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Since the days after his graduation from
Georgia Institute of Technology as an industrial
engineer, Ray Anderson has quietly gone
about fostering an entrepreneurial spirit
that has resulted in his building one of
the world's largest commercial interior
furnishings companies.
After founding Interface in 1973, Ray and
his company have revolutionized the carpet
and floor covering industry. Now, Ray has
embarked on a mission to make Interface
a sustainable corporation by leading a worldwide
war on waste and pioneering the processes
of sustainable development.
Ray learned the carpet trade through 14-plus
years at various positions at Deering-Milliken
and Callaway Mills, and in 1973, set about
founding a company to produce the first
free-lay carpet tiles in America. He developed
a partnership with Britain's Carpets International
Plc. that year, set up operations in LaGrange,
Georgia, and took over Carpets International
10 years later.
Today, the company Ray founded is the world's
largest producer of commercial carpet.
From his corporate offices in Atlanta, Ray
oversees a global company whose core business
is still modular carpet. Named one of America's
"100 Best Companies to Work For"
in 1997 and 1998 by FORTUNE magazine, Interface
has diversified and globalized its businesses,
with sales in 110 countries and manufacturing
facilities on four continents.
In addition to carpet tiles and broadloom
carpet marketed under several brands, Interface
also manufactures and markets interior fabrics
and specialty products such as raised access
flooring, as well as a variety of adhesives
and cleaning products used in commercial
office installations.
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