Vance Bell

DALTON, Ga. — Shaw Industries recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. During those five decades, it has grown from a small carpet manufacturer to a vertically integrated, diversified floorcovering giant. But it has remained headquartered in Dalton.

The Daily Citizen-News recently spoke with Vance Bell, Shaw Industries CEO since 2006, about the state of Shaw Industries, the floorcovering industry and the Greater Dalton area economy.

Daily Citizen-News: How many employees and facilities does Shaw currently have?

Bell: We have a little less than 22,000 associates. In terms of facilities, if you include both manufacturing and distribution, it’s around 100.

DCN: And what percentage of both are in the Dalton area?

Bell: We are a northwest Georgia-focused company. We have major concentrations in Whitfield County. We have major concentrations of people and facilities in Gordon County. We also have major facilities and people in Bartow County, and to a lesser extent in Catoosa County. While we are primarily northwest Georgia, we do have facilities in Atlanta, south Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.

But Dalton/Whitfield is our headquarters. It’s where the leadership is, and it’s where the heaviest concentration is by far.

DCN: In terms of distribution, Shaw is a global company, isn’t it?

Bell: We are primarily North American, but we do have some international business.

DCN: Is it difficult to do business across North America and be headquartered in Dalton? Have you ever looked at moving?

Bell: No, there are no obstacles to doing business while being headquartered in Dalton. This business will never move. I can’t see that. You can go out 30 or 40 years, and I just don’t think we’ll move our headquarters. There’s just no reason to move.

DCN: Shaw was a pioneer in carpet and still primarily identified with carpet, but the company has diversified over the years into other types of floorcovering. Why is that?

Bell: The primary reason is that the market and the consumer are diversifying into other types of floorcovering. If we are going to be a vital floorcovering producer and provider, we have to provide what our customers want. We have a substantial hard surface business, larger than most people would think. We are the No. 1 provider of resilient floorcovering. We are the No. 2 provider of hardwood floorcovering. We have a pretty large presence in hard surface because that it what the market demands. Hard surface has been growing faster than carpet.

DCN: Do you expect Shaw and the larger floorcovering companies to continue to diversify?

Bell: We continue to look for opportunities in all markets, but especially the hard-surface market. In the last year, we made an acquisition of USFloors, a Dalton-based company. They are a very fast growing, very successful company in the lvt, luxury vinyl tile, market. I think there are opportunities like that still out there for us and for others to pick up positions in businesses and product categories.

DCN: Many experts credit the fracking revolution with reviving not only the U.S. energy industry but the U.S. chemical industry as well because of the new abundance of petrochemicals, which are used in carpet manufacturing. What impact has it had on the floorcovering industry?

Bell: It has been a big boost. It has made the U.S. the most competitive place to be in terms of producing petrochemicals. Up until the fracking industry came along, that was not the case. It has increased the supply of petrochemicals, and it has helped mitigate the big spikes in energy prices. Both of those are a positive for American manufacturing and for the American consumer.

DCN: What will be the big challenges for the floorcovering industry over the next five years?

Bell: Well, let me start with the positives. Residential construction, both single- and multi-family, is going to continue to grow. Commercial construction is going to continue to grow, so I think the next few years for the industry are going to be very positive from the demand standpoint. 

One of the challenges we are seeing is installation labor. Our customers aren’t being able to install our products fast enough because they are having some labor availability shortages. We are also seeing that single-family home builders can’t build fast enough because they can’t get enough labor and sometimes land, so it’s sort of stringing out the demand.

And I’d say a continuing challenge, particularly in carpet, is that we have to continue to provide our customers with innovative products with great design to maintain their interest in soft surface.

DCN: Will the northwest Georgia workforce be a challenge? That’s something that the industry in general and Shaw in particular seem to be focused on.

Bell: That’s a big challenge for every area. This industry and this area are not unique. Finding qualified, trained labor is a challenge for everyone. But I’m very proud of this area for creating programs to address that challenge. The Career Academy, Georgia Northwestern Technical College, Dalton State College and really all of our educational systems have really been on top of this, and we are ahead of some areas in terms of creating job training and STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) training that is critical for any industry.