To help manage its growing sock business, Morrisville company Implus is creating a hosiery division.

Until recently, Implus focused on other shoe- and foot-related products, such as insoles, shoelaces and shoe-care items.

"We entered the hosiery business in 2005, and business has doubled over the last two years," said company President Todd Vore.

Last year, hosiery made up 6.5 percent of the company's sales, Vore said. He expects that figure to double this year.

The new hosiery division will oversee the development and marketing of high-end socks and other hosiery items for Implus brands, including Apara, Yaktrax and SofSole.

The company's products are distributed to more than 50,000 stores in North America and can be found in stores in 65 countries.

Deals

Glen Wesley, alternate captain of the Carolina Hurricanes, is the new spokesman for Saturn Retailers of the Triangle. Wesley will be included in all local print, radio and television ads for the next six months.

The law firms McGuireWoods and Helms Mulliss & Wicker are merging. When the merger closes March 31, the combined firm will be called McGuireWoods LLP. The combined firm will have nearly 900 lawyers and offices in 17 cities in the U.S., Europe and Central Asia. Peter J. Covington, chairman and managing member of Helms Mulliss, will become vice chairman of McGuireWoods, a new position. Scott Vaughn, currently the practice area leader for Helms Mulliss Wicker's finance group, will become managing partner of McGuireWoods' Charlotte office. Helms Mulliss started in Charlotte in 1922. McGuireWoods entered the Charlotte market in 1998. Both firms have offices in Raleigh.

Virtual Heroes, a Research Triangle Park company that creates interactive learning games, has created 3DiTeams, a health-care team trainer designed to help reduce medical errors. Virtual Heroes collaborated with Duke University Medical Center faculty to develop the program, which was funded by the U.S. Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.

Dr. Darol E. Dodd of the Hamner Insititutes for Health Sciences received a $655,367 contract from the Navy Health Research Center-Environmental Health Effects Laboratory Detachment. The grant will allow Dodd to conduct inhalation toxicity studies on a new jet fuel, Syntroleum S-8. Hamner Institutes is an independent, nonprofit organization in Research Triangle Park.

Bob Barker Co. in Fuquay-Varina provided online business and computer training courses for its employees with the implementation of an e-Learning program. Bob Barker Co. worked with Stone Business Professionals of Raleigh to select the Business Training Library.

Executive coaches Jim Barley and George Smart opened Guaranteed Coach in Research Triangle Park, which offers executive coaching with a money-back guarantee. For information go to www.guaranteedcoach.com.

College Hunks Hauling Junk, a junk and debris removal service, has opened for business in Raleigh. Tim McSwiney is director of operations. Information on the franchise is available at www.1800junkusa.com.

Global Vaccines in Research Triangle Park, a nonprofit vaccine company, has sublicensed AuthentiForm Technologies' enhanced product-authentication technology.

Fanning Howey, an architectural and engineering firm that's based in Ohio, completed the acquisition of Cary architectural firm The Roberts Group. The current Roberts Group staff will continue to serve existing clientele. Management of the combined company will involve executives from both organizations. Fanning Howey specializes in work for school systems and libraries.

Howard Merrell & Partners, a branding and communications firm in Raleigh, was named public relations agency of record for O2 Fitness.

Landacorp is continuing its contract to provide its maxMC medical management software to Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for an additional three years.