May 4, 2011—Georgina Sikorski, Executive Director with CARE, and Kemp Harr discuss the Carpet America Recovery Effort's annual report which was released at last week's annual CARE convention. Listen to the interview to hear a quick review of how CARE is doing on its mission to divert post-consumer carpet from landfills.
May 3, 2011—Bill Kilbride and Jenny Cross, the leaders of Mohawk's sustainability initiatives, discuss Mohawk's top 5 ranking in the GreenBusiness Works Southeastern Corporate Sustainability Rankings. Listen to the interview to hear details of how Mohawk was picked for this honor and where sustainability fits in Mohawk's strategic plan.
May 2, 2011—Don Finkell, CEO with Shaw's Hardwood Business, and Kemp Harr discuss hardwood flooring trends from Don's vantage point. Listen to this interview which was recorded last week at the NWFA show in San Diego to hear Don talk about business conditions and the consumers preference for hardwood flooring.
April 29, 2011—Ed Korczak, Executive Director and CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association, and Kemp Harr discuss the hardwood flooring market and this week's annual hardwood show. Listen to the interview to hear details about product trends, sales volumes and Ed's outlook for the future in this surface sector. Ed will be retiring at the end of this year.
April 28, 2011—Kermit Baker, a Harvard Economist with the Joint Center for Housing Studies, and Kemp Harr discuss the outlook for remodel activity for the remainer of 2011. Listen to the interview to hear Kermit's latest read on the housing market including his opinion of Bernanke's speech yesterday.
April 27, 2011—Anthony Minite, President of Bentley Prince Street and Kemp Harr discuss the latest developments with this upscale commercial carpet brand. Listen to the interview to hear where they are focusing their energy in 2011 to take advantage of the recovery we are seeing in the commercial market. Specifics include new tufting equipment, Ipad sales force tool, and employee developent.
April 21, 2011—Doug Giles, Director of Marketing with Universal Textile Technologies, and Kemp Harr discuss UTT's new recycling partnership with Yellowstone National Park. Listen to the interview to hear details around how UTT recycles Yellowstone's plastic bottles into high performance backing products for the residential, commercial and synthetic turf markets.
April 20, 2011—Ann Derr, Principal with JPC Architects, and Kemp Harr discuss JPC's grand prize winning entry for this year's Vision Design Awards. Listen to the interview to hear Ann talk about this project, where the firm specializes and how its business has been affected by the recession. The Vision Design Awards are sponsored by Bentley Prince Street, Centiva, Crossville and Johnsonite and it was created to reward interior design that effectively integrates flooring design with the overall design of the space.
April 19, 2011—Jeff Meadows, Chief Marketing and Sales Officer for Beaulieu of America, and Kemp Harr discuss the global market conditions that are resulting in higher carpet prices. Listen to the interview to hear Jeff explain why nylon, polyester and Polypropylene prices are at an all time high and what effect that has on the carpet industry.
April 18, 2011—Richard Friedman, President of DFS Flooring, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy that has resulted in this Southern California commercial flooring contractor's 25% growth in the last two years. Listen to the interview to hear more about DFS' balance of maintenance to PI (product and installation) business. Also listen to Richard briefly talk about the highlights of this year's Starnet meeting in Phoenix.