New Moisture Barrier from WAKOL

Wed 23 Feb 2011 3:41:56 AM GMT

We have recently been introduced to a product from Wakol that serves as a single component moisture barrier with the ability to block moisture up to 18lbs! It dries in approximately 45 minutes, which allows flooring contractors to begin installation after this dry time, and is applied using a 3/8 short nap roller.We think it will be useful in solving many of the moisture problems that we currently see on job sites.

Here's WAKOL's description of the product:

Description:

One component waterproof primer for priming porous and non-porous subfloors and for rigidifying soft subfloor surfaces.

WAKOL PU 280 Moisture Barrier is a premium moisture barrier for “green” concrete slabs and for concrete with residual moisture prior to laying wood and cork flooring.

Moisture content from 3 to 12 pounds / 1000 sq ft / 24 hours as determined by calcium chloride test method or with moisture content from 75% to 90% RH (ASTM F 2170-02) can be blocked by one coat.

Moisture content from 12 to 18 pounds / 1000 sq ft / 24 hours as determined by calcium chloride test method or with moisture content from 90% to 95% RH (ASTM F 2170-02) can be blocked by two coats.

On radiant heated floors a moisture content up to 6 pound / 1000 sq ft / 24 hours as determined by calcium chloride test method or a moisture content from 75% to 85% RH (ASTM F 2170-02) can be blocked by two coats.

For more info, visit WAKOL's page.

~ Cornerstone

VeraShield Flooring Underlayment Installation

Thu 17 Feb 2011 11:53:59 PM GMT

Versashiled Flooring Underlayment from Halex Corporation is the ideal moisture suppression system for both soft and hard floor coverings.

Roll it! Tape it! It is that easy.

VersaShield is ideal for use with most floor coverings, including:
* Carpet
* Carpet Tile
* Solid Wood
* Engineered Wood
* Laminate
* Vinyl Composition Tile

VersaShield Flooring Underlayment's unique structure allows the installer to adhere the chosen floor covering to its mineral top surface, while the polymer film coating on the bottom provides the moisture suppression. VersaShield's dimensional stability means it lays down flat on the slab, so gluing the product to the slab is never required.

This video includes a comparison of cost savings and time to install over other flooring underlayments with superior performance.

Learn more about VersaShield Flooring Underlayment on Halex's web site at:
http://www.halexcorp.com/versashield-flooring-underlayments/

Tenant Express Newsletter, January

Sat 12 Feb 2011 1:18:53 AM GMT

Tenant Express Flooring Newsletter, January 2011

FLOORING SOLUTIONISTS

Supporting You With Every Step

Welcome to the January edition of the Tenant Express Newsletter. In this edition we will be discussing continued education, how social networking can help your business and a new innovative product called magic fresh.

Tenant Express is the multi-family housing division for Cornerstone Commercial Flooring. In today's apartment home market, a competitive advantage is critical to your property's success. Tenant Express specializes in quick, efficient and cost effective installation to keep your units full and your tenants satisfied. Your tenants depend on you - and you can depend on us. Learn more about us at CornerstoneCommercialFlooring.com.

CONTINUED EDUCATION

Monthly Lunch & Learn

Each month, Cornerstone offers continued flooring education for facility managers and staff. Join us for a complimentary staff lunch and learn how to:

Extend the life of your carpet
Retain the most value from your flooring investment
How to find flooring that fits your budget

For more information or to RSVP for an event call our office at 225-270-0749 or email RSVP@cornerstoneflooring.net.

MULTI-FAMILY INDUSTRY NEWS

Apartment Landlords Embrace Social Networking

Here's an article written by Dawn Wotapka in the Wall Street Journal. We thought it may be useful to your business:

"Chris Lang has spent a decade living in apartment communities filled with strangers.

But at the Savoye, an upscale complex just outside of Dallas, he knows 20 residents by name, neighbors with whom he attends social activities ranging from brunch to movie night. He credits owner UDR Inc.’s in-house social-networking site, where residents can post pictures and brief personal blurbs, with taking him beyond stranger status..." CONTINUE READING.

FEATURED PRODUCT

Beaulieu Magic Fresh

Magic Fresh neutralizes carpet odors in the same way that baking soda neatralizes odors in your fridge. Beaulieu uses proprietary and exclusive materials applied to the carpet fibers during the manufacturing process to give the carpet its Magic Fresh capabilities. When unpleasant odors come in contact with the carpet fibers, the Magic Fresh application neutralizes the offending odors and releases them as harmless carbon dioxide (CO2) into the air.

It neutralizes most common household odors such as pet, cooking and smoking odors.
It’s a self-renewing, odor reducing formula that is effective for the life of the carpet.
It’s completely safe.
No other carpet has Magic Fresh. It’s exclusive to carpets made by Beaulieu

Learn more at Beaulieu-usa.com

Cornerstone Newsletter, January

Sat 12 Feb 2011 1:15:50 AM GMT

A&D Newsletter, January 2011

Cornerstone Design Center

A&D COMMERCIAL FLOORING NEWSLETTER

Supporting You With Every Step

Welcome to the January edition of the Cornerstone A&D Newsletter. In this edition we will be discussing how to find the best patterned carpet for your project, the importance of training design oriented installers, and a new designer flooring product sold exclusively through commercial Starnet dealers.

To take full advantage of Cornerstone's services, we invite you to join us at our Design Center on Mammoth Ave in Baton Rouge. To learn more about us, visit CornerstoneCommercialFlooring.com

PATTERNED CARPETS

Finding the Best Match for Your Project

From Starlog, Volume VI Issue 2:
Patterned carpet is not new but its design sophistication is breaking new ground. With multiple colors and intricate patterns, these carpets were originally introduced to hide foot traffic wear and stains in large spaces. Today’s patterned carpet visuals have evolved into an art form. Carpet mills have engaged the services of big-name designers to develop exquisite patterns. The variety of standard and custom yarn colors is virtually endless. Plus, in addition to standard and semi-custom carpet patterns, state-of-the-art equipment can produce practically any visual you can imagine: small patterns, large patterns, geometrics, florals, free-forms and more!
...READ MORE.

CONTINUED EDUCATION

Design Competent Installers

The floor covering industry is changing rapidly. Yesterday's problems are solved by new technology, and new technology creates challenges of it's own. It takes a dedication to continued education to keep up with the latest developments. Cornerstone is an industry leader in continued education. We continually bring in the best manufacturers for seminars and on site demonstrations of the latest products, adhesives and installation techniques to educate sub-contract installers and project managers.

Starnet High Performance Carpet Tile

HIGH PERFORMANCE CARPET TILE

Available Exclusively Through Starnet Members

With proven performance construction, this innovative product brings new levels of style and wear to commercial environments. Engineered to maintain its new appearance year after year, Starnet High Performance Carpet Tile offers excellent performance under the most strenuous wear, making it ideal for high-traffic areas in commercial installations of nearly any kind.

To learn more about High Performance Carpet Tile visit Starnet's website or email Cornerstone's President Jim Lloyd: jim@cornerstoneflooring.net

Apartment Landlords Embrace Social Networking

Sat 8 Jan 2011 7:22:38 PM GMT

Here is a great article we found from the Wall Street Journal. We hope it's helpful to your business!

Read the original post here.

JANUARY 4, 2011, 11:03 AM ET

Apartment Landlords Embrace Social Networking

: UDR Inc.; The Savoye

Chris Lang has spent a decade living in apartment communities filled with strangers.

But at the Savoye, an upscale complex just outside of Dallas, he knows 20 residents by name, neighbors with whom he attends social activities ranging from brunch to move night. He credits owner UDR Inc.’s in-house social-networking site, where residents can post pictures and brief personal blurbs, with taking him beyond stranger status.

“It actually does feel like there is a community,” the 35-year-old says. “Most apartment complexes I’ve been in, you’re lucky if you can get a ‘hello’ out of your neighbors.”

A rental landlord spearheading social networking? That’s just the tip of the electronic iceberg. As we write in today’s Journal, the nation’s apartment owners, long an old-fashioned bunch known more for thick bundles of leasing paperwork and unreachable maintenance staff, are embracing technology. They want to appear more relevant to Generation X and the Echo Boomers, a large, rent-happy bunch that’s comfortable doing everything online. “We’re adapting to the way they want to do business with us,” says H. Andrew Cantor, UDR’s vice president of investor relations.

Many owners are ramping up their websites and smart-phone apps, adding detailed pictures and comprehensive video tours. Tenants can ink and renew leases online—without ever stepping foot on the property—and, as Lang might discover, chat up that cute gal from 4D. In-house social networking sites could someday be mined to specifically to market to people looking for say, a dog-friendly community or one filled with runners.

With the bulk of renters starting their search online, landlords are increasing their electronic presence, making sure they’re found in via Web searches, visible on Facebook and Twitter.AvalonBay Communities Inc. has pictures on photo-sharing site Flickr. Rental giant Equity Residential has distributed six Flip video cameras to staffers who are filming floor plans. The videos will be edited and uploaded to YouTube LLC early next year.

But landlords have taken their sites well beyond advertising vehicles. In some cases, prospective tenants see the actual view an apartment would offer. AvalonBay is piloting a program across eight communities that lets prospective tenants see what exact units are available, view individual floor plans and put specific apartments on hold online.

Operators are also using technology to help keep residents. Tenants can electronically pay rent, submit a maintenance request and even print a guest parking pass for friends at any hour of the day.

This is where social networking comes in: Residents who make friends, they reason, are more likely to stick around for another lease term or two.

About one-third of AvalonBay’s communities have individual Facebook pages and each complex is expected to be online next year, says VP of Marketing Kevin Thompson. Some operators pay outside firms to monitor the page and keep it up-to-date, while others leave it up to each community.

The results appear mixed. Just four people “like” Equity Residential’s Chandler Courtapartments in Chandler, Ariz., and no one has posted on the “wall” since July of 2009. But nearly 2,000 people like Avalon Fort Greene in New York City. Postings include someone looking to arrange a play date and an offer of $50 a day for a dog sitter.

AvalonBay is exploring way to augment Facebook with a community-centric centric site.

Part of the problem is that, given Facebook’s millions of members, non-residents could easily post and snoop. (Do you really want to tell the world you’ll be out of town?) That’s one reason why UDR facilitates friendships internally. So far, 50 communities are on board, with more expected next year. The company wouldn’t discuss cost, except to say it is not “overly significant.”

Residents can, of course, avoid the feature. So can landlords.

Jamie Lefrak, whose family-owned company operates thousands of apartments in New York and on the West Coast, says he has no plans to dabble in online social networking. His reason? “My tenants have lives.”

Follow Dawn on Twitter @dwotapka

Holiday Open House Invitation

Wed 15 Dec 2010 10:43:24 PM GMT

Holiday Open House Invite

Healthcare Floor Covering Innovation in Louisiana

Wed 15 Dec 2010 10:27:52 PM GMT

LGMC Press Release

Starnet Design Awards: Accolades for creativity and innovation in commercial floorcovering design.

Healthcare Floor Covering Innovation in Louisiana

Cornerstone Commercial Flooring submits LGMC into the Starnet Design Awards

Each year, Cornerstone submits an architect and a designer from a recent project into the Starnet Design Awards.
We would like to congratulate Jason Bethany with WHLC Architects and Marie Lukaszeski with IDS Louisiana on their exceptional work in the Lafayette General Medical Center. In recognition of their innovative design, their work has been submitted into the Starnet Design Awards for 2011.

This project was a 175,000 sq/ft renovation of an existing hospital and had a design emphasis on 5,585sq/ft pediatric center.

Because the patient population for this space is under the age of 17, the design aesthetic was meant to be fun and playful without being too juvenile.

FLEXCO Rubber flooring was specified for acoustical qualities, slip resistance, durability and antibacterial properties to minimize the risk of infection transmission and incorporate an age appropriate color palette for pediatric patients. It also allows the development of the “nature theme” with the river and lily pads meandering from the entry to the last treatment bay.

Tenant Express Flooring Newsletter, December 2010

Wed 8 Dec 2010 11:43:58 PM GMT

Tenant Express, December 2010

Flooring Solutionists

Supporting You With Every Step

Welcome to the December edition of the Tenant Express Quarterly Newsletter. In this edition we will be discussing our holiday lunch & learn, how to improve business during a recession and new anti-microbial (pet proof) carpet cushion.

The Tenant Express is the multi-family housing division for Cornerstone Commercial Flooring. In today's apartment home market, a competitive advantage is critical to your property's success. Tenant Express specializes in quick, efficient and cost effective installation to keep your rooms full and your tenants satisfied. Your tenants depend on you - and you can depend on us. Learn more about us at CornerstoneCommercialFlooring.com.

Christmas Lunch & Learn

Come visit the Design Center

You are invited to a complimentary lunch & learn, December 16th at 11:30am followed by a holiday open house. Our lunch & learns serve as our way to share some of the latest industry news with our customers in a comfortable professional environment. You will learn how to extend the life-cycles of your multi-family carpet, how to gain the most value from your flooring investments and how to find floors that fit your budget.

Contact our office to RSVP: 225-270-0749 or Jason@cornerstoneflooring.net

For directions to the Design Center, click here.

Local Industry News

Property Management Companies face extreme Challenges during Recession

We value your business's success. Here is an article we found that may help your business get through these hard economic times.

"Thanks to the economic crises, businesses that seem less important to spending behaviors of the people are likely to fold. This is exactly what property management companies are facing at this time. With rebranding, occupational adjustment and fee reduction by property management companies, there is a chance to maintain the bulk of their clientele during these hard economic times."

To continue reading click here.

Feature Product

Anti-Microbial Carpet Cushion

Introducing premium bond carpet cushion from Leggett: With Fresh Dimension anti-microbial treatment, inhibiting growth of mold, mildew and odor-causing bacteria (pet urine). Made with BioBasic renewable seed oil. For more information, visit Leggett and Platt online.

Tenant Express Introduction Email

Tue 7 Dec 2010 9:22:08 PM GMT

Tenant Express Introduction

Cornerstone Tenant Express

Supporting You With Every Step

Jason Sanders, Tenant Express Account Manager

Introducing Jason Sanders

Tenant Express Account Manager

Our Tenant Express Account Manager, Jason Sanders, is available to provide complimentary estimates and be a trusted advisor when suggesting the right products for your property.

He is committed to building customer loyalty in our Tenant Express Division and promises to consistently bring integrity and value to your Cornerstone experience.

Feel free to give him a call at 225-620-5508 or send him an email, jason@cornerstoneflooring.net.

Value-Added Services

Service Matters

Cornerstone is changing the definition of flooring contractor by adding tremendous value to flooring installations. By providing services like flooring disposal and recycling, lifetime re-stretch warranties, reward points programs and complimentary carpet for leasing offices, we are changing the way property managers think about their flooring investment.

To discover more about the value we can bring to you, visit our full list of value-added services here.

Quality Products

National Brands

Pet-proof anti-microbial carpet pad, SmartStrand and Mohawk permanent stain resistance are just a few products that Tenant Express provides to keep both your tenants and your budget comfortable for years to come. Cornerstone builds relationships with some of the largest flooring manufacturers in the nation like Mohawk, Armstrong, Mannington and Leggett & Platt. As one of Louisiana’s largest stocking dealers, Cornerstone Tenant Express receives preferred vendor pricing. In return, our clients are assured competitive bids and guaranteed savings.

STARNET

The Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership

As a premier member of Starnet, Cornerstone has the ability to service national multi-family accounts. The Starnet Worldwide Commercial Flooring Partnership is comprised of over 170 locally owned full-service flooring contractors representing more than 300 locations throughout North America and the United Kingdom. Collectively, Starnet partners have earned a reputation as the most professional, service-driven, commercial flooring dealers in existence today. Through this network we share international buying power with worldwide partners and collaborate on ideas, resources and best practices; all to ensure that we bring you peak performance on every installation. To learn more visit starnetflooring.com

A&D Newsletter, December 2010

Tue 7 Dec 2010 6:25:04 PM GMT

Cornerstone Newsletter, December 2010

Merry Christmas

From Cornerstone Commercial Flooring

We would like to invite you to our Holiday open house on December 16th from 3-6PM at the Cornerstone Design Center. You are also welcome to come into our showroom anytime before January 1 and receive a holiday gift.
Directions to the Design Center can be found here.

Design Center

Continued Education

The design center has been busy since our Grand Opening in May. We have hosted a number of continued education courses and have been working hard with our vendor partners to bring Architects and Designers the latest news in the industry.

If your firm is looking to enroll in continued education courses, our new facility and resources are available to you. Our courses are certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute and taught by our professional staff and vendor partners.

For more information on continued education, visit our website or register for classes here.

Natural Split LavaStone Mosaic, Voguebay

Featured Product

Voguebay, a Daltile subsidiary

Inspired by fashion, nature and culture, VOGUEBAY presents amazing product creations with a wide variety of design options - color hues, sizes, textures, and accents. Quality begins with authenticity, and color must keep up with design trends.

Cornerstone is a selected provider of Voguebay's product line. Learn more at VOUGEBAY.com.

Starnet Design Awards

The Starnet Design Awards

Accolades for creativity and innovation in commercial floorcovering design.

Each year, Cornerstone submits an architect and a designer from a recent project into the Starnet Design Awards.

We would like to congratulate Jason Bethany with WHLC Architects and Marie Lukaszeski with IDS Louisiana on their exceptional work in the Lafayette General Medical Center. In recognition of their innovative design, their work has been submitted into the Starnet Design Awards for 2011.

Great Carpet Advice for Asthma/Allergy Sufferers

Wed 28 Apr 2010 11:42:06 PM GMT

Great Carpet Advice for Asthma/Allergy Sufferers

Great Advice on Carpet and Asthma from an Indiana Carpet Cleaner

I love it when I find great information online about carpet. In the maelstrom of myth and misinformation surrounding carpet on the internet, every now and then I find a nugget of solid advice. In this case, it’s a blog post written by David Gruttadaurio who owns UBS Clean Care in Indiana.

David’s blog post is entitled, Carpeting and Asthma/Allergy Sufferers - a Bad Mix?, and it is a straightforward, comprehensive look at the topic that is fun to read. I urge you to read his original post, but here are some excerpts:

Is ripping out the carpet the answer?

This is what I do know for sure - only 12 people out of 100 clean their carpeting… ever. Of that number, about a third chooses to do it themselves. Vacuuming? Most people say they vacuum every week. The honest ones tell me they’re lucky to vacuum the carpets once a month...

How many people would tolerate their hard surface flooring (tile, wood, etc.) having spills and food and mud and grease all over it… and then keep it that way for years!...

Is it any wonder that health issues are aggravated by an unhealthy and bacteria infested carpet? It’s not the poor carpet’s fault. All it needs is routine maintenance.

How routine? Vacuum it twice a week with a quality vacuum that has high-efficiency micro-filtration bags. Micro-filtration bags will trap even the tiniest of particles, such as dust mites and their feces, to keep it from becoming airborne.

Then have it professionally cleaned at least once a year (preferably twice a year). Every major carpet manufacturer recommends this same routine.

The construction issue

Many people feel that since hard flooring is… well, hard… that it’s a more sanitary surface since there is no place for the dust to settle. And this is true. But if you are an allergy or asthma sufferer, this is really bad news.

The very ‘complaint’ that people have about carpeting is actually its best characteristic: The fact that it has soft and fuzzy fibers make it act like a filter or a sink. It traps and holds all of the junk and contaminants we haul in to our homes on our clothing and shoes.

Hard floors cannot do that. The dust (a lot of which is dust mite do-do) has nowhere to land so it’s constantly airborne and being breathed in.

In fact, one way to prove that to you is to watch the air in a home when the sun is shining through a window. With clean, carpeted surfaces, you see some dust in the air, but not much. In a home with hard floors, you see much more dust because there is less surface in the home that holds onto dust.

Even if your vacuum doesn't have a good filter bag, these dust-mite allergens disappear from the air about 20 minutes after vacuuming. This is because they are heavy enough that they’ve settled back down into the carpet. And if the vacuum uses micro-filtration bags or if it has a HEPA filter, the allergens are efficiently removed before even becoming airborne during vacuuming.

David outlines the following two options:

#1: Have carpet in the home hold onto contaminants, keeping them away from your breathing space, and remove these contaminants with regular vacuuming and cleaning...

#2: Have hard floors in the home, which do not hold contaminants but instead allows them to "hang out" in the air, likely triggering allergen reactions from the occupants...

Here’s the bottom line of living with carpeting: Your carpet is a terrific filter. But you gotta clean it! If you don’t, the pollens, dander, dust, etc. will build up until your carpet is completely overrun with this stuff, aggravating allergies, asthma and many other breathing conditions.

Thank you, David. I couldn’t say it better myself.

~Bethany

Commercial Carpet Cleaning and Maintenance

Mon 26 Apr 2010 6:51:18 PM GMT

We found some great tips for commercial carpet cleaning and maintenance from the Carpet and Rug Institute.

How To Make a Cleaning and Maintenance Plan for Commercial Carpet Care

How should you get started with a cleaning and maintenance program for carpet cleaning in a commercial setting? My last post talked about the importance of using cleaning solutions and equipment certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute’s Seal of Approval program, but what else is important?

Here is information I pulled together from CRI’s Carpet Maintenance Guidelines for Commercial Applications, found on the CRI website.

Step One: Make a Map

A good carpet maintenance plan requires a system-wide approach, meaning it should consider space and usage issues like building layout, traffic flow, and daily and special activities as well as cleaning and maintenance techniques. Areas like entryways, main corridors, elevators and break rooms experience the heaviest foot traffic, while private offices and cubicles will normally be light traffic areas. Of course, traffic patterns will be extremely heavy in the very public spaces found in most retail locations.

Once you identify the different traffic areas, it’s a good idea to map them out in a color-coded chart to help organize the cleaning schedule. As a general rule, you can expect to focus 80% of your efforts maintaining the roughly 20% of your carpeted area that sees the heaviest use.

Step Two: Preventive Maintenance

Prevention is the foundation of every comprehensive carpet maintenance plan. Soil is the natural-born enemy of carpet, so it stands to reason that the best way to control dirt inside a facility is to keep it from entering in the first place. Dirt is everywhere – sand, grease, and even red clay get tracked into a building, while soot, smoke, and car exhaust deposit their own grime over surfaces everywhere. To stop dirt at the door, preventive maintenance begins outside, with sidewalks that are swept clean and parking lots that are kept relatively free from grease and oil buildup.

A system of walk off mats, either removable or built into a building’s entrance, are very effective at removing dry soil, water, and other debris before they hit the interior space. Adequate length is important – mat systems designed to be six to 15 feet long will normally trap a full 80 percent or more of all soil and moisture – think of the cost savings of this simple preventative step. A mat system should include rugged outside mats to scrape off mud and dirt first, then inside mats with their relatively smoother texture to absorb water and other liquids and trap small particles of dirt. Vacuum mats often to keep them from getting too saturated with dirt to work effectively.

The judicious use of mats throughout the interior of a building, at elevators, water coolers, and stair thresholds, for example, will help control dirt, as well as increase safety. Limiting food consumption to specified areas is a good idea, and checking the weather stripping at exits and exterior doors will stop grime and lower energy bills.

Finally, nothing cuts down on dust accumulating on surfaces and floors better than checkingthe filters in a facility’s heating and air conditioning system and changing the filters according to schedule.

Interview with Executive Director of CARE

Sat 17 Apr 2010 7:40:19 PM GMT

Georgina Sikorski, Executive Director, CARE

1 of 3 - Georgina Sikorski, Executive Director of CARE (Carpet America Recovery Effort) provides an update on the organization's goals, various constituency groups. CARE has worked with entrepreneurial groups to develop new products manufactured from recycled carpet and has worked hard to create a carpet collection network. Sikorski also talks about the group's efforts to encourage government agencies to procure products produced by CARE members and how industry members can assist in CARE’s work.

To see the interview, click on the header above.

StaticStop OhmStyle ESD

Fri 16 Apr 2010 7:36:08 PM GMT

OhmStyle ESD Carpet Floor Tile Performs in the Most Demanding Applications

StaticStop OhmStyle ESD

The following is an email received by Cornerstone from StaticStop, a leading producer of Quality ESD Floor Covering Products.

FROM: StaticStop

As you may have heard, we are officially launching OhmStyle ESD, our conductive, static-control, modular, carpet tile product line (very similar to the former UTP Compu-Tile carpet you may all be familiar with).

Why is this product different from all others?

Conductive, Connected & Grounded
Random Patterns & Mergeable Dye Lots
Proprietary Anti-Microbial Additive
Contains Recycled Content
Contributes to LEED Points
Applicable for both Mission Critical and Electronics Manufacturing Environments

Available in six stock colors, we now have full size tile samples, stock color cards and brochures available immediately.

We are now featuring OhmStyle ESD on our website, www.StaticStop.com.

Jeffrey G. Lampert

VP-Global Business Development

33 Wales Avenue, Unit F - Avon, MA 02322

Direct: 508.583.3280 -- Cell: 617.842.8456

JLampert@StaticStop.com ---- www.StaticStop.com

Starnet Members Embrace CARE Aligned Dealer Program

Sun 11 Apr 2010 10:39:00 PM GMT

Starnet Members Embrace CARE Aligned Dealer Program

Starnet's Environmental Issues Committee Co-Chair

Linda Goldstein telling StarnetMembers about theCARE Aligned

Dealer program at the group's Annual Meeting in November.

The Carpet America Recovery Effort, or CARE, has something exciting going on – an expanded membership program that offers carpet dealers a cost-effective opportunity to join CARE and support carpet recycling. So far, the first few months of CARE’s new Aligned Dealer Program have attracted some impressive support, including from Starnet Worldwide. CARE is the nationwide alliance of carpet manufacturers, recyclers, dealers, and regulators committed to finding new markets for post-consumer carpet and diverting carpet from landfills. (See this list of earlier blog posts titled CARE Stories from the Carpet and Rug Institute Blog.)

Nearly half of Starnet Worldwide’s 160-plus membership of independent commercial flooring contractors has joined CARE, according to Starnet vice-president of operations Fred Williamson. The program was introduced to Starnet members at the group’s November 2009 Membership Meeting held in Washington, DC. “It’s been a great response in a short period of time,” Williamson says, adding that memberships continue to come into his office daily. Williamson is a current member of CARE’s Board of Directors.

CARE’s commitment to finding new markets for products made from post-consumer carpet content “supports Starnet’s mission to offer carpet reclamation on every project,” says Starnet’s Environmental Issues Committee Co-Chair Linda Goldstein. Linda was kind enough to speak to me in the few minutes she had to spare between her duties as General Manager for CI Carpet Select in St. Louis and serving as the elected mayor of Clayton, Missouri.

Under the program, dealers may join CARE for $150 annually, and may add additional stores for $50 each. Normally the price to join is $500 yearly. For their membership fees, CARE Aligned Dealer members receive a packet of materials that includes a framed certificate, window cling, counter card, business card template, press release template and other marketing materials. CARE is also offering its discounted membership program to Shaw and Mohawk aligned dealers, and plans to expand the program further in the future.

“It’s a great way for residential and commercial carpet dealers to show their customers they are making a sustainable difference,” said CARE Executive Director Georgina Sikorski. “We are thrilled with Starnet’s participation so far – it’s a great organization, full of people who really care about the environment.”