Highlight: EDA Supports U.S. Job Creation Efforts in the Flooring Manufacturing Sector

Last year, EDA invested $2.5 million in Assistance to Coal Communities 2017 (ACC 2017) funds in the Randolph County Development Authority of West Virginia to help expand the Armstrong Flooring manufacturing facility in Beverly.

Armstrong Flooring is American-made, using hardwoods sourced in Appalachia for their consistency and stability. Opened in 1989, the Beverly facility produces oak, hickory, and maple pre-finished hardwood flooring and is the largest pre-finished hardwood flooring plant in the country. Today, the Beverly facility serves as the company’s new east coast distribution center. As a result, Armstrong Flooring is expected to create 50 new jobs, retain 60 existing jobs and invest an additional $16.2 million in private investment into the project.

In further support of the nation’s critical flooring manufacturing sector, EDA and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) recently announced a joint $1.2 million investment to the city of Chickamauga, Georgia, to make critical upgrades to the water system serving a flooring manufacturing factory. Known as the “Carpet Capital of the World,” 85 percent of all carpet manufactured in the United States comes from the region.

The infrastructure improvements, including enhanced pressure flows for fire mitigation, will also benefit additional businesses in the area. According to grantee estimates, this investment will help protect 1,000 manufacturing jobs, including those at the area’s largest employer and could attract up to $100 million in private investment.