Hardwood Floors E-News: September 13, 2010

PG Transfers Production to One Plant

PG Hardwood Flooring (Saint-Édouard-de-Lotbinière, Quebec) will cease production at its Beauceville, Quebec, plant as of Dec. 1. All PG production will be at the company's Saint-Édouard-de-Lotbinière location, which has been undergoing a major restructuring program for more than two years. The restructuring will allow the company to increase production by 33 percent, bringing annual capacity to more than 22 million board feet, the company says. The company cited current market conditions combined with the improvements to the Saint-Édouard-de-Lotbinière location as the factors leading to the decision to close the Beauceville plant, which PG purchased in 2002.

Private Equity Firm Purchases Flooring Manufacturer

Private equity firm Agora Capital LLC (New York) has purchased Antique & Vintage Woods of America Ltd. (Pine Plains, N.Y.). Antique & Vintage Woods is a Northeast supplier of antique and vintage reclaimed wood for custom wide plank flooring, paneling, and beams. Agora Capital Managing Partner Jamie Hammel said the company will expand product offerings and open new locations across the U.S.; the firm will leverage wholesale distribution, retail centers and product showrooms to serve designers, architects and contractors doing both residential and commercial building, according to a press release. "We also intend for [Antique & Vintage Woods] to be a platform to acquire other related businesses," Hammel said. Agora will keep the current Antique and Vintage Woods staff, and Dale Mitchell and Marilyn Miklau will serve as consultants; Mitchell and Miklau founded Antique & Vintage Woods in 1997 and until now have managed the company. For more information, contact Hammel at 646/723-4640 or [email protected].

Blaze Damages Mohawk/Columbia Hardwood Flooring Plant

A silo at a wood flooring plant operated by Mohawk Industries (Dallas) and Columbia Hardwood Flooring (Dallas) in Holden, W.V., was damaged by fire Sept. 7. The fire was started by "a natural combustion of the mulch stored inside the 100-foot-tall, 15-foot-wide silo," according to Williamson Daily News. Stopping the fire required about 60 firefighters from six fire departments. The plant is located in the James H. "Buck" Harless Wood Products Industrial Park.

Future of Global Forests Discussed at International Conference

Legal wood harvesting, forest management, legislative initiatives and industry demand in China were just a few of the topics discussed at "Forests, Markets, Policy & Practice-China 2010," a global forest market seminar that took place Sept. 7-8 in Beijing. The State Forestry Administration of China and the Nature Conservancy hosted the seminar, with support from several other forest management associations from around the world. The conference assembled experts and leaders in the area of wood legality and certification to learn more about the practical application of responsible forest management and trade. For more information, visit http://www.cfcn.cn/cmc3/indexe.asp.

Wood Floor of the Year Entries Being Accepted

The NWFA is accepting entries for the 2011 Wood Floor of the Year contest; the deadline is Jan. 10. For more information, visit http://wfoy.nwfa.org.

Manufacturer News

Cikel America (Miami) has published its "Cikel Sustainability Report 2009" and made it available to all its customers that distribute or sell the company's FSC-certified hardwood in the U.S. and Canada. The 70-page document focuses on the economic, social, corporate and environmental wellbeing of the company, its partners and the forests of Brazil. To receive a copy of the report, contact George Celtrick at [email protected].

Cherry Forest Veneers (Aberfoyle, Ontario) is seeking direct customers and long-term partners for its rotary veneer logs. The company primarily offers hard maple, cherry, walnut, hickory and other species from North America. For more information, contact Dennis Reid at 519/763-1466, ext. 232, or [email protected].

Mark Your Calendar

The NWFA will hold an Expert Sand & Finish School on Oct. 11-13 in St. Louis. For more information, visit www.nwfa.org, e-mail [email protected], or call 800/422-4556 (U.S. and Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international).

Got Questions? Check Out the HF Online Forum

The new HF website at woodfloorbusiness.com now has an online discussion forum where you can pose questions and start discussions on any wood flooring topic with your fellow wood flooring colleagues. Check it out at http://woodfloorbusiness.com/forum/.

This week on the HF Blogs:

Contractor Blog: Wayne weighs in on whether the crazy all-weekend job was worth it.

Green Blog: Elizabeth asks if we should have green standards.

Inspector Blog: Now Craig's making grown men real mad.

NWFA Member Services

Each year at the NWFA's annual convention, a commemorative T-shirt is included with the full registration package fee. For each Networking Package purchased, $20 of the registration fee is donated to the NWFA's scholarship fund to help wood flooring professionals continue their education by attending NWFA technical schools. For attendees who register for the Education and Expo Package only and would like to purchase a T-shirt separately, they are available for $20 each. For more information, call 800/422-4556 (U.S. and Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international), e-mail [email protected], or visit www.nwfa.org.