THEY CARE: The 6th Annual Conference of the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) took place at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach, Fla., and the fledgling organization played to a record attendance. Actually, about half of those present were first-timers, which attests to the phenomenal growth of the environmental movement. So significant was the meeting, Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist welcomed each attendee: “Each year, CARE works hard to prevent discarded carpet from being deposited into our nation’s landfills. This conference provides a forum within which to share research and experiences, while facilitating market-based solutions for the reclamation and reuse of post-consumer carpet. Thank you to the CARE program for your commitment to ensure a healthy environment for future generations to enjoy.”

KUDOS: The Mayor of Clearwater, Frank V. Hibbard, joined the Governor in a personal greeting to the conference members: “Congratulations on being a leader in our country’s environmental efforts. Yours is an innovative concept and we are proud to be your host city.” Clearwater is an environmentally sensitive city and a logical place for CARE to convene. The Sandpearl Resort, open for only eight months, was built using environmentally-friendly standards and was awarded a Silver Certificate through the United States Green Building Council’s LEED system. The conference featured interesting panel discussions, roundtables and notable speakers, one of whom was Matt Spieler, Floor Covering News’ senior executive editor, whose topic was “The Growth Potential for Reclaimed Carpet to Be Used Beyond the Flooring Industry.” The audiences were receptive and enthusiastic.

READY FOR ROY: AmericasMart Atlanta is calling for nominations for the Retailer of the Year (ROY) Awards—the area rug industry’s premier retailer recognition program— which will be presented during the July 13 to 16 Atlanta International Area Rug Market. Exhibitors may nominate retailers in these categories: Creative Selling Award; Furniture Retailer; Oriental Rug Specialist; Outstanding Merchandising Award, and Rug/Floor Covering Specialty Store. The deadline for submissions is May 30, and the winners will be announced during the Roy Awards ceremony on Monday, July 14, at 5:30 p.m. at the Georgia Aquarium. To obtain a nomination form or for more information, exhibitors should call Meagan Maron at 404.220.2104 or e-mail her at mmaron@Americasmart.com.

IT’S EASY, DUMMY: The Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) and Wiley Publishing have introduced a new 38-page pocketbook entitled, “Carpet Cleaning Tips for Dummies.” The book, written by Elizabeth B. Goldsmith, is concise, enlightening and easy to read and understand. Wiley publishes all the Dummies books and they are popular everywhere in the country. The CRI edition is sure to impress the consumer and retailers should look into buying the books in bulk and pass them on to customers. In the introduction, CRI informs the reader, “This book is designed to save you time by zeroing in on the best cleaning techniques and to help identify the products and equipment you need to get the results you want—all tested and approved by the CRI. Contact the CRI or Wiley Publishing— this is a great promo.

EXCEPTION: All the news isn’t bad these days. I actually found this nugget of good tidings hidden in a news story: “Nonresidential construction spending rose an impressive 1.3% in March and 12% compared to March 2007.” According to Ken Simonson, Chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). He said, “The housing slump buried this news by dragging total spending down by 1.1% for the month and 3.4% for the year. Yet nearly every category of nonresidential spending continues to exceed year-ago levels.” Well, with most of the rest of the news depressing, this little ray of sunshine is welcome. Thank you, Mr. Simonson.