Jim Walters
Jim Walters has been named Chairman of the Board of the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) effective July 1. Walters, president of Macco’s Floor Covering in Green Bay, Wisc., takes over from Nick Freadreacea, CFE, The Flooring Gallery, Louisville, Ky., who becomes immediate past chairman. Freadreacea replaces Scott Steel, CPA, CFE, of My Flooring America, Webster, TeXas.
Jim Walters has worked in flooring his entire adult life; beginning part-time while attending school, he worked in the warehouse at Macco’s Carpet Warehouse, pushing a broom and cutting carpet. In 1978, after graduating from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay, he went to work full time at Macco’s and over the next 21 years held a variety of positions in sales, became a store manager and was involved in marketing and buying.
In 1999, Walters joined Chicago-based distributor Florstar Sales as the Armstrong sales manager in Michigan. In 2002, founder James J. Macco was ready to sell his now six-retail store namesake business and Walters, along with three of Macco’s children as partners, bought it. Macco’s Floor Covering are full-line flooring retail outlets targeting all markets. The firm is a Stainmaster Flooring Center, and a member of the National Floorcovering Alliance (NFA). The company also operate a commercial division, Macco’s Commercial Interiors.
Walters’s involvement with the WFCA began in 2007 when he was elected to the Board of Directors and simultaneously was asked to serve on its Long Range Planning Committee. He has since served on numerous committees and as a member of the Executive Committee since 2008, serving terms as secretary and treasurer/cfo.
“I’m very comfortable with the direction the WFCA is moving. The organization can and will focus its efforts on enhancing and improving the entire floor covering industry first, and any benefits it derives from that will be incidental. I see my role as helping to steer that course and aiding to achieve our big picture goals ensuring we continue to be a viable component of the industry and focus on moving it forward,” Walters said. “The WFCA is committed to providing its industry partners and members leadership and resources that will raise the level of professionalism, increase industry profitability and enhance consumer satisfaction.”
Walters anticipates the WFCA will foster enhanced communication about legislative and regulatory matters impacting the floor covering industry and continue its efforts to educate consumers about floor coverings of all types to increase awareness and stimulate sales.
New Executive Committee announced
At its spring Board of Directors meeting in New Orleans, directors of the organization also elected Harold Chapman, CFE, president, Bonitz Flooring Group, Greenville, S.C., as chairman-elect; confirmed Paul F. Johnson, CFE, president, Interiors One Inc., Carpet One, Tulsa, Okla., as treasurer/cfo; Janice Clifton, partner/owner, Abbey Carpets Unlimited, Napa, Calif., as corporate secretary; Dennis Blake, CFE, president, Better Floors & Restorations, Placentia, Calif, and Scott Walker, president, Walker’s Carpet One Floor & Home, Bellingham, Wash., as vice chairmen.
D. Christopher Davis continues as the WFCA’s president and ceo. These individuals will comprise the association’s Executive Committee for the 2011-12 fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.
The WFCA elects a third of its Board of Directors each year for three-year terms. Directors in New Orleans confirmed the selection by the membership of directors of the Board to serve terms beginning July 1. In addition to re-electing Clifton, WFCA members also re-elected Phil Koufidakis, president, Baker Bros., Phoenix, Ariz., and Mark Weaver, president, Carpet Weavers, Bloomington, Ill., to three-year terms.
Newly elected directors include: Maryanne Adams, president, Avalon Carpet, Tile & Flooring, Cherry Hill, N.J.; Bob Caputo, owner, Carpetland of Dothan Inc., Dothan, Ala.; and Kelby Frederick, ceo, My Flooring America, Denton, Texas. Howard Partridge, president, Clean As A Whistle Inc., Sugar Land, Texas, was elected to fill out a two-year unexpired vacancy ending June 30, 2013.
Directors also re-elected Keith Campbell, Chairman of the Board, Mannington Mills, Salem, N.J. to a three-year term as an associate director.
