Members of the Starnet Commercial Flooring Network are at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado, this week for their annual meeting and to celebrate the organization’s 30th anniversary. (Read more about Starnet’s 30th here.)
“The 2022 Starnet Annual Meeting has set a new record with 720 registered attendees,” said Mark Bischoff, president and CEO. “It is clear the network of partners is anxious to reunite, learn and experience everything that is new and important in the contract flooring industry. The tremendous response reflects the commitment and dedication of Starnet members, manufacturing partners, and service providers to ‘Partner for Success.’"
It’s the first time the network has convened in person since 2019.
"We are so excited to be here," said Chuck Bode, vice chair, Columbia, Maryland-based CB Flooring, and chair of the Starnet Board of Directors. "It's been almost three years since we've had a live Starnet meeting. It's so exciting to have all of these people here seeing each other face to face. And, to add to the excitement, it's a celebration of 30 years of this organization, which is a monumental achievement. I think the attendance at this event, which is at record proportions, is a testimony to the staying power of Starnet and to the quality of the dealers that we have."
"It's a celebration of this group of contractors that have stuck together through good times and bad for 30 years," noted David Meberg, president and CEO of New York-based Consolidated Flooring, who is on the Starnet Board of Directors (read more about Consolidated Flooring's recent rebranding here). "I came in 22 years ago, and I came in as a way to improve my business and to network with all my peers. It's a real success story."
Members are sharing success stories among a few years of challenging conditions.
"Tile business still really busy," said Paul White, CEO of Paul White Company in Portland, Maine. "Our backlog is up significantly, so we are after that architectural slowdown when their offices were shut for a while due to the pandemic, and now all the projects that were on the back burner are hitting at once, so we are super excited about the next couple of years."
"We're up 40% year over year, 2022 over 2021—that's written sales and will translate to revenue in the second half of 2022 and 2023," said Matt Bode, co-president, CB Flooring. "Obviously corporate office hasn't come all the way back, and where we are in the greater Washington metropolitan area, they can't build apartments fast enough. That makes us a little bit different than a lot of the Starnet dealers in that it's about 30% of our mix. Healthcare is good. Office is coming back, and education is strong."
Stay tuned for more coverage of the event.
