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John Scheatzle joins Tarkett
Solon, Ohio-based Tarkett has hired John Scheatzle as president of its residential business in North America. Scheatzle brings more than 30 years of experience leading and transforming businesses to the role, the company says. Most John Scheatzle recently he served as president of Mount Braddock, Penn.-based NobelClad, the welding division of DMC Global, a company providing niche technologies to the chemical, energy, industrial processing and transportation markets worldwide. Prior to DMC, Scheatzle spent nearly 20 years with Materion of Mayfield Height, Ohio, in operations and leadership roles. Scheatzle earned an MBA from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Akron in Akron, Ohio.
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Karndean meets RFCI Assure Certified standard
The Korlok Select and Korlok Reserve rigid core ranges by Karndean Designflooring of Export, Pa., are among the first rigid core products to meet the stan
dards of the new Assure Certified standard by the Resilient Floor Covering Institute (RFCI) after participating in the pilot program, the company says. Developed by the La Grange, Ga.-based RFCI, Assure Certified products are tested and certified by SCS Global Services of Emeryville, Calif., to ensure rigid core products are manufactured to the highest standards and meet the requirements for indoor air quality, rigorous performance and are free of heavy metals content and ortho-phthalates. To become Assure Certified, manufacturers must have a quality control procedure to control material suppliers, product traceability, chain of custody, internal QC testing and segregation of non-conforming products/materials. In addition, an on-site audit of the manufacturing facility is conducted and confirmed compliant with QC procedures, material inputs and scope of product intended for certification.
I4F signs grout patents agreement with Quickstyle
Hamont, Belgium-based I4F, a group of companies providing patents and technologies to the flooring industry, has entered into an exclusive patent partnership with Quickstyle Industries of Mississauga, Ont., giving I4F the sole
licensing rights for the company’s grout patent family in all major markets worldwide, including the U.S., Europe and Asia/Pacific. Quickstyle grout line technology has been awarded a number of U.S. patents as well as other patents abroad. The technology focuses on rigid cores with profiled mechanical joining systems combined with top layers of PVC or PVC decorative films and wear layer films. The partnership means that all new licenses for this technology may only be obtained via I4F, with the exception of Canada, where Quickstyle will continue to license its patents directly. Both companies will collaborate to maximize worldwide awareness of this innovation as well as to further develop the technology.
Coverings Connected online show results
Coverings (coverings.com), the largest international tile and stone exhibition and conference in North America, has released post-show attendance numbers and digital resources from Coverings Connected, which took place April 20-23. The online digital experience was the first of its kind and provided nearly 4,000 industry professionals with four days of educational webinars and online networking opportunities. The virtual show was created to provide opportunities for insight regarding significant tile and stone products, technical information, trends, exhibitor announcements and other learning opportunities in a streamlined digital experience for those who had planned to attend the canceled Coverings 2020 show. Most of the Coverings Connected content and handouts are available on-demand and can be accessed at www.coverings.com.
Phenix Carpet partners with Melmart Distributors
Melmart Distributors of Mississauga, Ont., has announced that it will be the exclusive distributor of McAdenville, N.C.-based Phenix Carpet in its trading area from Ontario to Newfoundland. The partnership includes the distribution of the major Phenix brands of carpet such as Microban, Modern Contours and Stainmaster. Mannington Mills of Salem, N.J., announced their purchase of Phenix in late 2019. Melmart and Mannington have been business partners since 1991.
Huali Floors of China invests in U.S. facility
Governor Brian Kemp of the State of Georgia in the southern U.S. has announced that Huali Floors will establish its first U.S. headquarters and manufac
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turing facility in Murray County, Ga., with an investment of more than $27 million US. Taizhou, China-based Huali manufactures a variety of floor covering products, including luxury vinyl tiles, stone plastic composite, and wood plastic composite flooring. The company employs more than 2,000 with revenues in excess of $360 million US. Huali currently uszes the Port of Savannah in Georgia and plans to use the Appalachian Regional Port in Murray County. Georgia was the No. 1 exporter among U.S. states for floor covering products in 2019, with a total export value of $485.4 million US, and Northwest Georgia is home to a majority of the state’s floor covering industries. The new inland Appalachian Regional Port is said to play a key role in Georgia’s supply chain network.
Roomvo visualization app rollout
CCA Global Partners of Manchester, N.H., has chosen the Roomvo app to power the flooring visualizer on its Carpet One Floor & Home, Flooring America and
Flooring Canada websites. Mountville, Penn.-based hardwood flooring specialist AHF Products, has also chosen the Roomvo visualizer tool across its flooring brands, including Bruce, Hartco and Robbins, to make it easy for trade professionals and homeowners to work on a new flooring project. The Roomvo visualization tool is an application developed by Toronto, Ont.-based Leap Tools. In addition, AHF Products has launched a program to ship free flooring samples for retailers to better support a more personalized “home shopping” experience for consumers, as well as announced an agreement with Taylor Adhesives of Dalton, Ga., a manufacturer of adhesives and coatings, to be the exclusive distributor of Bruce flooring adhesives. Taylor will assume full responsibility in North America for the day-to-day operations of all Bruce-branded adhesives as well as Bruce cleaning products through AHF’s approved distributor network.
Lagrou of M-D PRO retires
Steven Lagrou, v.p. of sales and marketing for the M-D PRO division at M-D Canada in Mississauga, Ont., a division of M-D
Building Prod
ucts, has retired. Lagrou started his career in the floor covering industry as an installer back in 1973. He then moved into distribution where Steven Langrou he was a partner in the Gerlinger Equipment Company out of Michigan and Ohio. It was during his time at Gerlinger where he became acquainted with the Loxcreen Flooring Group (operating today as M-D PRO) as a customer. Lagrou and his partners sold the Gerlinger business in the early 2000s, and after a brief hiatus and attempt at retiring, the Loxcreen Flooring Group was successful in convincing Lagrou to join the organization. He will continue to offer his expertise to M-D PRO on an as-needed, consulting basis and will help in the transition to the new v.p. of sales, who will be named in the coming months.
NWFA concludes Wood Flooring Expo
The St. Louis, Mo.-based National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) has concluded its first-ever Virtual Wood Flooring Expo. The event was held April 29-May 1 with more than 200 exhibitors participating, and more than 2,700 registered attendees. The three-day event featured live and recorded education sessions, exhibitor product demonstrations demonstrations, technical skills demonstrations, and networking opportunities. Each live session and demonstration were followed by a Q&A. Sessions also were recorded for later viewing. In addition to education, attendees also had numerous opportunities to interact with exhibitors. Options were available to set virtual appointments, view videos, review press releases and learn about specific products. Exhibitors also had the option to post show specials. Live session recordings are available at https://bit.ly/30zpStq. Registration is required and is free at https://bit.ly/2YuY3jg. The 2021 Wood Flooring Expo is to be held April 28-30 in Baltimore, Md.
Natural Stone Institute awards call for entries
The entry period for the 2020 Natural Stone Institute (NSI) Awards Program is now open. The Oberlin, Ohio-based association call for entries is for the
Pinnacle Awards, Industry Recognition Awards and scholarship programs. All entries are due by July 20. The Pinnacle Awards honour projects where beauty, creativity, ingenuity, and craftsmanship exemplify professional mastery in the use of natural stone for commercial and residential applications in a variety of categories. A Grande Pinnacle Award, sponsored by Marmomac, will be presented to the best overall project. Marmomac is a global showcase of stone materials and machinery held annually in Verona, Italy. The Industry Recognition Awards recognize individuals in the stone
industry for exemplary contributions to the industry over a period of time. Available awards include the Migliore Award for Lifetime Achievement, the Women in Stone Pioneer Award and the Natural Stone Craftsman of the Year Award. Two scholarships, the Natural Stone Scholarship and the Women in Stone Empowerment Scholarship, provide hands-on educational opportunities for aspiring professionals interested in furthering their careers in the stone industry. Award recipients will be celebrated at the annual NSI awards ceremony at TISE in Las Vegas in January 2021. All awards are open to NSI members only. For more information visit www.naturalstoneinstitute.org/awards.
Executive leadership changes at Install
Tom Flynn has succeeded Michael Capelli as Install chairman and the Washington, D.C.-based United
Brotherhood of
Carpenters (UBC) general secretaryTom Flynn treasurer. A third-generation carpenter, Capelli was a member of the UBC since 1986. Flynn is a 33-year member of the UBC, formerly serving as national political director of the organization and most recently as executive secretary-treasurer of the North Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters. As political director, he worked with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to get Install written into the department’s master flooring specification. Install is the
International Standards and Training
Alliance floorcovering professionals, also based in Washington, with training centres in five Canadian provinces.
Chocolaterie wins international design award
Unique Store Fixtures of Concord, Ont., has been awarded gold by the grand jury panel of the Como, Italy-based A’ Design Award and Competition, in the 2019–2020 Interior Space and Exhibition Design Category, for KitKat Chocolatory, located at the Yorkdale Shopping Centre in Toronto, Ont. Unique Store Fixtures, creator of custom-crafted retail environments, collaborated with Toronto interior design company model/ctzn by fabricating all custom millwork and ensuring that
the overall interior concept presented was fully realized from conception to implementation. All aspects of the project, including custom stonework, metal fabrication, glass and wood, were completed by Unique Store Fixtures.
Unilin prevails before International Trade Commission
Administrative law judge David Shaw has released the International Trade Commission (ITC) “Initial Determination” in the investigation brought by the Unilin
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intellectual property company, Mohawk Industries of Calhoun, Ga., and IVC US on March 25, 2019 against 45 companies alleged to infringe Unilin’s patents in its rigid and foamed core locking patent portfolio. In a 269-page opinion, Shaw found all 48 asserted claims of Unilin’s patents US 9,200,460, US 10,233,655 and US 10,208,490 infringed and recommended a General Exclusion Order against all products that infringe such patent claims. A General Exclusion Order is an extraordinary measure which can only be ordered by the International Trade Commission in which all products of all David Shaw worldwide manufacturers will not be allowed entry into the U.S. if they infringe the asserted Unilin claims and are not authorized by Unilin to be imported into the U.S. The order by Shaw is subject to review by the ITC Commission, but Unilin says it is confident that no substantial elements will be revised.
Italian ceramic companies return to production
After resuming the shipment of finished products on April 3, Italian ceramic compa nies are now restarting production activities. This step allows companies to return to full-scale operation and recall employees, logistics operators and transporters while complying with applicable regulations. Highly stringent and precautionary mea sures to ensure the safety of employees are set out in the Memorandum of Under standing of April 24, signed by the Italian government, Confindustria (the umbrella organization for industrial associations in Italy) and the trade unions, and that of April 10, signed by Confindustria Ceramica of Sassuolo, Italy, and the trade unions. Measures announced include: circulating information as required by law; distributing personal protective equipment; more fre quent sanitization of workspaces; organizing workstations and eating areas in such a way as to maintain safety distances; and making it easier for office staff to work from home. To protect drivers and shipping per sonnel, ceramic companies have adopted containment measures such as new entry, transit and exit procedures and the use of dedicated routes and pre-established timescales to ensure that people always maintain a safe distance. The review of all internal company procedures aims to guar antee the safety of employees while continuing to deliver the products and services expected from the Italian ceramic industry.
TCNA laboratory expands testing and research
Due to increased testing inquiries during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Anderson, S.C.-based Tile Council of North America
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(TCNA) Product Performance Testing Laboratory is expanding its microbiologybased services to meet industry needs for up-to-date product testing and analysis. ”The broad expertise of our lab, combined with our joint-use collaboration with Clemson University, means we can address a wide range of testing Katelyn Simpson needs, including the design of custom testing,” said Katelyn Simpson, TCNA’s Director of Laboratory Services. New services include antiviral testing to determine the survival rates/duration of viruses on different surface materials and the efficacy of common household cleaners to disinfect these surfaces. TCNA will also be joining the ASTM task force for developing surrogates for the SARS-CoV-2 virus for testing purposes.
Mohawk unveils plans for virtual summit
The commercial flooring manufacturer Mohawk Group of Calhoun, Ga., has an nounced it will be hosting a free three-day digital event aimed to inspire attendees and build off the momentum and excite ment of the Chicago, Ill.-based NeoCon trade show platform. The Design Forward Virtual Summit, marks Mohawk Group’s first online event of its kind, taking place through an interactive platform July 15-17. The programming was developed in the wake of the cancellation of NeoCon 2020, and includes digital roundtables, webinars, podcasts and other media. To register, go to www.mohawkgroup.com/designfwd. While the event will be broadcast live, content will be archived for registered users to reference between the event’s close and the next live NeoCon from June 14-6, 2021 in Chicago.
Bird Construction awarded two projects
Mississauga, Ont.-based Bird Construction has been awarded two new residential projects. The first is a construction management services contract for 185 Enfield Place Project in Mississauga for approximately $107 million for GWL
Realty
Advisors. The second is a stipulated sum contract for the Louvre Residence at Century Park Project in Edmonton, Alta. for approximately $57 million under development by Procura Real Estate Services. Construction on both projects was scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 2020. The 185 Enfield Place Project consists of a thirty-five storey, 366-unit tower with approximately 26,000 square metres of gross floor area. The new building is to be constructed to LEED gold standards. The Louvre is a new concrete and wood framed, mixed-use residential project comprised of 358 residential dwellings and over 800 square metres of commercial space. The building will be seven storeys tall (three concrete, four wood frame), with two levels of parking.
We are in this together. Mohawk is here to help keep your business moving forward. As we move through the next few months, we are here to offer peace of mind and flexibility for our retail partners.
Visit mohawktoday.com for the latest COVID-19 resources for your business.
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