solar-powered RainPerfect pump system designed for use with rain barrels.

The product made its debut in January, and is now working its way to consumers nationwide, according to the company. It was developed and produced by ITT Corp.'s Flow Control division.

Houston-based hardlines co-op Handy Hardware pointed to sales growth of 4.1% in its first quarter of 2011.

In a statement released Monday, the company also addressed the challenges resulting from its transition to a new computer operating system during the first quarter of 2011.

"We have gotten past the worst of this transition, and our numbers are climbing back up to our historical service level marks," said Tina Kirbie, president.

In the 1980s, when Lowe’s decided to change from a chain of southeastern contractor yards to a nationwide big-box retailer, the company knew it wouldn’t happen overnight. But a steady vision, stable leadership and good relations with Wall Street made the goal a reality. Today, the North Carolina-based company has more than 1,725 warehouse-sized stores in all 50 states plus Canada and Mexico. 

Now it’s time for another change.