Item 1. Business
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
General
References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “Interface,” “the Company,” “we,” “our,” “ours” and “us” refer to Interface, Inc. and its subsidiaries or any of them, unless the context requires otherwise.
Interface is a global flooring company specializing in carbon neutral carpet tile and resilient flooring, including luxury vinyl tile (“LVT”), vinyl sheet, and nora® rubber flooring. We help our customers create high-performance interior spaces that support well-being, productivity, and creativity, as well as the sustainability of the planet.
As a global company with a reputation for high quality, reliability and premium positioning, we market modular carpet under the established brand names Interface® and FLOR® , and we market LVT and vinyl sheet under the brand Interface®. In 2018, the Company acquired nora Holding GmbH (“nora”), a worldwide leader in the rubber flooring category under the established nora brands norament ® and noraplan ®.
Reportable Segments
In 2021, the Company largely completed its integration of the nora acquisition, and integration of its European and Asia-Pacific commercial areas, and determined that it has two operating and reportable segments – namely Americas (“AMS”) and Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia (collectively “EAAA”). The AMS operating segment continues to include the United States, Canada and Latin America geographic areas. See Note 20 entitled “Segment Information” included in Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for additional information .
Below is a summary of total net sales percentages by reportable segment for the last three fiscal years. Percentages for fiscal year 2020 have been recast to reflect the current reportable segment structure:
2022 2021 2020
AMS 58% 54% 54%
EAAA 42% 46% 46%
Market Segmentation
Our business, as well as the commercial interiors industry in general, is cyclical in nature and is impacted by economic conditions and trends that affect the markets for commercial and institutional business space. We believe the appeal and utilization of modular carpet and resilient flooring will continue to grow in corporate office and non-corporate office market segments, and we are using our considerable skills and experience with designing, producing and marketing modular products that make us a market leader in the corporate office market segment to support and facilitate our penetration into more non-corporate office market segments around the world.
During fiscal years 2022, 2021 and 2020, t he COVID-19 pandemic impacted areas where we operate and sell our products and services. Government restrictions and shutdowns around the world impacted sales in the corporate office market segment and resulted in lower corporate reinvestment compared to the few years immediately preceding the pandemic. To mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on our business, we capitalized on our ongoing market diversification strategy to increase our presence and market penetration for modular carpet and resilient flooring sales in non-corporate office market segments.
3
Ta b le of Contents
Below is a summary of our sales mix between corporate office and non-corporate office market segments for the last three fiscal years by reportable segment:
2022 2021 2020
Corporate Office Non-Corporate Office Corporate Office Non-Corporate Office Corporate Office Non-Corporate Office
AMS 38% 62% 39% 61% 37% 63%
EAAA 61% 39% 57% 43% 60% 40%
Products and Services
Modular Carpet
Our AMS and EAAA reportable segments sell the same products within their respective geographical regions. We produce carpet tiles in a wide variety of colors, patterns, textures, pile heights and densities. These varieties are designed to meet both the practical and aesthetic needs of a broad spectrum of commercial interiors particularly offices, healthcare facilities, airports, educational and other institutions, hospitality spaces, retail facilities and residential interiors. Our carpet tile systems permit distinctive styling and patterning that can be used to complement interior designs, to set off areas for particular purposes, create visual cues, and to convey graphic information. While we continue to manufacture and sell a substantial portion of our carpet tile in standard styles, most of our modular carpet sales in the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions are made-to-order products designed to meet customer specifications.
Our modular carpet systems are marketed under the established brands Interface and FLOR . We manufacture carpet tiles cut in precise, dimensionally stable squares (usually 50 cm x 50 cm) or rectangles (such as planks and Skinny Planks ™ ). Our GlasBac® technology employs a fiberglass-reinforced polymeric composite backing that provides dimensional stability and reduces the need for adhesives or fasteners. We also make carpet tiles with a backing containing post-industrial and/or post-consumer recycled materials, which we now market under the CQuest™GB name (formerly known as GlasBacRE ). In addition, we make carpet tile with yarn containing varying degrees of recycled post-consumer nylon, depending on the style and color.
In 2021, we introduced our Open Air™ collection of more affordable carpet tiles — an expansive platform of hard-working carpet tile styles designed with open spaces in mind. Innovations in both design and manufacturing allow us to create high-quality, high-performance carpet products at a lower price point.
In 2020, we introduced the next generation of our carpet tile backings called CQuest™ backings. Guided by materials science and inspired by nature’s carbon-storing abilities, we added new bio-based materials and more recycled content to our backings. The materials in the CQuest backings, when measured on a stand-alone basis, are net carbon negative — meaning that their global warming potential emissions are net negative. The CQuest backings are:
• CQuest™GB - The next evolution of our GlasBacRE backing. It features the same superior performance with a construction of post-consumer recycled content from carpet tiles, bio-based additives, and pre-consumer recycled materials.
• CQuest™Bio - A non-vinyl bio-composite backing made with bio-based and recycled fillers.
• CQuest™BioX - The same material make-up as CQuestBio with a higher concentration of carbon negative materials.
Our i2™ modular product line, which includes our popular Entropy® product, features mergeable dye lots, and includes a number of carpet tile products that are designed to be installed randomly without reference to the orientation of neighboring tiles. The i2 line offers cost-efficient installation and maintenance, interactive flexibility, and recycled and recyclable materials. Our TacTiles® carpet tile installation system uses small squares of adhesive plastic film to connect intersecting carpet tiles, thus eliminating the need for traditional carpet adhesive and resulting in a reduction in installation time and material waste.
We also produce and sell a specially adapted version of our carpet tile for the healthcare facilities market. Our carpet tile possesses characteristics — such as the use of the Intersept® antimicrobial, static-controlling nylon yarns, and thermally pigmented, colorfast yarns — which make it suitable for use in these facilities in place of hard surface flooring. Moreover, we sell our FLOR line of products to specifically target modular carpet sales to the residential market segment, and in recent years FLOR products have had crossover success in commercial markets. In addition, we have created modular carpet products specifically designed for each of the education, hospitality and retail market segments.
4
Ta b le of Contents
The award-winning design firm David Oakey Designs has had a pivotal role in developing many of our innovative product designs. David Oakey Designs has developed products that are manufactured using state-of-the-art tufting technology, which allows us to pinpoint tufts of different colored yarns in virtually any arrangement within a carpet tile. These unique designs are best exemplified by our Urban Retreat® , Net Effect®, Human Nature® and World Woven® collections, which are sold throughout our international operations.
In 2020, we achieved a substantial milestone in our journey toward becoming a sustainable enterprise. Simultaneously with the launch of our new CQuest backings described above, we introduced in the Americas our first ever “cradle-to-gate” carbon negative carpet tile products in three unique styles: Shishu Stitch ™, Tokyo Texture ™, and Zen Stitch ™. These pioneering products, which are part of our Embodied Beauty ™ collection, are created with a combination of our new CQuestBioX carpet backing (featuring new bio-based materials and more recycled content), specialty yarns and tufting processes that create a carpet tile with a net negative value of “embodied carbon”. Embodied carbon is the carbon footprint (meaning the global warming potential of emissions of greenhouse gases measured in carbon dioxide equivalents) of a product from raw material creation, growth and extraction (the “cradle”) through processing until it is packaged and ready to be shipped from our factory (the “gate”), thus referred to as “cradle-to-gate” in the life cycle assessment of a product. Embodied carbon is distinct from operational carbon, which refers to the carbon footprint of everything that happens after the product leaves our factory, such as shipment, customer use, and end of life. The Embodied Beauty collection was expanded into our EAAA geographical regions in 2021.
In addition, through our third party verified Carbon Neutral Floors ™ program, all of our carpet tile, LVT and norament and noraplan rubber flooring products are made carbon neutral across their entire life cycle, including both embodied carbon and operational carbon, by our purchase and retirement of third party verified carbon offsets.
We believe our cradle-to-gate carbon negative carpet tile products and our Carbon Neutral Floors program provide us with a competitive advantage, particularly with our global account customers who are increasingly setting their own goals to reduce their carbon footprints.
Modular Resilient Flooring
In 2016, we began offering a category of products we call modular resilient flooring, and our first product introductions into this category were LVT products in the United States. LVT shares many of the same attributes and benefits as carpet tile, but has a resilient or hard surface instead of a soft surface of yarn. In 2017, we launched our LVT products globally, beginning with the Level Set ™ collection which is available in styles with printed top layers in a variety of aesthetic looks, including natural woodgrains and stones, textured woodgrains, and patterns. Our LVT products are modular and come in sizes that match certain of our modular carpet tile squares and planks. Some of them are engineered to the same or similar height as our modular carpet, which means our customers have the ability to install our LVT and modular carpet products side by side without transition strips or layering. In addition, some of our LVT products include a backing system that provides acoustic insulation without the need for additional underlayment, which can reduce the impact of sound in the space where the flooring is used.
In 2022, we introduced our rigid core Even Path ™ collection of LVT with high-quality wood and stone designs. Our rigid core resilient flooring products are designed for hard-working spaces and commercial markets.
Rubber Flooring
With the acquisition of nora in 2018, we began offering rubber flooring products under the established noraplan and norament brands which enhances the Company’s fast-growing resilient flooring portfolio. Rubber flooring is ideal for applications that require hygienic, safe flooring with strong chemical resistance. Rubber flooring is extremely durable compared to other flooring alternatives.
Other Products and Services
We sell a proprietary antimicrobial chemical compound under the registered trademark Intersept that we incorporate in some of our modular carpet products. We also sell our TacTiles carpet tile installation system, along with a variety of traditional adhesives and products for carpet installation and maintenance that are manufactured by a third party. We also continue to provide “turnkey” project management services for a number of global accounts and other large customers through our InterfaceSERVICES™ business.
5
Ta b le of Contents
Manufacturing and Raw Materials
We manufacture carpet tile at two locations in the United States and at facilities in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. We also manufactured carpet tile at a location in Thailand for many years, but in 2021 we announced the closure of the Thailand plant, in which manufacturing was permanently halted at the end of the first quarter of 2022. We manufacture rubber flooring in Germany.
Our raw materials are generally available from multiple sources — both regionally and globally — with the exception of synthetic fiber (nylon yarn). For yarn, we principally rely upon two major global suppliers, but we also have significant relationships with at least two other suppliers. Although our number of principal yarn suppliers is limited, we do have the capability to manufacture carpet using face fiber produced from two separate polymer feedstocks — nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 — which provides additional flexibility with respect to yarn supply inputs, if needed. Our global sourcing strategy, including with respect to our principal yarn suppliers and dual polymer manufacturing capability, allows us to help guard against any potential shortages of raw materials or raw material suppliers in a specific polymer supply chain. For rubber flooring, the key polymer raw materials are available from multiple sources, and we can source both synthetic and natural rubber depending on product specification and material availability.
We also have technology that separates the face fiber and backing of reclaimed and waste carpet, thus making it easier to recycle some of its components and providing a purer supply of inputs for our CQuestGB carpet backing. This technology, which is part of our ReEntry ® 2.0 carpet reclamation program, allows us to send some of the reclaimed face fiber back to our fiber supplier to be blended with virgin or other post-industrial materials and extruded into new fiber.
The environmental management systems of our floorcovering manufacturing facilities in LaGrange, Georgia, West Point, Georgia, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, China and Australia are certified under International Standards Organization (ISO) Standard No. 14001. Nora’s manufacturing facility, which is located in Weinheim, Germany, is ISO14001 certified as well and sells the majority of its products with the Blauer Engel label. Blauer Engel is the leading German institute that recognizes products that have environmentally friendly aspects.
Sales and Marketing
We distribute our products through two primary channels: (1) direct sales to end users; and (2) indirect sales through independent contractors, installers and distributors. We use an exclusive third-party distributor to sell our products in the Latin American region. We have traditionally focused our carpet marketing strategy on major accounts, seeking to build lasting relationships with national and multinational end-users, and on architects, interior designers, engineers, contracting firms, and other specifiers who often make or significantly influence purchasing decisions. While the corporate office market segment, including new construction and renovation, is our largest, we also emphasize sales in other market segments, including schools and educational facilities, government institutions, retail space, healthcare facilities, tenant improvement space, hospitality centers, residences and home office space. Our marketing efforts are enhanced by the established and well-known brand names of our carpet products, including Interface and FLOR, as well as the strength of the nora rubber flooring brands of noraplan and norament.
An important part of our marketing and sales efforts involves the preparation of custom-made samples of requested carpet designs, in conjunction with the development of innovative product designs and styles to meet the customer’s particular needs. In most cases, we can produce samples to customer specifications in less than five days, which significantly enhances our marketing and sales efforts. In addition, through our websites, we have made it easy to view and request samples of our products. We also use technology which allows us to provide digital, simulated samples of our products, which helps reduce raw material and energy consumption associated with our samples.
We primarily use our internal marketing and sales force teams to market our flooring products. In order to implement our global marketing efforts, we have product showrooms or design studios in the United States, England, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, India, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and elsewhere. We may open offices in other locations around the world as necessary to capitalize on emerging marketing opportunities.
6
Ta b le of Contents
Business Strategy and Principal Initiatives
Our business strategy is to continue to use our leading position in modular carpet, product design and global made-to-order capabilities as a platform from which to position our modular carpet, LVT products, other resilient products and rubber flooring products across several industry segments.
We will seek to increase revenues and profitability by pursuing the following key initiatives:
Continue to Penetrate Non-Corporate Office Market Segments. We plan to continue our strategic focus on product design and marketing and sales efforts for non-corporate office market segments such as government, education, healthcare, hospitality, and residential living. We began this initiative as part of a market diversification strategy to reduce our exposure to the economic cyclicality of the corporate office market segment, and it has become a principal strategy generally for growing our business and enhancing profitability.
Develop a Substantial Resilient Flooring Business . Building upon the success of our products in the high growth LVT market, we plan to expand our LVT product offerings while also seeking to introduce new products in the resilient flooring category, such as our rigid core resilient flooring that was launched in early 2022. We believe our ability to offer and sell our soft and hard surfaces in an integrated flooring design helps meet the needs of our customers by complementing and enhancing our carpet tile portfolio with true modular installation, no transition strips between surfaces, carpet tile and resilient products that are in some cases the same size and shape, and favorable acoustic properties. Our nora business, with its rubber flooring products, is also a key component of our strategy in this area.
Sustain Leadership in Product Design and Development. Our CQuest backings, Embodied Beauty collection, and our plank, Skinny Plank , and i2 products and TacTiles installation system have confirmed our position as an innovation leader in modular carpet. We will continue initiatives to sustain, augment and capitalize upon that strength to continue to increase our market share in targeted market segments. Our Climate Take Back initiative, which was advanced in 2020 with the launch of our first ever cradle-to-gate carbon negative carpet tile, promotes our commitment to the pursuit of sustainability.
Seasonality
Historically, sales in our first quarter had typically been our lowest quarter while our fourth quarter sales had typically been our best quarter, as sales generally increased throughout the course of the fiscal year. However, in more recent years, as our sales efforts and results in the education and other non-corporate office market segments increased, our second and third quarter sales sometimes were the highest. In 2022, our second quarter sales were the highest quarter. In 2021, our fourth quarter sales were the highest quarter as certain countries rebounded from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic over the course of the year. In 2020, our first quarter sales were the highest quarter, as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated and more severely impacted the remainder of the year.
Competition
We compete, on a global basis, in the sale of our modular carpet products with other carpet manufacturers and manufacturers of vinyl and other types of floorcoverings, including broadloom carpet. Although the industry has experienced significant consolidation, a large number of manufacturers remain in the industry. A number of domestic and foreign competitors manufacture modular carpet as one segment of their business, and some of these competitors have financial resources greater than ours. In addition, some of the competing carpet manufacturers have the ability to extrude at least some of their requirements for fiber used in carpet products, which decreases their dependence on third party suppliers of fiber.
We believe the principal competitive factors in our primary floorcovering markets are brand recognition, quality, design, service, broad product lines, product performance, marketing strategy, pricing and sustainability. In the corporate office market segment, modular carpet competes with various floorcoverings including broadloom carpet, LVT and polished concrete. We believe the quality, service, design, better and longer average product performance, flexibility (such as design options, selective rotation or replacement, and use in combination with our resilient products), environmental footprint and convenience of our modular carpet are our principal competitive advantages.
7
Ta b le of Contents
We believe we have competitive advantages in several other areas as well. First, having both an internal design staff as well as our relationship with David Oakey Designs allows us to introduce numerous innovative and attractive carpet tile and resilient products to our customers. Additionally, we believe that our global carpet tile manufacturing capabilities are an important competitive advantage in serving the needs of multinational corporate customers. We believe that the incorporation of the Intersept antimicrobial chemical agent into the backing of some modular carpet products enhances our ability to compete successfully across some of our market segments.
Our sustainability goals are a brand-enhancing, competitive strength as well as a strategic initiative. Our customers are increasingly concerned about the environmental and broader ecological implications of their operations and the products they use in them. Our leadership, knowledge and expertise in the area, especially in the “green building” movement and related environmental certification programs, resonate deeply with many of our customers and prospects around the globe. Our modular carpet products historically have had inherent installation and maintenance advantages that have translated into greater efficiency and waste reduction. We are using raw materials and production technologies, such as our ReEntry 2.0 reclaimed carpet separation process and our new CQuest backings, that directly reduce the adverse impact of those operations on the environment and limit our dependence on petrochemicals.
Product Design, Research and Development
We maintain an active research and development, product development and design staff of approximately 150 people and also draw on the research and development efforts of our suppliers, particularly in the areas of fibers, yarns and modular carpet backing materials. The research and development team provides us with technical support and advanced materials research and development. Innovation and increased customization in product design and styling are the principal focus of our product development efforts, and this focus has led to several design breakthroughs such as our CQuest backings, plank and Skinny Plank products, as well as our i2 product line. Our carpet design and development team is recognized as an industry leader in carpet design and product engineering for the commercial and institutional markets.
David Oakey Designs provides carpet design and consulting services to us pursuant to a consulting agreement, and this firm augments our internal research, development and design staff. David Oakey Designs’ services under the agreement include creating commercial carpet designs for use by our modular carpet businesses throughout the world, and overseeing product development, design and coloration functions for our modular carpet business in North America. The agreement can be terminated by either party upon six months prior written notice to the other party.
In 2020, we launched our first ever cradle-to-gate carbon negative carpet tile. Our goal is to offer products with the lowest carbon footprint possible and products that help maintain a climate fit for life. Our carbon negative carpet tile features carbon negative materials in the CQuestBioX backing in combination with specialty yarns and tufting processes. We have developed innovative ways to work with recycled content and bio-based materials, which has led us to make carpet tiles that store carbon, preventing its release into the atmosphere.
For our nora rubber flooring products, the innovation focus is on performance and design. A key innovation is the fast growing self-adhesive nTx solution for nora tiles and sheet goods. Recent changes in design are noraplan Iona introducing a rubber on rubber print, noraplan valua introducing natural woodlike colors and embossing, and noraplan unita that incorporates real granite parts in a rubber floor. The combination of performance and design makes nora the recognized market leader in rubber flooring.
Environmental and Sustainability Initiatives
Our sustainability strategy began more than 25 years ago with initiatives aimed at reducing waste, environmental footprint and costs. With our more recent Climate Take Back initiative, we seek to lead industry in designing and making products in ways that will maintain a climate fit for life. Our Climate Take Back logo appears on many of our marketing and merchandising materials distributed throughout the world. With our new CQuestGB, CQuestBio and CQuestBioX backings, we are able to use more bio-based and recycled materials. As more customers in our target markets share our view that sustainability is an important factor, we expect sustainability will become a determining factor in purchasing and design decisions. In 2021, we set a goal to reduce our CO2 emissions across our Company and supply chain by 2030 with a target validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative. Our targets are to reduce our absolute Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 from a 2019 base year, and to reduce our absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions from purchased goods and services 50% and from business travel and employee commuting 30% by 2030 from a 2019 base year. We also set a goal to become a carbon negative enterprise by 2040.
8
Ta b le of Contents
A highlight in our pursuit of sustainability was our creation with the Zoological Society of London of a program called Net-Works® in which we worked with communities in the Philippines to collect discarded fishing nets that are damaging a large coral reef, and divert them to our yarn supplier where they are recycled into new carpet fiber. Net-Works provides a source of income for members of these communities in the Philippines, while also cleaning up the beaches and waters where they live and work. Our Net Effect Collection of carpet tile products, among others, contains yarn that is partly made from the recycled fishing nets collected through the Net-Works program. Net-Works is a big step in redesigning our supply chain from a linear take-make-waste process toward a closed loop system, and it advances our ultimate goal of becoming a restorative enterprise.
In 2022, we became the first and only flooring manufacturer to achieve third-party Carbon Neutral Enterprise certification. Our claim of Carbon Neutral Enterprise status has been third-party certified to meet the PAS 2060 standard, the leading international carbon neutrality standard created by the British Standards Institution (BSI). We neutralized our carbon impact across our entire business, including all operations and its full value chain. The Carbon Neutral Enterprise certification builds on our history as a purpose-driven flooring company. Achieving Carbon Neutral Enterprise status is a continuation of our innovation and efforts that started with the Carbon Neutral Floors program — it brings us one step closer to becoming a carbon negative enterprise by 2040.
Compliance with Government Regulations
We are subject to various federal, state and foreign laws and regulations that address various aspects of our business such as worker safety (including but not limited to safety measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), privacy, trade sanctions and anticorruption. In addition, our operations are subject to laws and regulations relating to the generation, storage, handling, emission, transportation and discharge of materials into the environment. The costs of complying with these laws and regulations have not had a material adverse impact on our financial condition or results of operations in the past and are not expected to have a material adverse impact in the future. The environmental management systems of our floorcovering manufacturing facilities in LaGrange, Georgia, West Point, Georgia, Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, China, Germany and Australia are certified under ISO Standard No. 14001.
Backlog
Our backlog of unshipped orders was approximately $197.4 million at February 5, 2023, compared with approximately $215.6 million at February 6, 2022. Historically, backlog is subject to significant fluctuations due to the timing of orders for individual large projects and currency fluctuations. Disruptions in supply and distribution chains, global travel restrictions and government orders due to the impact of COVID-19 have resulted in delays of construction projects and flooring installations in many regions worldwide, which also have caused fluctuations in our backlog.
Patents and Trademarks
We own numerous patents in the United States and abroad on floorcovering products and on manufacturing processes. The duration of United States patents is between 14 and 20 years from the date of filing of a patent application or issuance of the patent; the duration of patents issued in other countries varies from country to country. We maintain an active patent and trade secret program in order to protect our proprietary technology, know-how and trade secrets. Although we consider our patents to be very valuable assets, we consider our know-how and technology even more important to our current business than patents, and, accordingly, believe that expiration of existing patents or non-issuance of patents under pending applications would not have a material adverse effect on our operations.
We also own many trademarks in the United States and abroad. In addition to the United States, the primary jurisdictions in which we have registered our trademarks are the European Union, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and various countries in Central America, South America and Asia. Some of our more prominent registered trademarks include: Interface, FLOR, GlasBac, CQuest, Climate Take Back, nora, norament, noraplan, nTX solution, noraplan unita, noraplan valua, and TacTiles. Trademark registrations in the United States are valid for a period of 10 years and are renewable for additional 10-year periods as long as the mark remains in actual use. The duration of trademarks registered in other jurisdictions varies.
9
Ta b le of Contents
Human Capital
Interface is a purpose-driven company with a passionate team that shares a unique set of values. We strive to do the right thing and to be generous to people and the planet. We are committed to an equitable and inclusive culture and achieve this by living our values. Our core values represent who we are, how we see the world, how we treat each other and our external customers and stakeholders, and how we approach our work every day. These core values are:
• Design a better way;
• Be genuine and generous;
• Inspire others;
• Connect the whole; and
• Embrace tomorrow, today.
At January 1, 2023, we employed a total of 3,671 employees worldwide. Of such total, 1,452 were clerical, staff, sales, supervisory and management personnel and 2,219 were manufacturing personnel. We also utilized the services of 176 temporary personnel as of January 1, 2023.
Some of our employees in Australia, the United Kingdom and China are represented by unions. In the Netherlands, a Works Council, the members of which are Interface employees, is required to be consulted by management with respect to certain matters relating to our operations in that country, such as a change in control of Interface Europe B.V. (our modular carpet subsidiary based in the Netherlands), and the approval of the Works Council is required for some of our actions, including changes in compensation scales or employee benefits. The majority of our employees in Germany are represented by a Works Council as well. Our management believes that its relations with the Works Councils, the unions and our employees are good.
Information About Our Executive Officers
Our executive officers, their ages as of January 1, 2023, and their principal positions with us are set forth below. Executive officers serve at the pleasure of the Board of Directors.
Name Age Principal Position(s)
Laurel M. Hurd 53 President and Chief Executive Officer
David B. Foshee 52 Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
Bruce A. Hausmann 53 Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
James Poppens 58 Vice President (President - Americas) (1)
Nigel Stansfield 55 Vice President (President - Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia) (1)
(1) See below for changes effective February 2023
Ms. Hurd joined us in April 2022 after having worked previously for global consumer goods company Newell Brands, Inc. Ms. Hurd served as Segment President, Learning and Development at Newell Brands Inc. starting in February 2019, leading its Baby and Writing businesses. Previously, Ms. Hurd was the Division Chief Executive Officer for Newell Brands’ Writing division starting in February 2018. From 2016 to February 2018, she served as Chief Executive Officer of Newell Brands’ Baby division. From May 2014 until 2016, Ms. Hurd was President of the Baby and Parenting division at Newell Brands, where she oversaw the Calphalon, Goody, and Rubbermaid consumer brands. From 2012 to 2014, Ms. Hurd was Vice President, Global Development for Newell Brands, leading both Marketing and Research & Development for the Graco, Aprica, and Teutonia brands globally.
Mr. Foshee , who previously practiced with an Atlanta-based international law firm, joined us in October 1999 as Associate Counsel. He was promoted to Assistant Secretary in April 2002, Senior Counsel in April 2006, Assistant Vice President in April 2007, Vice President in July 2012, Associate General Counsel in May 2014, and Secretary and General Counsel in January 2017.
10
Ta b le of Contents
Mr. Hausmann joined us in April 2017 as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He came to us from the food, facilities and uniform services supplier Aramark Corporation, where he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Aramark’s Uniform business unit since 2009, and for Aramark’s Direct Store Delivery segment since 2014. Prior to joining Aramark, he served as Vice President and Segment Controller for the Interactive Media Group of The Walt Disney Company, which he joined in 2002. He has also previously held finance and controller positions with several software and internet companies and is a certified public accountant (inactive status) in the State of California.
Mr. Poppens joined us in 2017 to lead the restructuring of our FLOR business and then served as Vice President of Corporate Marketing and was responsible for the global Interface brand, digital strategy, global product commercialization planning as well as leading the FLOR business. He was named President for our Americas business in February 2020. Prior to joining us, Mr. Poppens held leadership roles at Newell Rubbermaid, Kellogg Company, REI, and Coca-Cola. Effective February 1, 2023, Mr. Poppens was named Chief Commercial Officer, and his former role as President of Americas was eliminated.
Mr. Stansfield was the Operations Manager for Firth Carpets (our former European broadloom operations) at the time it was acquired by us in 1997. For two years following that acquisition, Mr. Stansfield served as Manufacturing Systems Manager, part of a global project team that designed and implemented manufacturing software systems at seven of our manufacturing plants. In 1999, he returned to Firth Carpets as Operations Director. In 2002, he became a member of our European research and development team focusing on our sustainability initiatives, and in 2004, he became Product and Innovations Director for all of our European Operations. In 2010, he joined our European management team as Senior Vice President of Product, Design and Innovation, before being named Vice President and Chief Innovations Officer for the Company in March 2012. In December 2016, he became President of our business serving Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and in January 2019 he assumed responsibility for the Asia-Pacific region as well. Effective February 1, 2023, Mr. Stansfield was named Chief Innovation and Sustainability Officer, and his former role as President of Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia was eliminated.
Available Information
We make available free of charge on or through our Internet website our Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Our Internet address is http://www.interface.com . The SEC maintains a website that contains annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information that issuers (including the Company) file electronically with the SEC. The SEC’s website is http://www.sec.gov .
Interface, Inc. was incorporated in Georgia in 1973.
Forward-Looking Statements
This report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of our management team, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Any forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect changed assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes to future operating results over time. Important factors currently known to management that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties associated with economic conditions in the commercial interiors industry as well as the risks and uncertainties discussed below in Item 1A, “Risk Factors.”
11
Ta b le of Contents