Next up in FCW, June 17 Issue Ads Close June 5, 2013 MADE IN AMERICA Business Opportunities Private labels, specialty mills & etc. Call us now at 800-228-4632 www.carpetbroker.com NeoCon 2013 Continued from page 1 you have the opportunity to see more than 700 manufacturers in one place. NeoCon started as a furniture show and over the years introduced all of the other components that go into a commercial environment. So it’s not just furniture and seating and casegoods, but files and storage and textiles and leather and carpeting and moveable wall systems and lighting and technology,” he said. One focus this year is the Outdoor Office with a major exhibit on the seventh floor reflecting changing working habits that include mobile devices and allow the freedom to work outside a traditional office space. “It’s not just about putting benches on a deck within an office building; it’s about creating spaces where people can truly work outside,” noted Morton. As the show has expanded, so too has the flooring sector. “When you look at some of the major manufacturers, they are expanding into resilient or hard surface flooring either organi-cally or by acquisition. For example, Tandus was acquired by Tarkett, Patcraft has a new resilient product, Shaw has a resilient product. It’s not just carpet anymore,” said Morton. Flooring exhibitors in the temporary space take up about 10,000 square feet of space — some 7,000 square feet of which is somewhat clustered together. “Flooring exhibitors on the eighth floor are naturally grouped together and leverage each other’s traffic and enjoying that benefit. It’s an exciting thing,” Morton said. Flooring suppliers in permanent showrooms have remained stable, according to Morton. “From a pure appeal standpoint what I get out of flooring manufacturers being at the show is this great sense of texture and color and new insights into the subjects that designers love.” Maintaining momentum While the number of flooring suppliers at NeoCon has grown over the years, in recent history, it has been a result of a crushing resi-dential market. Commercial business was at times the only bright spot and growth oppor-tunity for some flooring suppliers. “Through the downturn, so many flooring manufactur-ers were frankly in pain as residential was the vast majority of many of their businesses. They looked to us to build and produce a great show and help maintain momentum in the contract market which typically can be higher margins and the ups and downs not as severe as in the housing market,” Morton said. Now, he said, as residential markets start getting stronger, he expects it to translate into commercial as well. “We absolutely feel a recovery. We follow a number of indexes for productivity in the contract world and those numbers are up for 2013. The other thing we have seen at architecture and design conferences this year — the majority of projects being worked on are commercial office, which hasn’t been the case. That is a huge bright spot for the flooring industry and commercial overall. Companies are moving again and expanding again. Then you have this whole social design vernacular that is Career Opportunities Manufacturers of pre-finished solid & engineer line looking for reps to help us expand our reach. Send resume to: richmond@dyerichflooring.com WE HELP DEALERS Sales Agent Wanted Fast & Accurate -Callidus Takeoffs www.commercialflooringestimating.com 1 CENT/SF FLOORING ESTIMATING 24 years established floor covering company for sale. 4300 sq. ft. showroom and warehouse. Great Location. Owner is retiring. All Inquiries to siaccino@hearst.com Nassau County, NY Business For Sale Over 550 rugs in various sizes and manufacturers. Call 931-473-3057 Oriental Rugs For Sale Shamrock Plank Flooring, one of the premier Hardwood Manufacturers in North America is currently seeking qualified individuals for Regional Sales Management positions for the California region. We welcome aggressive, results oriented sales managers with experience in the wood flooring industry. College degree or a proven track record of territory management in sales is required. Pleasesend or email resume to: jbrown@jtshannon.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGERS WANTED contributing to more interactive and col-laborative spaces in the work place and that’s causing a lot of renovation. You are seeing that where the major design firms are billing their time,” explained Morton. Hospitality will become a major force in the next couple of years as well, he said. “Many of the hotel chains have not done a lot of renovation over the last couple of years because business travel has declined. We are now seeing projects by major hotels where hotels are being built or renovated.” Morton said that several major end-users such as Walt Disney World, Marriott and Hyatt are all pre-registered to be at this year’s show. “That could turn into another real force. Designers are saying that’s the second largest concentration of projects being worked on this year,” he noted. Culture of leadership NeoCon has been at the forefront of sus-tainability but Morton said it is simply due to economics. The Mart building was certified in 2007 as LEED EB Silver and is currently in the final-izing recertification process which should be completed by NeoCon. Morton said he expects at least Silver certification but hopes to outperform that level. “When we got certified originally, it was in some of the softer issues around that. We’ve done a lot of things at the Mart that were sustainable before sustainable was cool and it was driven by the size of the facility because it was more efficient. We always had a fresh air cooling system and we have a 200 square yard ice farm in the building used to provide chilled water. It’s not just because of our client base that we serve but because of the way the building is designed and we operate to be profitable,” he said. This year, the show is producing, along with the USGBC, a LEED exam prep. MMPI is also refreshing the green spot on the first floor of the building that is a permanent exhibit including a sustainability timeline, including efforts within the building, and fea-turing sustainable products from the tenants. Last year, NeoCon did a back of the house composting program for food vendors at the Mart and this year the effort will be building wide so attendees will see that in the front of the house as well, Morton said. Technology also plays a key role at the show. “One thing I’d love for attendees to know about is myneocon.com. This is the third year with this as a component of the show. It is the online component of the show and allows attendees to see products being show, plan their experience. They can tag products that they must see on the visit and set up appoint-ments with manufacturers. That is a real big push for us — to continuously improve the online experience,” said Morton. Morton is also particularly proud of this year’s keynote speaker line-up which includes architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group)Michael Vanderbyl of Vanderbyl Design; Holly Hunt, president and CEO of Holly Hunt; and, Lauren Rottet, founder of Rottet Studio. 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