Coverings, the showcase for ceramic tile and natural stone floor coverings, announced that the Marble Institute of America (MIA) will serve as a co-sponsor of Coverings 2004, slated to be held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando from March 23 - March 26, 2004.

Shaw Industries Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company and the world's largest carpet manufacturer, has adopted an unprecedented new environmental policy, committing the company's carpet manufacturing processes to follow nature's organic cycle of renewal.

Armstrong Holdings Inc., the parent company of Armstrong World Industries Inc. (AWI), announced that the special shareholder meeting of AHI originally scheduled for Dec. 3 in New York City has been adjourned to Jan. 7 at the same location (the offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges at 767 Fifth Ave.).

The Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE) - the voluntary initiative of the carpet industry and government to reduce the amount of carpet burdening our nation's landfills - received a boost when Congress appropriated a $300,000 grant for the study of carpet as an alternative fuel source for cement kilns.

Burlington Rugs and Monticello Floors have appointed two new executives, Bob Pfautz and Larry Jeffers, to lead their manufacturing facilities in Monticello, Ark.

Details of a new state-of-the-art wool testing center, to be opened in North Wales and planned to service the Northern Hemisphere, were announced at the IWTO (International Wool Textile Conference) in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The Radiant Panel Association has selected NFT's parent company, Business News Publishing Co. (BNP), to publish its second-ever Radiant Flooring Guide. The industry's only selection guide to floor and subfloor materials for use with radiant heat systems, the publication will be distributed to more than 35,000 professionals -- including all members of the Radiant Panel Association, attendees of Surfaces 2004 and Coverings 2004, and 10,000 retailer subscribers of NFT.

The Dixie Group Inc. has executed a definitive agreement to sell its Ringgold, Ga., spun carpet yarn production facility to Shaw Industries Group Inc. for a cash purchase price of approximately $6.7 million.

The board of directors of the World Floor Covering Association (WFCA) and the Floor Covering Industry Foundation (FCIF) have entered into a agreement whereby the WFCA will manage the day-to-day operations of the FCIF.

The number of people filing claims for state unemployment insurance pay rose to 365,000 in the November 29 week from a revised 354,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.