Steven Feldman

By Steven Feldman
I’m sure by now you have seen our 20th anniversary issue. We welcome your thoughts and opinions.

On the surface, the issue chronicles the people and events that shaped the industry over the past two decades. But it is much more than that. Over the last five months we asked an array of industry insiders to contribute their insights. The premise was to get those closest to the visionaries and/or defining moments to provide perspective and depth in ways no editor could match. We also asked industry leaders, past and present, to look back at their tours de force in ways that had never before been printed.

With that said, despite its 152 pages, space was at a premium and did not afford us the luxury of calling out everyone who participated in making the issue a keepsake. They deserve mention because, let’s face it, the last item on any executive’s to-do list is laboring over an article for a trade magazine. The list of contributors reads like a who’s who of the floor covering industry.

There are those who have put their flooring careers in their rear view mirror: Joe McHugh, former president of Triangle Pacific; Lars von Kantzow, former CEO of Pergo; Tom McAndrews, the Stainmaster icon; Ron VanGelderen; who led the Carpet & Rug Institute through some trying times; Joel Cohen, former vice president of Queen; John Harris, former CEO of Amtico; Ingvar Backhamre, the controveresial president and CEO of Tarkett, and Peter Spirer, the Horizon genius who can tell a story like none other.

There are the current executives who provided insight like only they could: Ralph Boe of Beaulieu; Randy Merritt, Julius Shaw, Scott Sandlin and Kathy Young of Shaw; Dan Frierson of Dixie; Don Finkell and John Woolsey of Anderson; Gilles de Beaumont of Tarkett; Howard Brodsky, Alan Greenberg and Evan Hackel of CCA Global Partners; Steve Silverman of Abbey; Claes Wennerth of Alloc; Ed Duncan of Mannington; Kelli Kack of XL, and Terry Wheat of RFMS. Let’s add industry guru Larry Nagle, NWFA’s Ed Korczak, NALFA’s Bill Dearing, CFI’s Jim Walker and Jon Namba, industry vet David Hartman and a host of others to the list.

There are a couple of other gentlemen who also must be acknowledged. Aside from their multiple editorial contributions throughout the anniversary issue, Chris Davis and Jim Gould constantly availed themselves to us to bounce thoughts and ideas. They were always very giving of their time. It’s no coincidence that both found themselves honored as two of the 20 men who have had the greatest impact on the industry over the last 20 years. They are still impacting.