March 3, 2011—Ron Lee, Executive Director of the Resource Commercial Flooring Network, and Kemp Harr discuss the business condition improvements his members are seeing in the marketplace. Listen to the interview to hear the highlights of their meeting in San Francisco and more details around business conditions within this group of commercial flooring contractors.
March 2, 2011—Jennifer Hoff, Executive Director with NTP who hosts the Coverings Show, and Kemp Harr discuss the highlighted speakers and programs for the upcoming Coverings Expo in Las Vegas in mid-March. Listen to the interview to hear what Jennifer thinks are the most important events to see.
March 1, 2011—Glenn King, VP of Marketing for Beaulieu Commercial, and Kemp Harr discuss recent organization changes and strategy that have resulted in marketshare gain for Beaulieu's "nimble" commercial carpet business. Listen to the interview to hear more about this and about Glenn's background in the industry.
February 25, 2011—Interior designer Shashi Caan of the Shashi Caan Collective, and Kemp Harr, discuss recent work by the International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers to build more respect for the profession and greater clarity for what interior design specialists do. Specifically, she talks about the IFI Design Frontiers: Interiors Entity, an effort that included designers and architects from 76 countries to develop a consensus about the profession. It resulted in the IFI Interiors Declaration, which will be released next month. She also talks about the Floor Focus Visions Design Awards, which is taking entries through March 1.
February 24, 2011—Kermit Baker, an economist with the American Institute of Architecture, and Kemp Harr discuss the flat January billings index. According to Kermit, he's not too concerned with this flat reading and still thinks we are "clawing our way" out of this recession. Listen to the interview to hear more details about this and his view of the residential remodel outlook for 2011.
February 23, 2011—Ed Korczak, CEO of the NWFA, and Kemp Harr discuss the contributions that Virgil Hendricks, the National Wood Flooring Association's founding president, made to the hardwood business. Listen to the interview to hear details about Virgil's business career. Hendricks passed away on February 19, 2011.
February 22, 2011—Paul Murray, Shaw's new VP of Sustainability and Environmental Affairs, and Kemp Harr discuss Paul's background and the challenges he faces as he takes the leadership role in Shaw's sustainability efforts. Listen to the interview to hear more details.
February 18, 2011—Jeff West, VP of Marketing and Product Development for Patcraft, discusses his new role as head of marketing and how Shaw positions the Patcraft brand versus the Shaw Contract brand. Listen to the interview for more details.
February 17, 2011—Peter Greene, VP of Marketing with InterfaceFlor, and Kemp Harr discuss the strategy behind Interface's decision to add to executive positions focused on the design community. Listen to the interview to hear more about Jennifer Busch and Vicki deVuono's new role at Interface.
February 16, 2011—Recorded at Surfaces, Erinn Valencich, Quick-Step's spokesperson and style expert, discusses residential trends and what role flooring takes in the designs she does for her clients. Watch the video to see how drastically a room can change based on the color of the floor used underneath the furniture.