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Crossville®Celebrates its 25th Anniversary

Crossville, TN – Crossville, Inc. isowned by Curran Group – the same family-owned and operated company that owned it in1986, when Crossville began; which makes Crossville the only privately held, family owned, American-owned, domestic tile company in the U.S.

Crossville officially celebrates its 25th anniversary on May 8th, 2011; however, Crossville will be celebrating all year – and began the festivities at the Coverings Show in Las Vegas this Marchwhen the company recognized the special contribution of its distributors, plus that of several employees who have been with Crossville from the start, including Mark Shannon, vice president of sales, and Svend Hovmand.

Hovmand, a Danish chemical engineer, was working for a European engineering firm called Niro (now GEA Niro) in the early 1980s when the firm started selling porcelain tile to the U.S. commercial market. By 1984, Niro decided to build a production facility in the U.S. and charged Hovmand with the project. Key was attracting investors and initially Niro was looking to form a limited partnership with a number of small investors; but Curran Group ended up as the sole investor in what was to become Crossville – becoming a 50/50 partner with Niro.

Curran Group, based in Crystal Lake, IL, was founded in 1918 as a coal and ice business. By 1985, the company’s businesses included asphalt paving, the rail construction industry and sod farming. The Crossville opportunity caught Curran Group’sattention because it was a unique, new market; porcelain tile was beginning to be specified by architects and designers for large commercial environments such as airports and shopping malls. By 1986, Niro and Curran Group had product in the marketplace called “Crossville Genesis”.

In 1987, Niro’s parent company was having financial difficulties and Niro had to find a buyer for its share. It approached Curran Group, as well as other ceramic tile producers, with no success. Then Niro came back to Curran Group with a new proposition and Curran Group became full owner. The new deal included having Hovmand, who had been president of Niro Ceramic, come on board to run Crossville. He became president of Crossville from 1989 to 2005, at which time he continued as chairman and now serves as chairman emeritus.

In 1990, Barbara Schirmeister, ASID, joined Crossville as color and design consultant. An internationally renowned colorist who has long served on the Interiors Committee of the Color Association of the United States, Schirmeister brought a new level of design to Crossville.

John E. Smith, Crossville’s current president since 2005, joined Crossville in 1994 as vice president of manufacturing to oversee the company’s manufacturing and logistics operations. In that position, Smith worked closely with Hovmand to increase production of the company’s large-unit Porcelain Stone® tile and to build new manufacturing facilities – including a 300,000-sq.-ft. plant and distribution center with state-of-the-art production technology in 2001.

When Crossville was founded, the company described itself as a manufacturer of large-format tile. In those days, large format was 8" x 8" and later 12" x 12" field tile. In 2009, Crossville embarked on an $11 million expansion program, which included the purchase of the largest tile press of its kind in the Americas. Today, this new press can make 24" x 36" tile with recycled content. Crossville has come a long way and along that way it introduced the first porcelain tile with certified recycled content (which was followed by many others), introduced glass and metal tile with certified recycled content, introduced the Tile Take-back Program to recycle fired porcelain tile, opened a dedicated R&D laboratory, and won many, many process and product awards.

From the beginning, Crossville has been guided by the Curran Group’s core values: Family, partnership, integrity, respect and improvement. These values continue to serve the Crossville family well.

Crossville, Inc. manufacturers award-winning Porcelain Stone® and Design Solutions™ tile, and Natural Stone Collectionsfor both residential and contract applications. Crossville® will “Elevate Your Space” byproduct, style and service innovation – now and in the future. Specifiers and owners can trust Crossville to perform. For more information, contact Crossville, Inc. at 800-221-9093 or visit .

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