Jeffrey Lorberbaum, left, CEO of Mohawk Industries, speaks to Rock City’s Bill Chapin at the Chattanooga Rotary Club Thursday.Mohawk Industries chief Jeff Lorberbaum said Thursday he sees an upturn in the economy, and the world’s largest flooring company is investing a half-billion dollars in the business so it’s ready to gain.
“The economy is doing better,” he said in Chattanooga. “It just hadn’t rebounded as fast or as much as what we all had thought. Next year, we’re hoping it will be better than this year.”
U.S. home building grew in September on the strength of apartment construction, but that’s a segment which offers less of an economic boost than single-family homes. Housing starts rose 6.3 percent in September from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.017 million units, the Commerce Department. But, that’s a gain from a sluggish August.
Lorberbaum told the Chattanooga Rotary Club that Calhoun, Ga.-based Mohawk is investing $500 million in its existing business, including a new plant in the Nashville area. It’s also building a luxury vinyl tile plant in Belgium, and it has an eye on another in the U.S., though a site hasn’t been picked yet, he said.
The Chattanoogan, whose net worth was put at $1.6 billion recently by Forbes magazine, noted that Mohawk also had three key acquisitions in 2013 covering seven countries over just three months.