Shaw Unveils $24M Create Centre in Cartersville

(L-R) Tim Baucom, Jeff West, John Stephens, Randy Merritt, Mayor Matt Santini, Bob Chandler, Brenda Knowles and Hal Long

July 31, 2016

With cameras rolling, grinning people slipped shiny shovels into pre-softened red clay as Shaw Industries Group, Inc., officially broke ground for its $24-million think tank, the Create Centre in Cartersville in June.

"The Create Centre is going to be a place where our creative team, our marketing team and our innovation team will be able to collaborate," said Brenda Knowles, Shaw's vice-president for commercial marketing.

"We are committed to continuously providing clients with the best solutions for their projects, and the Create Centre will provide an ideal setting for our talented team members to create, dream, collaborate and solve challenges - a think tank, if you will."

Designed by the San Francisco architecture firm, Gensler, the 67,000 square-foot, three-story Centre is located at 230 Douthit Ferry Road, near Shaw Plant 94, the current headquarters for Shaw's commercial design and marketing teams.

Upon completion of the Create Centre, that facility will continue its custom manufacturing operations and become home to Shaw's Custom Design Studio and hospitality customer service teams.

"This Create Centre is going to be a magnificent new facility that will help to attract industry-leading--make that world-leading-- talent to our community," said Randy Merritt, Shaw President. "It will serve as a magnet not only to people in the industry but around the world. It will be a tremendous asset," he said.

It also means more jobs for Cartersville and Bartow County.

"Our company is dedicated to Bartow County," Merritt said. "Shaw is Bartow County's largest employer with more than 3,100 associates and more coming with Plant T-1, the carpet tile manufacturing facility, which will open in Adairsville later this year.

"We find value in locating manufacturing, design, marketing and others in close proximity to one another in the same region, the same state or, in this instance, the same county.

"We've found that it sparks new ideas, encourages greater imformation sharing and more meaningful engagement with one another.

"The Create Centre will be an important tool in supporting our vision of growth for our commercial business including global expansion and domestic market leadership," he said.

Knowles said the Centre is a good example of a city and county's ongoing efforts to promote the growth of existing businesses in addition to attracting new companies and industries to the area.

"We hope the Centre will offer a stimulating environment that acts as a catalyst for growth and innovation across Shaw's commercial business," she said, "and inspire our talented professionals, while serving as a tool for recruiting new talent as the company continues to grow."

Article by Neil B. McGahee, The Daily Tribune News