Cliff Gustafson, an account executive for Tarkett North America, was recognized at the Minnesota Educational Facilities Management Professionals Association’s (MASMS) annual conference last month with the 2023 Outstanding Business Contributor Award. The award acknowledges Gustafson’s outstanding dedication and commitment to educational facilities management.
“It meant a great deal to know that I have made a difference to this organization,” Gustafson said. “I have looked at my involvement in MASMS as a way that I can further the organization’s mission in promoting excellence in the operation and care of educational facilities.”
As an account executive, Gustafson serves as a consultant to facilities staff, helping them find flooring solutions specific to each space within a school’s environment. A big part of his job is, coincidentally, education.
“Tarkett as a whole dedicates a lot of time to educating others on the importance of flooring when it comes to enhancing the learning environments for staff and students,” Gustafson said. “We’re helping people recognize how flooring impacts not only the facility’s return on investment, maintenance and use of healthy materials, but also variables like acoustics, sensory levels, and indoor air quality.”
One of Tarkett’s more recent initiatives in this regard is its annual Healthy Building Summit, led by Jonathan Stanley, the company’s education segment director. The summit brings together key personnel across disciplines within the education sector to create a dialogue around the biggest challenges in designing and maintaining healthy schools and universities. This year’s gathering, which focused specifically on facility maintenance, “recreated the standard” for how people see flooring in those challenges, Stanley said.
MASMS is likewise committed to promoting excellence in the operation and care of educational facilities and facilities management. The group consists of more than 900 individuals in facilities, grounds, health and safety, and operations departments for Minnesota K-12 and higher education organizations.
About Tarkett
With a history of more than 140 years, Tarkett is a worldwide leader in innovative and sustainable flooring and sports surface solutions, generating net sales of € 3.4 billion in 2022. The Group has 12,000 employees, 25 R&D centers, 8 recycling centers and 34 production sites. Tarkett designs and manufactures solutions for hospitals, schools, housing, hotels, offices, stores and sports fields, serving customers in over 100 countries. To build “The Way to Better Floors,” the Group is committed to circular economy and sustainability, in line with its Tarkett Human‐Conscious Design® approach. Tarkett is listed on the Euronext regulated market (compartment B, ISIN: FR0004188670, ticker: TKTT). www.tarkett‐group.com
Proof in Every Step
For years, Tarkett has raised the sustainability standards of the flooring industry. It purposefully designs floors with total transparency to create healthier, safer spaces for both people and planet. When Tarkett floors reach their end of life, the company’s ReStart® program makes it possible for them to be repurposed or recycled. Tarkett’s near-term science-based carbon emissions reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and are fully aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement objective to limit global warming by 1.5 degrees Celsius. For more information, visit https://contract.tarkett.com/proofineverystep