Past Speaker
CEO, Interface
Dan Hendrix has been president and CEO of Interface, Inc., a $1 billion global manufacturer of modular commercial and residential carpet and broadloom carpet, for 11 years. Under his leadership, Interface helped create a viable market for modular carpet globally, a business that once was considered no more than a niche business. The company now leads with a 35 percent share of the market globally. Dan’s mission is to ensure that each of the Interface business regions is a high-performing asset, a great place to work and a good environmental steward focused on the company’s Mission Zero goal to eliminate any negative environmental footprint by the year 2020. Dan was appointed Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors in October 2011, succeeding Interface Founder and Chairman Ray C. Anderson.
Since his appointment as president and CEO in 2001, Dan has extended the company’s global reach with manufacturing on four continents (U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia), including a new plant in Shanghai. The company has sales in more than 110 countries globally, and is introducing the modular concept to emerging markets in China, Central America, Latin America, India, Africa and the Middle East. He has overseen the launch of the company’s residential modular brand, FLOR, a company with 17 stores in major markets in the U.S. and Toronto.
Dan is credited with orchestrating Interface’s business rebounds in 2001 and 2010 — reducing the company’s overall debt, increasing profitability, focusing on the company’s core modular business and increasing Interface’s global market share. He has led Interface’s strategic diversification beyond its core corporate office market and into new segments with high growth potential such as education, hospitality, healthcare, retail and institutional space, and into the consumer/residential business. The non-corporate office segments have grown to represent approximately 40 percent of our worldwide business and more than half of the U.S. business.
Dan joined Interface, Inc. in 1983, shortly after the company’s initial public offering. He was quickly elevated to chief financial officer in 1985, and in 1989 he was identified as the youngest CFO at a Fortune 500 company. Working as CFO at Ray Anderson’s side, Dan led Interface in a series of acquisitions, both domestic and international, ranging in size from $2 million to $150 million. Several of these acquisitions nearly doubled the company in size, including the 1988 acquisition of the then-largest carpet tile manufacturer in the world, Holland-based Heuga, which firmly established Interface as the global leader in that market segment.
Dan addresses some 40-plus investor groups each year to talk about Interface’s financial progress and the business case for sustainability. He also speaks to a wide range of organizations about how Interface has applied sustainability to its business, discussing the company’s strategy of getting ahead by making investments that are good for the environment, as well as long-term growth.
Dan serves on the Board of Governors for the College of Business at Florida State University, and on the board of directors for American Woodmark, a publicly held company that is the leading manufacturer and distributor of kitchen and bath cabinets for the remodeling and new home construction markets.
A native of Florida, Dan graduated with honors from Florida State University with a B.S. in accounting in 1977. He and his wife Betsy live in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, and have two children, Lauren and John.
Session: Audacious Sustainability Goals Drive Culture Shift and Business Success
