NEWH - November 2009 - (Page 28)

cover story Carpet Masters Burtco celebrates 30 years and forges ahead By Alia Akkam We can create a wide range of designs from small geometrics to large floral repeats up to 15 feet wide and unlimited feet long.” — Bob Kokoszka president Burtco “ Opposite page: Samples of Burtco’s colorful CYP, Infinity, and MLCL carpet, and Burtco’s Bob Kokoszka and Elizabeth Moore. BOB KOKOSZKA’S LOVE FOR GOLF BECAME AN UNLIKELY ASSET. If he hadn’t had such a passion for the game —and nurtured great relationships with golf club owners—Burtco might never have evolved into one of the country’s leading hospitality carpet mills. After Burtco founder Burton Brown named him president of the company in 1990, Kokoszka further developed olefin “spike proof” carpet lines, inspired by his golf connections, which helped focus Burtco’s new energies. Today the company supplies carpet to the likes of Ritz-Carlton hotels, Disney properties, and the Wynn Macau. Thirty years ago, when Brown founded Burtco in Dalton, Georgia, the company first rose to prominence by printing and marketing 5/64 velour carpet imported from Belgium. The next step for Burtco was investing in one of Tuftco’s first graphics tufting machines, creating carpets that relied on piece-dyed pin dots and simple patterns from spun white yarns. But then, as the commercial carpet market matured and customers sought out solution-dyed olefin and nylon products instead, Burtco never missed a beat. To keep up with the demand for more intricate carpets, it purchased CYP (computerized yarn placement) machines, which allows for unlimited color and pattern options, easily adjusted to tuft from about 50 up to about 80 to 100 tufts per square inch. “We can create a wide range of designs from small geometrics to large floral repeats up to 15 feet wide and unlimited feet long,” says Kokoszka, who also points out the powerful design capabilities of Burtco’s Infinity and MLCL machines. “When we combine the flexibility to make cut pile and loop pile and random sheared all in the same pattern, we can achieve some very interesting and appealing looks for the floor,” he notes. Sales manager David Dunn adds that textures are still the running trend in guestrooms and public spaces. Maintaining design innovation in spite of organic industry change has always been at the forefront of Burtco’s mission. According to Elizabeth Moore, the company’s vice president, and Brown’s daughter: “Mills might create a ‘commercial’ style without actually envisioning any particular market type for it. When I designed carpet in the late 1980s, we often launched a single product with the intention of it being installed in a wide variety of commercial spaces. Obviously, we now make product design choices with a very specific market in mind for each style.” In fact, the exact same product rarely runs twice on Burtco’s CYP machines. Moore says the most poignant change in the industry, however, has been sensitivity to sustainability issues. “Every flooring manufacturer or marketer, whether they sell carpet, wood or resilient product, responds to green awareness in some way,” she adds. Currently, Burtco employs green materials including solution-dyed, recycled content, and wool yarns. Because the company values custom-oriented approaches, Burtco creates a large number of strike-offs, and invests in high quality software and printers in order to encourage the use of paper strike-offs whenever possible. “The manufacturing and shipment of standard strike-offs can be resource intensive, so whenever we can communicate through electronic images or paper images, we are saving materials and transportation fuel, as well as money,” explains Kokoszka. “Perhaps most importantly, the high quality production that goes into our carpet creates a durable, long-lasting product.” Burtco carpet carries the CRI Green Label Plus (contributing to LEED) and California’s CHPS certifications for indoor air quality. Now celebrating 30 years in business, Burtco has taken this significant milestone to rebrand. The company is currently working with a marketing agency to develop a new logo; Brown, now chairman of the company, has turned over half the business to Moore and his other daughter, Louise Lochner; and lead times, implementing new systems to launch products more efficiently, have become a priority. “With the economy the way it is, when our clients get the opportunity and the budget, they need the carpet right away,” explains Dunn. Much like he must have been thinking back in 1979, when Burtco ambitiously first found its design groove, Brown himself says, “We are poised for growth.” s www.burtcocarpet.com 28 november 2009 www.newh.org tel 800.593.NEWH http://www.burtcocarpet.com http://www.newh.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEWH - November 2009

NEWH - November 2009
Contents
News
POV: Sustainability
POV: Spa Design
Scholarship: Icon of Industry
Design 101
Have you Seen?
Product Know-How
On the Scene
Cover Story: Burtco
Project: Bonneville Spa
Project: Spa at Encore
Project: Anaheim Marriott
Save the Date
Resources
New Members
Partner Profiles

NEWH - November 2009