Mannington Expanding Domestic LVT Manufacturing, Jobs, and Innovative Reclamation Initiatives at Georgia Location
Mannington Mills has announced plans to expand its existing LVT manufacturing plant in Madison, Georgia, into an integrated manufacturing, research and development campus. The company is ready to break ground immediately, to double the size of the facility in footprint and add more than 200 jobs.
In 2012, Mannington Mills, a leader in the American LVT market, acquired Amtico International, a leader in LVT in both Europe and the USA. As a fourth generation, family-owned company that is deeply committed to supporting local economies and communities, as well as preserving domestic jobs, Mannington was drawn in part to Amtico’s LVT manufacturing facilities in Madison. Since the acquisition, Mannington has been bringing its LVT products back from China to the U.S., and has already seen a 30% increase in the number of jobs at the Madison facilities.
“Mannington’s decision to grow its business here in Georgia is a direct reflection on the high quality of our workforce and the ease of access we provide to its global markets,” said Gov. Nathan Deal. “These are the most critical components of the portfolio we are building in support of our goal of making Georgia the No. 1 state for business.”
“LVT is the flooring industry’s fastest-growing product category, both residentially and commercially,” said Mannington CEO Russell Grizzle. “Through the recent economic downturn, it continued to experience double-digit growth annually, and demand for LVT is forecast to remain on a strong upward trajectory. We believe that expanding the Madison facilities is the right thing to do, to help us better serve our customers, as well as helping us continue our global leadership position in the LVT market.”
As a result of this expansion, Mannington’s domestic LVT manufacturing capacity will have quadrupled since March of 2012. This move establishes Mannington as an early leader in the new trend of “onshoring” – bringing more jobs back to American shores – and also brings faster, more responsive customer service, including a 7 day turnaround for products, as opposed to the industry standard of 14 to 17 weeks.
However, Mannington is not only creating new jobs through capacity–building; the company is also creating jobs through innovation, building infrastructure for the industry’s first LVT reclamation and recycling program. Mannington pioneered the reclamation and recycling of post-consumer carpet as well as of VCT; today, Mannington recycles more than 15 tons of used VCT into new products, every month.
Building upon this success, the company has established a new program to take reclaimed LVT from renovation and demolition products, and closed-loop recycle it back into new LVT. Mannington also has the ability to utilize the LVT post-consumer waste stream into other products in their portfolio.
The new facilities will also extend Mannington’s commitment to smarter, more energy-efficient plant construction, which began with construction of the flooring industry’s largest solar array, 3.3 acres of panels that power resilient manufacturing at Mannington’s New Jersey headquarters. The Madison facilities will be constructed as energy-efficient buildings.
Mannington will maintain its current excellence in product, quality, and service during the expansion, without interruption, and the facility will be fully operational by January 2015.