Mannington Mills has teamed with 50-year old commercial carpet maker J&J Industries to establish a modular carpet backing company. The new joint venture, Modular Carpet Systems, is located near Mannington Commercial's plant in Calhoun, Ga. It was created as the result of an outgrowth of the ongoing relationship between the two companies.

"Our two companies have been working closely together over the past two years as we have supplied modular backings to J&J under contract," said Tom Davis, president and ceo of Mannington Mills. "We have good synergy--our companies are both privately held and we share many of the same values."

Jim Jolly, chairman of Dalton, Ga.-based J&J Industries, added, "This new venture will allow both companies to more rapidly build critical mass as we make significant investments in new equipment and technology. An added plus is that the markets we both serve are mostly complementary, having very little overlap and competition."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.