USMC

Gov. Rick Perry today thanked veterans for their selfless sacrifice and service to our country. The governor spoke at a ribbon cutting at a home built by the Bay Area Builders Association Support Our Troops (BABASOT) for veteran Sgt. David Worswick. BABASOT helps disabled veterans by building more accessible homes to accommodate their injuries.

“America is blessed to have such courageous souls in our midst, wearing our nation’s uniform and standing guard over us,” Gov. Perry said. “I commend the Bay Area Builders for helping pay back at least some of the great debt that we, as a nation, owe those who sacrifice to secure our freedom.”

Worswick was on a mission to confront insurgents in Assadabad, Afghanistan, when his convoy was ambushed, and his vehicle was struck by a road-side bomb. He was thrust head first into the windshield and knocked unconscious, and later awoke to an intense fire fight. Uncertain of what happened, Worswick immediately attended to an injured fellow Marine, helping to keep him alive.  

After returning to base camp, Worswick lost consciousness and learned he had suffered post concussion syndrome. An immediate evacuation was ordered, and he was flown to Bagrahm Air Base and eventually back to the United States. Worswick has had numerous spinal surgeries, and suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and hearing loss. He was medically retired from the Marines in July 2007.

Aacer was proud to be part of this fantastic event and it is our way of giving back to those who have sacrificed the most. Aacer donated the wood flooring for the custom built home. Aacers Pre-finished 3 1/4″ Northern Hard Rock Maple was selected.

Aacer Flooring is especially proud of our latest college reference, LSU’s University Recreation (UREC) Student Recreation Complex Gymnasium and Indoor Track.

The 25,000 square-foot gym floor is the tested and proven AacerCush II floor system.  It uses 2^nd and better grade maple over two layers of ½” plywood with ½” thick recycled rubber pads mounted once every square foot.  The “Eco” pad provides great shock absorption at a moderate price and is composed of 90% post-consumer recycled material.  This allows for good environmental stability and uniformity of play.

The floor was installed by Aacer-accredited installer Sports Unlimited out of Stillwater, OK.  Aacer and Sports Unlimited are very happy to help the LSU recreation community in their recovery efforts. 

Please read more at: http://www.lsu.edu/urec/html/gym_construction.html

Chris Wedge

Southern Regional Manager

In January 2004, McDonald’s heiress Joan Kroc left a gift of $1.5 billion to The Salvation Army to build and help operate corps community centers across the country. After 20 months and three competitive phases, The Salvation Army in Salem, OR was awarded a portion of the Ray and Joan Kroc gift to build and operate The Kroc Center in Salem.
Salem has received $35.5 million from the Ray and Joan Kroc gift to build the Community Center and $35.5 for an endowment to help operate the facility. Local fundraising efforts brought the total project contribution to $81 million. The project officially opened for business in September 2009, and will offer recreational and community outreach services seven days a week. http://www.salemkroc.org/
Brandsen Hardwood Floors, Inc. emerged as the flooring contractor of choice during the selection process, and Aacer sports floors were installed throughout the building with Aacer’s parquet flooring installed in the aerobics area, AacerCush II with 1 ½” maple in the gym, and AacerFlex with 2 ¼” maple in the chapel. Brandsen also fabricated multiple custom maple trim details to accent the beauty of the Aacer maple while offering the non-profit community center an economic solution.
“We are once again completely satisfied with Aacer floor systems,” said Terry Brandsen of Brandsen Hardwood Floors. Aacer is proud to have Terry in our network. Thanks for the hard work, and the great results. The hard-working people at Aacer are proud to be a part of this project.

Rod Salyer
Western Regional Manager, Sports

Aacer is proud to announce another tremendous NCAA Division I practice facility reference at Georgia Tech University.  The Zelnak Center at the Henry F. McCamish Basketball Complex is one of the finest academic and athletic institutions in the country, Georgia Tech Universitywill immediately rise near the top of Aacer’s list of clients.  The Georgia Tech athletics department unveiled its brand new men’s and women’s basketball practice facility this past week with season-opening practices.  The 24,000 square-foot facility fits perfectly on campus in downtown Atlanta- the sports capital of the south.  The coaching staff and athletics department at Georgia Tech were interested in replicating the play and performance of their existing floor at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (AMC).  Aacer was able to achieve this goal with the latest addition to our lineup of performance sports floors; the Power Sleeper SE system.  This new floor system will make all of the replication of the AMC plus the improvements of the latest shock absorption, environmental stability, and uniformity of play technology.  Additionally, as the university was seeking to achieve LEED certification for exemplary environmentally-responsible construction practices, the maple flooring used for the practice floors is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, part of the Rain Forest Alliance.   

Aacer hopes to contribute to the legacy that is Georgia Tech basketball.  A leader in the ACC with 15 NCAA tournament births, 7 NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, 2 Final Four Appearances, and names like John Salley, Kenny Anderson, Mark Price, Stephon Marburry, Bobby Cremins, Dennis Scott, and Chris Bosch, to name a few, only a handful of programs can rival Georgia Tech’s success over the years.  The floor was installed by Aacer-accredited installer SSDC Incorporated out of Sandersville, GA.  Aacer and SSDC are proud to be a part of the winning tradition at Georgia Tech University! http://ramblinwreck.cstv.com/sports/w-baskbl/spec-rel/101609aab.html 

Chris Wedge

Southeastern Regional Manager

Aacer is excited to announce the Iowa State Athletics Department unveiled its brand new men’s and women’s basketball practice facility this week.  The 29,000 square-foot two court facility is without a doubt one of the finest of its kind nationally. The University took the time to do their homework in all aspects of the facility and when it came to selecting the wood sports floor the largest piece of equipment housed in the facility, they selected Aacer Channel. The floor was installed by Aacers dealer Franks Contracting Incorporated. Aacer and its highly skilled dealer are proud to bring cutting edge technology to the Iowa State Athletic Department.

Aacer Flooring would like to congratulate Divine Hardwood on their outstanding new website.  It features great room scenes with beautiful flooring shots.  The true quality and beauty of the product is clearly communicated.  In addition, it is very user friendly and inviting.  To check it out please go to http://www.divinehardwood.com/.  Enjoy.

Ashley Moberg

On September 11, 2009, a day when Americans ponder one of the horrific tragedies in our nation’s history, Aacer Flooring sponsored the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame enshrinement of the greatest basketball player in history:  Michael Jordan.   Regardless of opinions on Michael’s speech, there is no debate that this was the most ballyhooed class ever inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, a ceremony taking place for the first time ever at the newly-renovated Symphony Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts.  The 2009 inductees were:  Jordan, David Robinson, John Stockton, Jerry Sloan, and C. Vivian Stringer.  Witnessing this memorable event with Aacer were architects from Ewing Cole in Philadelphia, PA and Cannon Design from Boston, MA.  After the enshrinement formalities, a VIP post-party took place at the Hall of Fame, where Hall of Famers, new and old, with guests enjoyed exquisite hors d’ouevres, fantastic drinks, and not-so-exquisite-or-fantastic dancing (ha!) on center court – a stunning Peshtigo River Cherry hardwood basketball floor, logged and milled by the fine people of Aacer Flooring in Peshtigo, Wisconsin.  Aacer appreciates the Hall of Fame’s hospitality, and special thanks to the architects of Cannon Design and Ewing Cole for attending with us!

  Aacer Flooring, in conjunction with Miller Flooring of West Chester, PA, is proud to announce the installation of an Aacer UltraChannel floor system at Coppin State University in Baltimore, Maryland.  The floor will be the main playing surface for the Eagles men’s and women’s basketball team, both of whom compete at the NCAA’s elite level in Division 1.  The UltraChannel floor is a fixed-resilient system using solid wood and steel channels, which keep the pads in constant contact with the concrete underneath to eliminate inconsistencies in the floor’s stability, ensuring maximum performance for the Eagles’ sports teams for years to come.  The UltraChannel floor system is a signature floor from the experts at Miller Flooring, who have installed hundreds maple floors in the mid-Atlantic region for more than 20 years.  Through Miller’s proficiency and Aacer’s commitment to excellence, we are confident the athletes of Coppin State and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference will experience incomparable quality, and we look forward to being the foundation under the athletes for their journeys to the NCAA Tournament.  Go Eagles! Look for completed pictures coming soon!

Kit Burkholder

Northeastern Regional Manager

Aacer Flooring, LLC is proud to announce the addition of BNB Solutions, LLC to their sales and marketing team of professionals. BNB, manufacturer representatives who specialize in providing solutions to the flooring industry, was co-founded by Bob Huckabee and Bruce Boulden, both industry veterans with more than 25 years of industry experience. BNB will handle Aacer’s non-sports flooring products along the Eastern Seaboard from Delaware to Florida. Please contact Bob or Bruce at [715] 582-1181 or Email: contactbnb@aol.com.

Aacer Flooring, LLC is one of a family of wood related businesses owned by the Ort family. To understand who Aacer is, it is important to learn more about the Ort family and their 80,000 acres of top-quality northern hardwood timberland, 35 million board feet of annual sawmill capacity and now a 250,000 square feet state -of-the-art hardwood flooring manufacturing facility.

Aacer Flooring, LLC is a family and employee-owned company with more than 100 years of experience in every part of the hardwood flooring industry. The employees have logged, milled, manufactured and even installed hardwood maple and oak flooring. This bottom-up knowledge of the business created the state-of-the-art manufacturing facility with an eye to quality, consistency and customer satisfaction.

Aacer Flooring primarily manufactures hard maple and northern red oak strip flooring but also offers cherry, yellow birch, northern ash, white oak, red birch, hickory and Peshtigo River Cherry. All the flooring is manufactured in a unique environmentally controlled facility. The moisture content of the wood is carefully controlled through each step of the manufacturing process - even during storage. The result is environmentally stable, top quality flooring.

Todd McDonald

National Sales Manager - Residential

Teeming with excitement for the event, Aacer Flooring is eager to spread the word about the Hall of Fame Showcase, scheduled for November 17^th, 2009 at the ScottTrade Center in St. Louis, MO.  The event will feature matchups of four powerhouse men’s college basketball programs, including three former NCAA champions: the Memphis Tigers oppose the Kansas Jayhawks, while the Arkansas Razorbacks take on the Louisville Cardinals in the other half of the double main event.  As a sponsor of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA, Aacer Flooring is proud to be affiliated with this event, and additionally as the provider of the AacerChannel sports floor system in the University of Louisville’s YUM Center, their training and practice facility.  This event promises to offer an electrifying ‘tip-off’ to the 2009-2010 NCAA men’s college basketball season, and Aacer’s Sports Flooring team is excited to be involved.  For more information, please visit http://www.hofshowcase.com/ .

Kit Burkholder

Northeastern Regional Manager

The 7^th annual Nike Camp Asia was held on June 8 - 12, 2009 at the Chinese National Training Center Basketball Arena located in Beijing China. Two U.S. star athletes in attendance were Aaron Brooks (Huston Rockets) and Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics).

During the camp, 60 young talented basketball players from all over Asia were trained by a few very well known coaches from the U.S.  Some top Chinese basketball coaches including Wang Fei (former Chinese basketball national team coach), Zhengwu, (CBA team, Zhe Jiang Wan Ma, coach), Cui Wanjun (assistant coach for University of Memphis) were also on hand. The most powerful man of Chinese basketball, Mr. Xin Lancheng, Chairman of CBA (Chinese Basketball Association) attended and observed camp on the second day.

The Chinese National Training Center Basketball Arena floor was supplied by Aacer Flooring.  The Aacer maple flooring and the Bi-Power Pads provide a high performance playing surface that is required by top performing players. Aacer flooring was selected for this project because of the performance and quality our floors offer. Other influencing factors included Aacer’s ability to produce ten species of northern hardwood in a variety of face widths and grades in a LEED certified environmentally controlled facility. Aacer is the only MFMA mill that owns their own timberland, lumber mills and trucking company. Aacer also protects the environment by involving themselves as members of the FSC, MFMA, NWFA, UGBC, and FIBA.

Ashley Moberg

Congratulations are in order to Moody-Nolan Inc. of Columbus, OH for being among the winners of the Innovative Architecture & Design Awards contest.  The recipients of this award are recognized by Recreation Management publication for their “outstanding new and renovated facilities on the cutting edge of recreation, sports and fitness facility design.”  They are all featured in the May 2009 issue of Recreation Management.   www.recmanagement.com  

The facility design Moody-Nolan has been recognized for is the Kress Events Center of the University of Wisconsin – Green Bay.  Aacer’s connection with this unique and beautiful project is the competition basketball court, used by both the Division I men and women teams.  This court is our very own AacerFlex Bi-Power System and we are proud to have it be a part of this development.  Congratulations again, Moody-Nolan and UWGB on the success of this great facility.  

The Edge School is an accredited independent school in Calgary, Alberta.  I had the opportunity to tour the facility’s gym as it was being completed last month.  There is a lot of energy at that school, and they continue to add to their amazing athletic complex and academic campus.

The Edge is tailored to student athletes from around the Calgary area, and from around the world.  It was developed with a stated goal of creating a school that does not sacrifice the pursuit of excellence in athletics.  It is no surprise that when the architecture and design team at S2 Architecture with Stuart Olson Construction selected a floor system for the new gymnasium at The Edge, they chose the AacerFlex BP system.  Execution was left to the team at Divine Hardwoods of Calgary, and the results have exceeded everyone’s expectations. 

Jason Kerswill, the Athletic Director at The Edge said, “Edge School is really pleased with our gymnasium floor.  The guys at Divine Hardwood did a stellar job on the installation, and our student athletes love playing on the AacerFlex BP floor system.  We have a world class gymnasium.”  http://www.edgeschool.com/

Rod Salyer

Western Regional Manager

The industry leading sport floor manufacturer, Aacer Flooring, LLC, teamed with FLR Sanders, Inc of Princeton, MN to complete the new six court gymnasium floor at East Ridge High School located in Woodbury, MN. Architects Rego + Younguist had experience with Aacer Flooring products installed by FLR Sanders on previous projects; South Washington County Schools had also worked with FLR Sanders on previous floor projects and both knew what they could expect.  The result is one of the largest and finest high school wood sport floors in the state. The Aacer Flex BP installed at this facility is among the best performing sport floor systems available and the installation, finishing and graphic design by FLR Sanders, Inc are of the highest quality as well. The FLR Sanders Graphics Department, led by a gym floor designer with 20+ years experience and a Master of Art through the University of Wisconsin, helped create a layout that is truly a unique work of art. In addition to the 36,500 SF gymnasium, this facility also includes a 4,700 SF stage floor in the performing arts center, manufactured by Aacer Flooring and installed by FLR Sanders, Inc.

Brent Davidson

Midwest Regional Manager

715-587-2729

An Aacer team effort took place at the AIA Convention in San Francisco from April 30th through May 2nd at the Moscone Convention Center, as representatives from both the residential and sports teams joined to answer AIA members’ and other conference attendees’ questions.  As the only MFMA member mill in attendance, Aacer continues to show how we, as a company, are dedicated to being a resource for the architect with not only gymnasium floors and residential products, but with overall industry trends, especially in regard to sustainability efforts.  At the show, Aacer launched a campaign to educate architects about the misperceptions and fallacies of bamboo.  Much of the information on bamboo was well-received by the architects, and praise also came from the MFMA, who was also in attendance.

In the picture above, from left to right:  Chris Wedge, Gary Zander, Brent Davidson, Rod Salyer, Kevin Barker, and Kit Burkholder.

Kit Burkholder, CSI

NE Regional Manager, Sports

CHARLOTTE – (September 9, 2005) – Charlotte Bobcats Arena hit another construction milestone this week with the installation of its practice court floor, signaling an official seven week countdown until the arena opens October 21, 2005 with the Rolling Stones.

The Charlotte Bobcats Arena practice court is the largest on-site practice facility in the NBA, featuring a NBA regulation size court running lengthwise in the space and two high school regulation size courts running widthwise for split-squad scrimmages. Bobcats coaching offices are located in the upper level of the facility, along with a viewing platform.

Charlotte Bobcats Arena practice floor is being installed over a period of five weeks in several steps: Aacer Channel was selected due to its high performance characteristics and safety it provides to the athletes. Aacer Channel is a DIN certified floor system and one of the most environmentally stable sports floors in the world. Aacers reputation in scientifically designed sports surface is unmatched in the industry.

More than 18,500 first-grade, hard maple tongued and grooved planks are laid to make up the court. The floor is sanded and coated with a urethane sealer. Logos and game lines are painted and the court is finished with two additional coats of urethane.

Aacer Flooring provided the wood and technology for the practice court floor. The first-grade, hard maple planks are harvested by Aacer near Green Bay, WI and are installed utilizing Aacer Channel technology to provide stability and shock absorbency, resulting in improved athletic performance and injury reduction.

“The practice court is another example of the first-class facility we are building,” said Barry Silberman, chief operating officer, Charlotte Bobcats Arena. “Our focus on every detail of the building, both for our teams and our guests, will make us the best new arena in the country when we open in October,” he added.

The practice court is located at street level on the north side of Charlotte Bobcats Arena and will be viewable to the public during open practices. The practice court space also will be utilized for overflow media for the CIAA and ACC basketball tournaments.

Charlotte Bobcats Arena, located in the heart of Uptown Charlotte, opens in fall 2005 and will be home to the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats, WNBA’s Charlotte Sting, and ECHL’s Charlotte Checkers. The state-of-the-art arena will host more than 125 events a year including sports, concerts and family entertainment.

Peshtigo, WI-Aacer Flooring, LLC, Peshtigo, WI, Mill number 97 of the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association (MFMA) is pleased to announce that on December 23rd, 2004 it has purchased Superior Floor Company of Wausau, WI. Aacer, a hardwood flooring and athletic surface manufacturer and supplier, made the purchase in order to enhance its product line and increase its customer base.

Superior Flooring Company, Wausau, WI founded in 1986 by Floyd Shelton, is best known for its athletic maple flooring products including its Scissor-Loc Floor System with its patented Airflow System. The Airflow System offers an automatic underfloor humidistat which helps prevent moisture damage to the floor system. Numerous Scissor-Loc Air Flow gym floors that have been subjected to water have been saved without any interruption to athletic activities.

Aacer will move the production of Superior Floor products to the manufacturing plant in Peshtigo. Aacer flooring President, Brad Karnstedt says, “The purchase of Superior Floor Company puts Aacer Flooring, LLC in an outstanding position to lead the Athletic Surface Market in both quality and performance. Combined, these two product lines offer the end-user and athletic surface marketplace an offering second to none.”

Aacer Flooring currently offers over 40 floor systems in the school and fitness market, supplying dealers throughout the US and internationally. In addition, Aacer manufactures over 10 million square feet of hardwood flooring in 10 species to the residential marketplace through distributors throughout the United States.

Some of the floors sold and installed by Aacer Flooring include; the Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield, MA; The Benaki Museum, Athens, Greece; 2004 Olympics; The Milwaukee School of Engineering Athletic Complex as well as millions of square feet of athletic flooring to high schools, middle schools, YMCA’s, fitness centers and military bases throughout the country. Some of Superior’s installations include Widner University, Penn State, Monmouth University, Harris Stowe State University, Swarthmore College, Alcoa High School, Tech High School, and the Overture Center.

Recently, Aacer Flooring has started construction of a 100,000 sq. ft. addition to its existing plant, adding additional production and kiln drying capacity. Superior Floor Company will continue to operate its office in Wausau, WI until further notice. Details of the purchase were not disclosed.