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Although figures weren’t available at press time, the general consensus at Surfaces 2008, held January 30-February 1 in Las Vegas, was that traffic was down considerably from previous years. Many exhibitors expressed disappointment with the number of attendees, while others seemed happy with both the number and the quality of the attendees. "The first two days we had really great traffic," said Bruce Hammer of Virginia Beach, Va.-based Scandian Floors. "And we were able to have great meetings with distributors throughout the whole show." There were more than 216 NWFA-member companies exhibiting at the show. Surfaces 2007’s figures included 38,246 attendees and more than 1,000 exhibiting companies. Surfaces 2009 will switch to a Tuesday through Thursday format, to be held February 3-5, The NWFA held an Intermediate Installation and Sand & Finish School January 23-25 in Portland, Ore. Technical Services Advisor Frank Kroupa was the lead instructor of 23 students. Volunteer instructors included Dennis Plaut, 3M; Kevin Bagley and Rob Johnson, Basic Coatings; Frank Szubart and Cameron DeMar, BonaKemi USA Inc.; Tony Summers, Centrex Hardwood LLC; Wayne Lee, Clarke American Sanders; Craig McIntosh, Dura Seal; Roger H. Barker, Fortifiber Building Systems Group; Lon Vaughn, Glitsa American Inc.; Cort Dunlap, Hardwood Inspections; Brett Butler, Lenmar Inc.; Donald Bouchard, Perfection Home Flooring; Brett Wheeler, Precision Technology LLC; Joshua Crossman, PTL Hardwoods; Rick Breuer, Rick’s Custom Hardwood Floors; Wesley Cronskrey, Start ’N Finish Hardwood Floor Products; Johannes Boonstra, Synteko Floor Finishes; Ray Knapp, Taylor Tools; Chuck Garvey, Timbermate USA Inc. and Lägler USA; Mike Summers, UFloor Systems Inc.; and Todd McDonald, W.D. Flooring. Kelly-Goodwin Company (Seattle) and Emerson Hardwood Floors (Portland, Ore.) were both lead distributors. Smith & Fong Company (San Francisco) has opened a warehouse at 18289 Olympic Ave. S., Tukwila, WA, 98188. Its phone number is 425/251-1550.

DriTac Adhesive Group (Carlstadt, N.J.) has changed its name to DriTac Flooring Products LLC. Mapei Corporation ’s (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) products were selected for the restoration of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Mohawk Industries (Dalton, Ga.) will hold its annual ColorCenter convention February 14-17 in Orlando, Fla. For more information, visit www.colorcentertravels.com. Armstrong Industries (Lancaster, Pa.)-owned hardwood distributor Patriot Hardwood Floors and Supply Inc. (Wilmington, Mass.) has opened a new distribution branch located in Pompton Plains, N.J. The company has hired eight additional salespeople—many of whom are former Hoboken employees—for this new branch, according to Paul Murfin, vice president of sales at Armstrong Flooring Products. In addition to Bruce, Armstrong, Robbins, HomerWood and a range of unfinished hardwood brands Patriot already carries, this branch will distribute the entire line of DriTac Flooring Products Inc. adhesives.

W.F. Taylor Co. Inc., aka Taylor Adhesives (Fontana, Calif.), awarded Space Flooring and Supplies (Dalton, Ga.) its Highest Growth Distributor Award for 2007. Space Flooring and Supplies has 14 locations throughout Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and North Carolina. W.F. Taylor gave the Highest Sales Distributor Award for 2007 to T & A Supply Co. (Kent, Washington). T & A Supply has 19 locations throughout the Pacific Northwest serving Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Arkansas.

Preverco Hardwood Flooring (St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec) has partnered with Cartwright Distributing Inc. (Denver), which will distribute to the Rocky Mountain area.

Kennebec Lumber Company (Solon, Maine) has selected Williams Hardwood Flooring (Akron, Ohio) as a distributor for northeast Ohio. For more information, contact Tony Policicchio at 330/535-9189.

Samy Santa Flooring Depot (Duluth, Ga.) has been selected as a distributor for Aerosmith Fastening Systems (Indianapolis), Powernail Company (Lake Zurich, Ill.), Basic Adhesives Group (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Glitsa American (Seattle). Samy Santa plans to hold product seminars and demonstrations for these manufacturers, as well as Lenmar, Norton Abrasives, Absolute Coatings and Timbermate, in January and February. Also, Samy Santa will no longer be distributing for BLC Hardwood Flooring. UFloor Systems Inc. (Greensboro, N.C.) has appointed Brian Preuss as regional sales manager covering Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. Preuss most recently was with Atlantic West Flooring Distributors Inc.

Erickson’s Flooring and Supply (Ferndale, Mich.) has added Brian Petoskey as a salesperson. Petoskey is based out of Ferndale and covers the southwest Michigan/northern Ohio territory. He can be contacted on his cell phone at 734/564-7135 or by company voice mail at 800/225-9663, ext. 1302. The NWFA will hold a Subfloor Preparation and Wood Flooring Installation School May 21-23 at its training facility in St. Louis. For more information, e-mail installationschools@nwfa.org or visit www.nwfa.org.

The U.S. Forest Service Wood Education and Resource Center (Princeton, W.Va.) will hold a two-day management skills course March 26-27 in Princeton. This program is designed to develop the supervisory and management skills of hardwood industry managers. For more information, visit woodpro.cas.psu.edu/conferences.htm or contact Judd Michael at 814/863-2976 or jhm104@psu.edu. New residential sales of single-family houses in December 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 604,000 units. This is 4.7 percent below the revised November rate of 634,000 units—the largest drop in 25 years, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The drop is 40.7 percent below the December 2006 estimate of 1,019,000 units. Noble Hardwoods (San Diego) is seeking a sales representative in the Los Angeles area. This position represents the company to dealers, interior designers and architects, as well as assists at local trade shows and conducts demonstrations and clinics for potential clients. The ideal candidate will have five years of proven sales experience in the hardwood flooring industry and relationships with dealers in this territory. Résumés should be sent to mtagle@noblehardwoods.com. Hardwood Floors needs real dealer/contractor marketing pieces to be redesigned by professional design expert for its Sharper Image column. To have a piece considered for a redesign, hardwood flooring contractors and dealers should send in their newspaper ads, magazine ads, Yellow Pages ads, direct-mail pieces or company brochures to Redesign, Hardwood Floors, 4130 Lien Road, Madison, WI 53704. The NWFA has released its Wood Flooring Market Profile Report for 2007. Conducted every two years in conjunction with Catalina Research, the report represents one of the most comprehensive studies of the wood flooring industry. The 2007 report analyzes the decline in the wood flooring market due to the downturn of the U.S. housing market. It also examines trends for shipments by species, pricing, residential building markets, residential remodeling, retail distribution channels and customer demographics. An executive summary will be sent to all NWFA members, and is also available online at www.nwfa.org. Simply click on the "Statistical Reports" link under the "Services and Supplies" menu option. Copies of the full report are available directly from Catalina Research for $2,800, which represents a discount for NWFA members. Contact Catalina Research directly at 561/988-0853, or contact the NWFA at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international) or by e-mail at info@nwfa.org.