October 22, 2013—Jonathan Witt, VP with OW Rugs, and Kemp Harr, discuss the traffic and tone at this week's High Point Furniture show. Listen to the interview to hear more about how this show is coming back to life, about macro conditions that are increasing area rug sales, and a little more about Oriental Weavers' background.
October 18, 2013—Bob Peoples, Executive Director with CARE, and Kemp Harr, discuss CARE's entrepreneur meeting scheduled for next week in Atlanta and the status of the revised plan for California's AB 2398 Carpet Stewardship program which currently collects $.05 per yard on all new carpet sales to reward programs that keep carpet out of the state's landfills. Listen to the interview for more details.
October 17, 2013—Cheryl Duvall, President with Avancé, and Kemp Harr, discuss the show traffic at NeoCon East despite the lack of government attendees. Listen to the interview to hear Cheryl talk about the highlights of the show.
October 16, 2013—Christine Neufeld, Director of Marketing with LSI Floors, and Kemp Harr, discuss LSI's recent shift to a direct to market channel strategy. Listen to the interview to hear more about this decision and a few more details about LSI Floors' approach to the commercial LVT market.
October 14, 2013—Kermit Baker, an economist with the American Institute of Architecture, and Kemp Harr,discuss the momentum of the AIA's billing index, which has been positive for a sustained period of a year now. Listen to the interview to hear Kermit talk about his economic outlook for construction growth both near term and into the future. Kermit also briefly discusses energy, on-shoring and the government shutdown.
October 11, 2013—Bill Imhoff, President and CEO of Intertech (a commercial flooring contractor based in Austin, Texas), and Kemp Harr, discuss Intertech's 25th year celebration event that was held last week in Kyle, Texas. Listen to the interview to hear more about Intertech, their market conditions and a few of their focus areas that have resulted in rapid growth.
October 10, 2013—Chad Moutray, the economist with the National Association of Manufacturers, and Kemp Harr, Publisher of Floor Focus Magazine, discuss NAM's economic outlook for the remainder of 2013 and the potential effect that the Washington shutdown could have on his estimate. In addition, Chad addresses the economic factors that are motivating companies to bring their manufacturing back to the U.S. Listen to the interview for more details.
October 7, 2013—Tracy Hammond, a Lobbyist for the Carpet and Rug Institute with Polsinelli, and Kemp Harr, discuss key issues and potential solutions to resolve the government shutdown in Washington, DC. Listen to the interview to hear this Washington insider's perspective.
October 4, 2013—Russell Grizzle, President and CEO of Mannington Mills discusses Mannington's LVT expansion in Madison, Georgia. The expansion, which is estimated to cost $50 million, will add over 200 jobs and will quadruple the output of this LVT plant from what it was able to produce when Mannington purchased the plant as part of its Amtico acquisition. Listen to the interview for more details.
October 3, 2013—Michelle Miller, Executive VP with the North American Association of Floorcovering Distributors (NAFCD), and Kemp Harr, discuss the NAFCD's annual meeting that will be held in Chicago on November 12-14. Listen to the interview to hear details about how the organization has grown and changed and a few of the highlights for next month's meeting.