Dalton—At its annual conference last month, the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) entered into a new era as the organization changed its structure. With more than 150 people in attendance, CRI’s board approved a revision to the bylaws which, in effect, created a new 14-member board and format in how it will be filled, and did away with the Executive Committee in favor of a new Policy Committee. CRI’s board will now be composed of the following: • Six directors will consist of representatives of the six largest CRI manufacturing members; • Three will come from fiber manufacturers and be designated as associate manufacturing members; • One will be a person from a manufacturing member that is primarily engaged in rug making, and • The final four directors, who will serve as rotating members, may be either from a manufacturing, associate manufacturing or associate member.

CRI’s president and general counsel remain and will serve as ex officio members. Under this new structure, Jeff Lorberbaum, president and CEO of Mohawk Industries, was elected CRI’s chairman; Russell Grizzle, carpet division president of Milliken & Co., is the vice chairman, and Gerald Embry, vice president of administration/secretary and comptroller of Shaw Industries, was elected treasurer. Other members of the board include, Dick Bierie of Mannington Mills, Carl Bouckaert of Beaulieu of America, Mac Bridger of The Tandus Group, Derick Close of Springs Industries, Dan Frierson of The Dixie Group, Dan Hendrix of Interface, Brad Hill of Solutia, Jim Jolly of J&J Industries, Dick Prinstein of Honeywell, Bob Shaw of Shaw Industries, Jule Smith of SI Flooring Systems and Alan Wolk of Invista.

The other major part of the restructuring was replacing the Executive Committe with the Policy Committee. This new delegation will be composed of CRI’s chairman, a board member for the two largest manufacturing member companies, an associate manufacturing member and two or three other members at the discretion of the board. Committee members will be elected by the board. The Policy Committee’s responsibilities will be to formulate, recommend and implement policies and, upon board approval, be responsible for overseeing the president’s activities in implementing such policies. In addition, it has been empowered that between board meetings the Policy Committee will have all the duties and powers vested in the board to carry out any action affecting the organization.

These actions can be approved or disapproved by the full board at its next meeting. CRI also announced its plans for the coming year, including an increased focused on the cleaning and maintenance issue. Werner Braun, CRI’s president, pointed out one of the ways this will be done is through the organization’s new cleaning chemical and extraction cleaner testing programs. This follows with the group’s message, “Carpet for a Better Environment.” Speaking of the environment, CRI will continue to keep the importance of sustainability at the forefront. In fact, Carol Browner, former administrator of the U.S. Envi ronmental Protection Agency (EPA) and now senior fellow at the Aspen Institute’s Program on Energy, the Environment, and the Economy, told the audience how working toward sustainability is not only good for the environment but good for the bottom line of those companies who practice it.

In addition to the environment, members were given suggestions on how CRI can approach the perspection by the medical profession of carpet contributing to allergies and asthma. Dr. Holly Atkinson, assistant professor of public health at Cornell’s Weill Medical College as well as chair of the iVillage Health Initiatives and editor of a consumer newsletter “HealthNews” discussed the significance of allergies and asthma as a public health issue. After reviewing medical literature and debates relevant to carpet, she said that given the fact there is a lack of consensus among leaders in the field, along with gaps in current research, media sensation has clouded the issue. To combat this, Atkinson said CRI can take a leadership role in changing the paradigm on carpet and health, but it needs to do certain things, such as engage more with the leaders in the field, promote evidence-based medicine and help with future research on the subject.

While CRI is planning on spending 10% more in the coming year to focus on getting its various messages out to the proper parties, it will reduce its focus on the mold issue. “As with any budget,” Braun stated, “there are things CRI and its members would like to do but resources are not available to do everything every year. This year we will continue our focus on improving communications with key audiences and try to expand to others.” For more information about the CRI, call 800/882-8846.