Interface Appoints Jay D. Gould as Chief Executive Officer

February 22, 2017
Gould Succeeds Daniel Hendrix as CEO; Hendrix to Continue as Board Chairman

ATLANTA, Feb. 22, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Interface, Inc. (Nasdaq: TILE), the world's largest manufacturer of modular carpet, announced today that Jay D. Gould, President and Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer, effective March 3, 2017. Gould succeeds Daniel T. Hendrix, who served as CEO for nearly 16 years. Hendrix will continue his involvement with the company remaining as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Gould is primed to lead the organization into its next phase of growth, having worked alongside Hendrix for the past two years overseeing global operations, marketing, and organizational development. Gould was a key driver of the company's recent expansion beyond carpet tile into modular resilient flooring, with its debut luxury vinyl tile offering coming to market in 2017.

Under Hendrix's leadership, Interface secured its position as the leading global manufacturer of modular carpet, as well as a trailblazer in sustainability through its commitment to Mission Zero™. Hendrix successfully drove the company's business by focusing on Interface's core carpet tile business and diversifying its market segmentation through expansion into the education, hospitality, healthcare, retail and institutional spaces. Hendrix will continue to bring his industry expertise and counsel to bear as Chairman of the Board.

"I have every confidence in Jay's ability to build upon the company's success and lead Interface into a new stage," said Hendrix. "Jay's energy is contagious and motivational. His style of leadership, combined with his global brand experience and passion for Interface, makes him the perfect successor."

Prior to joining Interface in 2015, Gould served as CEO of American Standard Brands, where he re-energized the 138-year-old brand and led a financial turnaround including top-line growth, cost cutting, and innovation leadership. In Gould's 20 years of experience, he also helped globalize brands such as Minute Maid, Dasani, Graco and Rubbermaid.

"Dan has established his legacy as a tremendous leader, focused on the powerful combination of business performance and purpose. I am honored and grateful for the opportunity to work with and steer this inspired and talented Interface team across the globe," stated Gould. "Like Dan, I'm optimistic that we can be a successful, profitable and growing business while creating positive impacts in our communities and more broadly in the world, and I'm eager to lead Interface into its next era of growth and evolution."

About Interface

Interface, Inc. is the world's largest manufacturer of modular carpet and recently expanded into modular resilient flooring with a new luxury vinyl tile line. Our hard and soft tiles are designed to work together in an integrated flooring system. We are committed to sustainability and minimizing our impact on the environment while enhancing shareholder value. Our new mission, Climate Take Back, focuses on driving positive impacts in the world to create a climate fit for life. For additional information: interface.com and blog.interface.com. Follow Interface on Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Vimeo.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Except for historical information contained herein, the other matters set forth in this news release are forward‑looking statements.  The forward-looking statements set forth above involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any such statement, including risks and uncertainties associated with economic conditions in the commercial interiors industry as well as the risks and uncertainties discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" included in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 3, 2016, which discussion is incorporated herein by this reference, including, but not limited to, the discussion of specific risks and uncertainties under the headings "Sales of our principal products have been and may continue to be affected by adverse economic cycles in the renovation and construction of commercial and institutional buildings," "We compete with a large number of manufacturers in the highly competitive commercial floorcovering products market, and some of these competitors have greater financial resources than we do," "Our success depends significantly upon the efforts, abilities and continued service of our senior management executives and our principal design consultant, and our loss of any of them could affect us adversely," "Our substantial international operations are subject to various political, economic and other uncertainties that could adversely affect our business results, including by restrictive taxation or other government regulation and by foreign currency fluctuations," "Concerns regarding the European sovereign debt crisis and market perceptions about the instability of the euro, the potential re-introduction of individual currencies within the Eurozone, the potential dissolution of the euro entirely, or the possibility of the U.K. exiting the European Union, could adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition," "Large increases in the cost of petroleum-based raw materials could adversely affect us if we are unable to pass these cost increases through to our customers," "Unanticipated termination or interruption of any of our arrangements with our primary third party suppliers of synthetic fiber could have a material adverse effect on us," "The worldwide financial and credit crisis could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations," "We have a significant amount of indebtedness, which could have important negative consequences to us," "The market price of our common stock has been volatile and the value of your investment may decline," "Our earnings in a future period could be adversely affected by non-cash adjustments to goodwill, if a future test of goodwill assets indicates a material impairment of those assets," "Our business operations could suffer significant losses from natural disasters, catastrophes, fire or other unexpected events," and "Our Rights Agreement could discourage tender offers or other transactions for our stock that could result in shareholders receiving a premium over the market price for our stock."  Any forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and, as such, speak only as of the date made.  The Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise forward-looking statements made in this press release and cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.

 

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SOURCE Interface, Inc.

Christine Needles, Global Corporate Communications, Christine.Needles@interface.com, +1 404-491-4660