Rolls of carpet made by Shaw Industries line the warehouse of Carpets of Dalton in this file photo.Shaw Industries is vacuuming up talent in North Georgia for a new plant that will churn out carpet tile across the U.S., the company announced today.
The Dalton, Ga.-based business, which is owned by Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett, will spend $85 million and create 500 new jobs at a new plant in Adairsville designed to meet growing demand for Shaw’s soft wares. It will be the seventh facility for Shaw in Bartow County, where it is already the biggest employer.
“I think our business has turned,” said Vance Bell, CEO of Shaw. “Carpet tile today is well over 50 percent of our commercial carpet mix and continues to grow, and it’s just received a very good audience in the commercial marketplace.”
Shaw and other carpet makers have been hiring talent throughout Northwest Georgia in recent weeks, and the carpet maker is joining a handful of competitors who plan to expand or have already expanded capacity this summer. Analysts say overall demand for carpet has increased in the high single digits — enough to push existing plants to capacity and create a need for new ones.
“We’re pretty close to maxed out,” Bell said. “The new facility will take a couple years to complete, so we want to have the capacity available when we need it.”