This spring, Starnet appointed Mark Bischoff to the position of vice president-vendor relations, where he will manage all activities related to the Starnet Preferred Vendor network including vendor acquisition, contract negotiation, business development and training. Bischoff brings 22 years of experience in commercial flooring, most recently as senior vice president of healthcare and living for Mohawk Industries. For the balance of 2018, he will work closely with Fred Williamson, executive vice president of Starnet, who is retiring at the end of 2018 after 50 years in the industry. We spoke with Bischoff at Starnet’s annual meeting to learn about his vision for the organization.
A: There’s always something we have to deal with on the consolidation or merger acquisition side, and it’s not just the vendor manufacturers, but it’s also the movement in the segments—what’s hot, what’s not, and also how end users are looking to procure material and labor and construction. So, there’s been a lot of changes in how projects are delivered. They used to be design, bid, build, and now there’s five or six project delivery models that are used on a regular basis that is impacted by segmentation. So, we have to help the members with a lot of that. And on the vendor side I’ve seen these trends and the impact it has had on us as manufacturers, but I’m not sure if the vendors have done a great job carrying the message through the channel to make sure that everyone understands what’s happening, how they can adjust to it and respond.