Best Overall: Mannington Mills’ Kim Holm, left, and Ed Duncan

Back on top. Mannington Mills regained the Best Overall Manufacturer title in the 10th Annual Award of Excellence competition. The company had held the top position for seven straight years but was unseated last year and was voted Runner-Up in the category.

Sponsored by Floor Covering News and the World Floor Covering Association ( WFCA), the Award of Excellence is a way for manufacturers’ customers—retailers, distributors, designers, installers, specifies, etc.—to honor the companies they feel help them the best in running successful, profitable business operations, whether it be a retail operation, a distributorship, a design center, or an installation workroom.

From October 2005 through Feb. 28, readers of FCNews, members of the WFCA as well as any other industry personnel not employed by a manufacturer voted for the three mills they felt best met the criteria in the six individual floor covering categories—Carpet, Area Rugs, Resilient, Hardwood, Ceramic and Laminate—as well as the top three Overall companies. Votes were weighed on a 3-2-1 basis; first place equaled three points, second two points and third one point.