By Liz Switzer
Flooring suppliers sometimes get a bad rap with green design advocates — justly or unjustly — but there is one 64-year-old South Carolina hardwood manufacturer that stands out, not only for consistent quality and innovative style but for sustainable leadership: Anderson Hardwood Floors. Not only is Anderson one of the most recognized brands in flooring, but it is one company its customers — commercial designers and retail dealers — say they can rely on.

In a sea of green hype, such a resource can makes a designer’s job a lot easier, said John Troxell, design director of Wood Mode in Harrisburg, Penn. “Anderson has a real focus on quality and style, and they pay close attention to their sourcing. I’ve had an opportunity to tour their facilities and forest sources, so I know what they say is true, and I know they are also very involved in reforesting.”

In addition to its role as a design leader within the hardwood industry, Anderson Hardwood has a long legacy of environmental stewardship and sustainability. So said Randy Merritt, president of Shaw Industries, which purchased Anderson in 2007 making it an independent division of Shaw and cementing a partnership that makes it the second largest producer of wood flooring in North America.

“Anderson shares Shaw’s commitment to sustainability through innovation — the Shaw Green Edge — and the company plays a vital role in our commitment to sustainable forestry, supply chain responsibility and social responsibility,” Merritt added.

Wayne Cotton, sales manager for the Anderson and Mirage brands at Florida distributor Wheeler, a division of J.J. Haines, said the Anderson brand means innovation, quality, value and sustainability. “Anderson has set the trends for wood flooring not only with style and color, but with manufacturing methods that reduce their carbon footprint.”

Expanding into China
In 2008, Anderson entered into another strategic partnership and licensing agreement with one of its former suppliers — Power Dekor of Shanghai, the largest seller of flooring in China — that almost overnight gave it penetration into the entire Chinese market. Power Dekor, traded on the Singapore stock exchange, has 2,500 floor covering stores in China. “We’re now from Shanghai to Mongolia and Tibet,” said Don Finkell, Anderson CEO and president. “That is pretty much total penetration of the People’s Republic of China.”

Anderson employees in China monitor the raw material supply for illegally logged products. It was not until very recently, when the supply chain became FSC-certified, that Anderson felt it could confidently move forward with expanding its product offering to Chinese consumers, Finkell said. In illustration, Anderson will introduce a new collection of exclusively FSC-certified wood flooring made for the Chinese market, giving consumers there a sustainable option with its California Collection.

“We have been working with the Rain Forest Alliance there for awhile to go through their supply chain,” Finkell said. “With Lacey [recent legislation banning the import of illegally logged wood products], I wanted to make sure we had third-party verification. We have come to a place where we have been able to achieve FSC certification. FSC is the gold standard, and I certainly don’t mind putting the company’s name on FSC-certified product.”

Don Finkel
Don Finkell, CEO of Anderson, has received numerous awards in recognition for his role in getting Congress to extend the Lacey Act to hardwood products, effectively outlawing the import of endangered and illegally harvested hardwood species. Trained as an architect, he has long had an interest in environment, forestry and sustainable design, and his sustainable leadership has become synonymous with the Anderson brand.

“Don is a passionate, visionary leader dedicated to advancing the wood flooring industry while protecting the environment,” said Ed Korczak, executive director and CEO of the National Wood Flooring Association ( NWFA).

Under Finkell’s leadership, the NWFA’s Responsible Procurement Program — a system that gives domestic suppliers a way to certify their products as sustainably harvested — was developed. Finkell has been active on the NWFA board of directors since 2002, served as chairman of the board for 2009-10 and continues his role on the RPP governing board and as one of NWFA’s representatives on the Hardwood Federation Board, a wood industry umbrella trade group based in Washington, D.C.

He is now working with industry and environmental leaders at the American National Standards Institute and the Environmental Investigation Agency to develop legality standards in support of the new Lacey law.