Engineered Floors Breaks Ground on Carpet Tile Plant

DALTON—Engineered Floors has broken ground on a new carpet tile manufacturing facility in Dalton. The initial phase of the plant, expected to open in January 2018, will total 520,000 square feet.

“This plant is sign of continued growth and marks the beginning a new era for Engineered Floors,” said James Lesslie, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Engineered Floors. “As the popularity of modular carpet tile has grown, especially for Main Street applications, Engineered Floors is answering this need with a new state-of-the-art facility.”

In 2016, Engineered Floors launched its Pentz Commercial Flooring Solutions brand to be sold through its dealers and with collections that offer modular as well as broadloom styles.

For more, call (855) 343-5667 or visit EngineeredFloorsLLC.com.

Armstrong to Acquire Mannington’s VCT Business

LANCASTER, PA.—Armstrong Flooring has signed a definitive asset purchase agreement to acquire the vinyl composition tile (VCT) business of Mannington Mills for $36 million.

Armstrong intends to use its existing plant and distribution networks to accommodate the increase in VCT volume to drive top and bottom line benefits through increased scale and capacity utilization.

VCT products are widely used in commercial end-markets, especially in educational facilities and mass merchants, as it offers durability and numerous design options at attractive price-points.

“We expect this transaction to be accretive to earnings in 2018 as we drive profitability through improved capacity utilization and scale using our existing facilities and distribution system,” said Armstrong Flooring President and CEO Don Maier. “We have a strong history and deep expertise in VCT which makes this acquisition consistent with our strategy to support our legacy product lines while simultaneously investing in innovation and new growth initiatives to help us realize our medium-term goals.”

For more, call (717) 672-9611 or visit armstrongflooring.com.
 

Beaulieu America Sells Bridgeport Fibers to Mohawk

DALTON—Beaulieu America has sold its Bridgeport, Ala., fibers plant to Mohawk Industries.

“The decision to cease operations at Bridgeport Fibers was difficult,” said Annette Cyr, executive vice president of human resources for Beaulieu Group. “Our team worked closely with many local employers to assist employees impacted in finding new opportunities. This is consistent with our tradition of supporting members of the Beaulieu family.”

Beaulieu America will continue to operate its Memofil fiber plant in Dalton, and according to Michael Pollard, president of Beaulieu America, with the transition of Bridgeport Fibers, the company plans to continue to streamline and elevate its product portfolio, emphasizing growth and profitability.

For more, call (800) 227-7211 or visit beaulieuflooring.com.

Crossville Diverts More Than 90 Million Pounds of Waste from Landfills  

CROSSVILLE, TENN.—Crossville celebrated Earth Day with the announcement that it has reached a cumulative recycling total of over 91 million pounds since the 2009 launch of its Tile Take-Back program and subsequent TOTO USA sanitaryware manufacturer recycling partnership.

These recycling initiatives are based on the company’s proprietary process for recycling fired porcelain products, including post-consumer materials. Through Tile Take-Back, Crossville is able to recycle previously installed tile collected from its distribution network, as well as scraps that result from tile cutting during installation, sizing, or sample creation.

Through its TOTO partnership, Crossville receives pre-consumer fired porcelain toilets that do not meet quality standards. Instead of the porcelain going to landfills, they are recycled by Crossville for use in manufacturing new tile.

This use of recycled material during manufacturing results in Crossville maintaining its status as a net consumer of waste for a sixth consecutive year. Net waste consumption is achieved by using more waste than is created during production.

For more, call or visit crossvilleinc.com/sustainability.

NTCA Names 2016 Tile Person of the Year

FLOWOOD, MISS.—Martin Howard, president of the National Tile Contractor’s Association (NTCA) and executive vice president of David Allen Co., is the NTCA 2016 Tile Person of the Year.

With more than 36 years of experience in the construction industry, Howard is a highly-regarded expert and consultant in the technical aspects of tile and stone.

“Martin Howard has been actively involved in the NTCA for many years, and as a leader in the David Allen Company, he has supported and encouraged many of their employees to be involved in our association,” said Bart Bettiga, executive director of NTCA. “He has been extremely generous with his time and his leadership on our board of directors and executive committee and has helped us to transition into a new role of industry leadership.”

Howard serves on the NTCA committees for Standards and Methods, Training, Education, and Finance. He is a voting member of the ANSI A108 Subcommittee for Ceramic Tile Installation, represents the association on the Tile Council of North America Handbook Committee, and has served as an NTCA board member for 10 years.

For more, call (601) 939-2071 or visit tile-assn.com.

Kelly and Allred to Join FCICA Board

WEST BLOOMFIELD, MICH.—As of July 1, Pat Kelly of Synergy Flooring and J.R. Allred of Dalton Carpet One, will join the Flooring Contractors Association’s (FCICA) executive board.

Under Chairman Mike Newberry of Inside Edge Commercial Interior Services, Kelly will become the vice chairman and J.R. will become the secretary/treasurer. Continuing their terms on the board are Don Styka of Tarkett as vice chairman of associates and Gerry Swift of Lotus Building Services as immediate past chairman. Kimberly Oderkirk remains as executive vice president.

The FCICA board serve a three-year rotational term and are elected at FCICA’s annual convention by members in good standing. New to the board, serving until 2020 are Curtis Blanton of DCO Commercial Floors, Brent Fike of Roppe Holding Co., and Jeff Johnson of MAPEI Corp. Appointed to the board to complete two-year terms of open positions are Amy Johnston of Flooring Services and Bob Wallum of Finish Line Flooring Services. The balance of the board include Graham Capobianco of Capri cork, Larry Chandler of William M. Bird, Daniel Ortiz-Bacon of Allstate Floors and Construction and Seth Pevarnik of Ardex Americas.

For more, call (248) 661-5015 or visit fcica.com.

Fishman Flooring Introduces its First Brand of Engineered Wood Flooring

BALTIMORE—Fishman Flooring Solutions has introduced its own brand of engineered wood flooring for residential and commercial markets.

Available through the Fishman-aligned dealer network, the new Betsy Ross Hardwood Collection features a wide selection of textures, colors and styles. The collection is produced by American OEM Wood Floors using only hardwood materials from sustainably-managed North American forests.

“We have several competitive advantages in bringing this new line of high-quality wood flooring to market,” said Bill Mabeus, executive vice president of Fishman Flooring. “First, we have an exceptional sales team in place, with a proven track record of success. Second, we have solid relationships with architects, designers, specifiers, dealers and other hardwood flooring decision makers where we do business. Third, the Betsy Ross line, which will be very cost competitive, will be manufactured in Tennessee, which is centrally located in Fishman’s footprint, ensuring a reliable supply of products for our customers with reduced delivery times.”

For more, call (800) 556-7899 or visit lfishman.com.

NWFA’s Howard Receives Above & Beyond Award

ST. LOUIS—The National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) chief operating officer, Anita Howard, is the recipient of the Gary Sinise Foundation’s 2017 Above & Beyond award.

“Every year, the Gary Sinise Foundation recognizes the individuals that go above and beyond their duty to get the job done,” said Judith Otter, executive director of the foundation. “Anita Howard has done just that. We are grateful for Anita’s dedication, passion, and belief in our mission. Anita helps to ensure our severely wounded heroes receive the best quality floors in each specially adapted smart home build through our R.I.S.E. program. It is a crucial component in every house. We are appreciative of everyone at NWFA and we couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than Anita to receive our 2017 Above & Beyond award.”

Howard has been COO of NWFA for four years and has worked for the organization for nearly 16 years. Since first getting involved with the Gary Sinise Foundation at the 2015 Wood Flooring Expo, NWFA has aided in the completion of 13 homes, with another 20 homes in various stages of planning or construction.

For more, call (800) 422-4556 or visit nwfa.org.

Cartwright Distributing Joins Novalis Distributor Network

TORONTO—Cartwright Distributing now distributes Novalis’ NovaFloor residential luxury vinyl tile product line throughout Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming.

“Cartwright Distributing is a quality organization that we are proud to be associated with,” said Mark Hansen, vice president, North America for Novalis. “We expect we will both do great things with our new association.”

The first displays going up in Cartwright’s retailer showrooms feature NovaCore HPC flooring, with the brand’s other product line displays soon to follow, according to the manufacturer.

For more, call (704)799-1111 or visit NovalisInnovativeFlooring.us.

Shaw Floors Introduces The Style Board

Shaw Floors launched a network of eight tastemakers and influencers named The Style Board. Over the past several months, each Style Board member collaborated with Shaw to review and select products from Shaw’s latest innovations for makeover projects that will be shared with millions of their followers.

“The goal of The Style Board is to enable influencers to share and live by the philosophy that homeowners don’t have to sacrifice style for durability when it comes to Shaw Floors,” said Nicki Rayburn, director of public relations and communications at Shaw Floors.

The members of the Style Board are: Amy Goetz (Blissful Bee); Brittany Hayes (Addison’s Wonderland); Vanessa Hunt and Heather Patterson (At the Picket Fence); Beth Hunter (Home Stories A to Z); Cassity Kmetzsch (Remodelaholic); Roeshel Summerville (DIY Showoff); and Rhoda Vickers (Southern Hospitality).

For more information, visit shawinc.com.

Gerflor Celebrates Milestones of Mipolam and Taraflex

CHICAGO—Gerflor is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its Mipolam homogeneous sheet flooring, and the 70th anniversary of Taraflex resilient sports flooring.

“Mipolam and Taraflex are just two of Gerflor’s industry firsts, and I’m confident they won’t be our last,” said Catherine del Vecchio, Gerflor USA’s senior director of marketing.

Since 1937, Mipolam has grown from a single product line to 15 different lines with more than 300 colors available worldwide, and Taraflex has been the flooring selected for 10 consecutive Olympic Games through Gerflor’s partnerships with the International Handball Federation (IHF) and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB). Because of its safety and performance benefits, Taraflex is installed in more than 70,000 gymnasiums worldwide.

For more, call (877) 437-3567 or visit gerflorusa.com.

Florida Tile Named CTDA Supplier of the Year

LEXINGTON, KY.—The Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA) has named Florida Tile Supplier of the Year.

The CTDA Supplier of the Year is selected based on results of blind balloting by CTDA members who named their top suppliers and ranked them in terms of leadership, marketing, training, technology, regulatory compliance, communication, policies, product shipment and support services.

“We are truly elated to win this prestigious award for the second time,” said Michael Franceschelli, CEO of Florida Tile. “It is a testimony to the service culture we have built at Florida Tile. Thank you to the CTDA membership. We appreciate that the voting members see value in the effort we make. We also want to give sincere thanks to our entire Florida Tile team, who deserve the accolades.”

For more, call (630) 545-9415 or visit ctdahome.org.

Mullican Expands U.S. Hardwood Production

JOHNSON CITY, TENN.—Mullican Flooring has announced plans to bring full production of all sawn engineered products to the United States.

“Since 2012 we have converted much of our engineered hardwood production from imported to domestic manufactured product,” said Neil Poland, president, Mullican Flooring. “The transition of our sawn lines to the U.S. is a natural extension of that movement. Further, we are looking at this change as part of our effort to improve efficiencies and long term value within the company. The move will allow us to tighten quality control as well as to stay true to a long-standing corporate commitment to support domestic production.”

According to Poland, the start-up of the company’s sawn production line is the first phase of a five-year expansion plan that will create 200 new jobs at its Johnson City, Tenn., production plant.

The first product that will transition to the U.S. production facility is Mullican’s EuroSawn White Oak in a 7-inch width. The collection will be immediately available in six colors. Plans to transition additional overseas production to the U.S. will be announced in Q3, according to the company.

For more call (800) 844-6356, or visit mullicanflooring.com.