Calhoun, Ga.—For years, specialty dealers have known Mannington is a good company to partner with as evidenced by its many honors in the Award of Excellence competition. But, lately, its seems other manufacturers feel the same way.

Mannington and J&J Industries have teamed up to form Modular Carpet Systems, a 50/50 joint venture for the purpose of manufacturing and applying modular carpet backing.

This is the second joint venture Mannington has struck with a major flooring mill. In 2003, the company initially partnered with Tarkett to form Vails Gate Manufacturing, and two years later the two replaced that with a new joint venture called Texas Tile Manufacturing for the purpose of making vinyl composition tile (FCNews, Sept. 19/26, 2005).

Tom Davis, Mannington’s president and CEO, said while the venture with J&J concerns an existing Mannington facility here, as opposed to the Tarkett initiative which includes that mill’s Houston operation, there are a great many similarities between the two agreements.

“We have been working closely together over the past two years,” Davis said, “as we have supplied modular backings to J&J under contract. We have good synergy—our companies are both privately held, and we share many of the same values.”

Jim Jolly, J&J’s chairman, added, “This new venture is an outgrowth of our ongoing relationship and will allow both companies to more rapidly build critical mass as we make significant investments in new equipment and technology.”

What makes this partnership work, he explained, is “the markets we both serve are mostly complementary, having very little overlap and competition.”

Davis said the J&J venture has many similarities, such as both companies will maintain their own independent sales and marketing operations, the new company will manufacture product for both and it will have its own board of directors comprised of two people each from Mannington and J&J. Carl Loudermilk is the plant manager for Modular Carpet Systems.