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Bruce Wholesale Flooring (Lexington, Ky.) merged with Gilford Flooring (Jeffersonville, Ind.) on February 4 for an undisclosed price and will operate under the Gilford Flooring name. The merger has not added significant territory to Gilford, since the footprint of both companies was virtually the same, according to president of Bruce Wholesale Flooring Doug Steele, who will stay on with Gilford as a consultant for a year. "We found that a lot of our customers in both cases don’t match up perfectly," Steele said. "And they’re stronger in the north and we’re stronger in Kentucky ... so there’s some good synergy in the sense their strength matches up with ours pretty well." With the merger, Gilford will maintain its three locations, and Bruce Wholesale’s two Kentucky locations will remain open for several months until the transition is complete. Many brands sold through Bruce Wholesale, including Somerset Wood Products Inc. and Floor Muffler, will now be available through Gilford. The Bruce Hardwood and Bruce Laminate lines, however, were not picked up.

Select members of Bruce Wholesale’s product management, territory management and operations staff have joined Gilford’s staff. David Dobbs, former vice president of sales for Bruce Wholesale, is now product manager for Somerset and other product lines. David Feeback, former vice president of merchandising for Bruce Wholesale, is now a salesperson covering Lexington and south central Kentucky, and Heather Leis is a salesperson for the Louisville, Ky., market. The NWFA held an Introduction to Wood Flooring School February 12-15 in Long Beach, Calif. Steve Marley of Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring (City of Industry, Calif.) led the instruction of 21 students. Volunteer instructors included Jennifer Hansen, 3M; Ken Hintz and Pat Cooney, BonaKemi USA; Sheldon Walker, Clarke American Sanders; Roger H. Barker, Fortifiber Building Systems Group; Mike Osborn, Glitsa American Inc.; Greg Mihaich, Norton Abrasives; Gary Arnold, Powernail Company; Don Jewell, Timbermate USA Inc.; and Larry Subervi and Mike Summers, UFloor Systems Inc. The lead distributor was Galleher Hardwood Company (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.). Prolinea LLC (Cincinnati) and Owens Inc. (Shawano, Wis.) have formed a marketing and sales alliance, and will jointly sell the Prolinea Monogram XL line of factory-finished and unfinished solid wood flooring and Owens Plankfloor lines.

Kelly Lumber Co. (Ashland, Maine) has received FSC certification for its Moosewood Flooring line of prefinished floors.

Mohawk Industries (Dalton, Ga.) was named 19^th in Training magazine’s annual list of "Top 125" training organizations. Mohawk was selected based on its qualifications regarding leadership development programs, number of trainers and experts, certification programs and other elements.

ForesFloor (St-Eugene, Quebec) has received a silver Davey Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts for its "Discriminating Tastes" ad campaign, as well as two silver and two bronze awards from the Business Marketing Association of the Carolinas.

Powernail Company (Lake Zurich, Ill.) has awarded a PowerKit to Nick Motto, president of Motto’s Flooring (O’Fallon, Mo.) after drawing his name from those of hundreds of entrants responding to Powernail’s trade advertising. Installers Warehouse (Rochester, N.Y.), a new distributorship, has opened and will cover central and western New York. Installers Warehouse carries lines by Mullican, L & L Hardwood, Lenmar, Norton Abrasives, Glitsa American, Padco, Timbermate, Fortifiber, Woodwise/Design Hardwood Products, Bostitch and Primatech. For more information, contact salesperson Randy Rindell, formerly with Hoboken floors, at 585/224-1402, rrindell@rochester.rr.com or by fax at 585/288-8758.

SupexBond Inc. (Los Gatos, Calif.) has selected Patriot Hardwood Floors and Supply Inc. (Wilmington, Mass.) as a distributor for New York, New Jersey and southern New England.

Olson Floor Supply (Jamaica, N.Y.) has been selected as a distributor for the northeast and greater Philadelphia for Owens Inc. and Sika Corp.

Samy Santa Flooring Depot (Duluth, Ga.) will open its third store at 3402 South Blvd., Charlotte, N.C., on March 10. Samy Santa was also selected as the distributor for Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring, Appalachian Flooring and Lägler. Throughout March, the company will hold seminars and demonstrations for products from Stanley Bostitch, Lenmar, Norton Abrasives and Glitsa American. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) launched its National Green Building Program at the International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla., last week. The program features an online scoring tool at www.nahbgreen.org that shows builders how to accrue points in seven categories, with point requirements in each category for bronze, silver and gold levels. The Powernail Company has added Daniel Boone of Everwood Floors Inc. (DeLand, Fla.) as technical training director. The company has also added Gene Jarka as regional sales manager covering Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan. Jarka most recently worked for BonaKemi USA. In addition, Powernail has selected Joe Allyn as new business development manager. Allyn previously worked for BonaKemi USA.

David M. Knight, president of Teragren Fine Bamboo Flooring, Panels & Veneer (Bainbridge Island, Wash.), has been added to the board of the Environmental Leadership Program, a non-profit organization dedicated to training emerging environmental leaders. Greenland Premium Floor (Chino, Calif.) is looking for commission-based sales representatives for several Southern California sales territories. Résumés should be e-mailed to christine@greenlandfloor.com.

Kent Bedke is looking for work in the West. He is experienced in all phases of installation, sanding and finishing of hardwood flooring. He has his own equipment and can work for an established contracting company. For more information, contact 208/404- 2871 or bdkhwf@gmail.com. The NOFMA/NWFA/MFMA Wood Flooring Basics School scheduled for March 4-7 in St. Louis has been postponed due to low participation brought on by current market conditions. It has been rescheduled for September 16-19 in St. Louis. All students registered for the March school will be able to attend the school in September or receive a refund. For more information, e-mail installationschools@nwfa.org or visit www.nwfa.org. Remodeling activity showed pressure from the housing downturn during the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the National Association of Home Builders Remodeling Market Index (RMI). The current market conditions indicator decreased to 40.9 from 46.2 in the third quarter. The future expectations measure declined to 37.9 from 43.3 in the previous quarter. The NWFA’s Distributor Profit Report, "Who Produces High Profit and Why?: Understanding the Three Key Variables," is now available. Written by Dr. Al Bates, the report defines what high profits mean and shows how to get there by examining sales growth, gross margin, payroll expenses, non-payroll expenses, inventory turnover and average collection period. To get the full report, visit www.nwfa.org, click on "Services and Supplies," then "Statistical Reports," then "Profit Improvement Reports." 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.